Although Windows 10 is currently the most popular desktop operation, it is not without its flaws. Compared to every other desktop operating system, Windows 10 has more bugs. A common user often deals with various types of errors while using Windows such as BSOD errors, system crashes, driver errors, and more. While most Windows 10 problems can be fixed by a troubleshooter utility, BSOD errors are more difficult to fix. You may also need to access the crash dump file to fix the BSOD error. In Windows 10, whenever a critical error such as BSOD occurs, the operating system creates memory dump files.
These files are called ‘crash dumps’. Windows 10’s crash dump file contains a copy of the system memory at the time of the crash, allowing users to diagnose the problem later. The file is usually stored in a local system folder and is automatically replaced whenever the system encounters a BSOD. The memory dump file contains information that is very useful for developers and IT admins. If you have enough free storage left on your PC, it’s best to leave memory dump files. However, if your PC storage space is low, you can delete those memory dump files to free up some space. So, today, we are giving you some easy ways to easily delete system error memory dump files in Windows 10.
1. Delete System Error Memory Dump Files in Disk Cleanup:
Users can delete crash dumps with your Windows 10 built-in Disk Cleanup. This tool allows you to perform a clean and safe cleanup on your PC.
- Start Run with the Windows key + R keyboard shortcut.
- Enter cleanmgr in the Run Open text box.
- Press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to open Disk Cleanup as administrator.
- Select the C: drive in the drive selection window and click the OK button.
- Select the System error memory dump files check box.
- Then click the OK button.
- Users who cannot find the System Error Memory Dump Files option in Disk Clean-up should open that utility through an elevated command prompt.
- Press the Return key. Disk Cleanup will open with more checkbox options. Navigate to the System Error Memory Dump Files option and click to delete files.
2. Delete the Dump Files from the File Location:
You can also delete system error memory dump files manually using Windows File Explorer. From the above explanation, you already know the file path of the types of win dump files we have. Here are the detailed steps.
- Open Control Panel
- Click on System. Then, click on Advanced system settings.
- Under Startup and Recovery, click Settings.
- Click the drop-down menu under Write Debugging Information
- Select the dump files and check their location.
- Copy the system dump file location (%SystemRoot%\Minidump for Minidump files and %SystemRoot%\MEMORY.DMP for full, kernel, and automatic dump files)
- Press Windows + R keys to open the Run dialog box
- Paste the copied dump file location and press Enter.
- Select the files. Click on Delete and grant access to delete files.
- Memory dump-file
- Restart your PC and the dump files will disappear.
3. Turn Off Crash Dumps:
- Users can turn off crash dumps to ensure they no longer hog HDD storage space. Enter the control panel in the Run Open text box and press Return.
- Then click System to open the Control Panel applet shown directly below.
- Click Advanced System Settings on the left side of the window to open the Advanced tab.
- Then tap the Settings button under Startup and Recovery.
- Select the (None) option in the drop-down menu shown directly below to turn off crash dumps.
Then click the OK button.
4. Disabling Indexing In Local Disk C:
Indexing is maintaining an index to most files on a computer. This is done for easy searching and file retrieval. But, in some cases, indexing eats up a lot of space. Here this solution helps if any unknown object occupies the space.
- First, in your File Explorer, go to This PC.
- Then right-click local disk C or the drive where your operating system is located. Next, click on Properties.
- In the Properties window, below the Filing Properties is an option that says Allow files on this drive to have indexed contents.
- Uncheck this option.
- Then click on Apply to save the changes.
- Finally, reboot your system and see if the system error memory dump files are there.
5. Using WinDirStat to analyze space usage:
WinDirStat is an open-source disk usage analyzer and cleanup software. The program scans the hard drive and displays the results in a colored visualization for each space used. The advantage of using this tool is that you can get a clear idea of which files are consuming the most of your disk space. It also has an option in its interface that allows you to delete files from there. Download WinDirStat from the official website (be careful when downloading from external links).
- After WinDirStat is installed, open it. It will ask you which drives to scan; Select them all.
- The process of analyzing your drives can take several minutes as each file is examined and its location recorded. Wait patiently for the process to complete.
- After the analysis is complete, check if there are any dump files on your local disk C. In this case, the two dump files (51 GB and 50GB) are shown by the two big blue blocks below. On the right side, we can see that these blue blocks represent DUMP files.
Right-click on them and select “Delete (no way to delete!)”. Restart your computer and check if the issue is resolved.
Conclusion:
So, this article is about deleting system error memory dump files to free up storage space. I hope this article helped you! Please also share with your friends. If you have any doubts about this, let us know in the comment box below.
