Discovering what is on your computer’s hard drive

(Microsoft Windows based systems). 

-It is good policy to occasionally look to see what is on your computer hard drive.  When I do it I am almost always surprised by what is found.  For example I just did it and discovered that a programming utility that I recently bought had a huge amount of samples in a deeply buried folder.  Useful information that I did not know existed. 

-I suggest using a free program called TreeSize Free, and you can find it at http://www.jam-software.com/freeware/index.shtml.  (They sell some more advanced programs but the free version works well enough)  After you load this program and start it up select the SCAN menu option and choose the drive letter to scan ( C:, D: etc.)  The program will start showing you the number or size of the files in each directory.  What commonly happens is that you will discover a folder or two or more that has a lot more information in it than you assumed.  By clicking on the folders you will find long lost files, and uncover information that you did not know lurked on your computer.  However be careful on deleting things make sure that you have backups or the files really are not needed.