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January 27th, 2025 21:56
Problems with storage
I've been having problems with storage on my laptop for over a year now, I've emptied the trash bin constantly for a while now, I've uninstalled almost every program that I don't use regularly, almost all my files are on the cloud already, but I seem unable to get over 15 GB of free storage.
Today I was anylizing my disk with TreeSize, and found that the folder file:///C:/ProgramData/Dell/SARemediation/SystemRepair/Snapshots/backup/ is using 85.2 GB (which is about a third or my storage space). This file seems to contain a few hundred files of about 100 MB. Is this folder important? What does it contain? How can I reduce its size?
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lmacri
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1.6K Posts
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January 28th, 2025 04:17
Hi Borja14:
What is your Dell computer model and Windows operating systm? What versions of Dell SupportAssist v4.x and Dell SupportAssist Remediation v5.5.x, if installed, are currently listed at Control Panel | Programs | Programs and Features?
User furbar4fun reported a similar problem in their 11-Jan-2025 topic SARemediation folder just keeps growing and growing and new Support Assist has no option to stop it anymore.
If System Repair is enabled in your SupportAssist settings then SupportAssist OS Recovery Tools v5.5.x (also called Dell SupportAssist Remediation and/or System Repair) creates a system repair point (snapshot) about 30 min after your system is re-booted and saves that system repair point in a hidden folder at C:\ProgramData\Dell\SARemediation\SystemRepair\Snapshots folder. Those system repair points can be used to repair your computer if it fails to boot up correctly. See the images I posted on 18-Mar-2023 in Terry Morse's SupportAssist: Won't Run, Can't Uninstall or Reinstall It.
On occasion the disk space used C:\ProgramData\Dell\SARemediation\SystemRepair\Snapshots exceeds the maximum limit allowed in your SupportAssist settings - see SteveTree's 18-Jun-2021 Reduce disk space used by SARemediation about this long-standing bug. If you temporarily turn off System Repair in your SupportAssist settings this should purge your existing system repair points. Instructions are posted <here> in the section titled "Configure System Repair Settings" of the SupportAssist v4 User Guide.
I removed all SupportAssist-related programs from my Inspiron 5584 after my service warranty expired (they were too buggy and used too many system resources) so I can't test for you, but I believe that turning OFF System Repair should also purge the ~ 85 GB of files in your C:\ProgramData\Dell\SARemediation\SystemRepair\Backup folder. Here's an old image I captured back in August 2021 that shows the size of my entire C:\ProgramData\Dell\SARemediation\SystemRepair\ folder dropped to ~ 20 KB after System Repair was turned OFF.
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Dell Inspiron 15 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.5371 * Firefox v134.0.2 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.24090.11-1.1.24090.11 * Malwarebytes Premium v5.2.5.158-1.0.5135 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7783 * Dell Update for Windows Universal v5.4.0 * My Dell v2.2.6.0 * Fusion Service 2.2.14.0
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Borja14
1 Rookie
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2 Posts
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January 29th, 2025 18:44
I tried modifying my System Repair settings on SupportAssist, and it seems to have solved it. Thank you so much for the help!!
lmacri
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1.6K Posts
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January 29th, 2025 23:30
Hi Borja14:
That's great news. Glad to hear turning OFF System Repair allowed you to free up some disk space.
Just keep in mind that if you can't boot up your computer at some point in the future and want to use Dell SupportAssist OS Recovery v5.5.x to perform an emergency recovery then you will have to turn System Repair back ON so it starts creating Dell system repair points (snapshots) again. *** Unfortunately, I can't guarantee that your hidden C:\ProgramData\Dell\SARemediation\SystemRepair\Backup folder won't eventually grow to a huge size again after you turn System Repair ON.
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*** ASIDE: After removing all SupportAssist-related programs from my Inspiron 5584 I replaced Dell SupportAssist OS Recovery v5.5.x with Macrium Reflect Free v8 disk imaging software (which reached end of support in January 2024 but continues to function - see TechRepublic's Sept 2024 Top 5 Free & Reliable Hard Disk Drive Cloning Software for 2024 for other suggestions). I use Macrium Reflect Free to create emergency media (e.g., a bootable removable USB stick), and I save the occasional full disk image on an external backup drive in case I ever have perform a emergency recovery and want to quickly re-image my entire hard drive to an earlier date. As an added precaution I've enabled Windows System Restore (disabled by default in Win 10 and Win 11) as instructed in the Windows Central article How to Use System Restore on Windows 11 so I always have a recent Windows restore point I can use to roll back my Windows OS.
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Dell Inspiron 15 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.5371 * Firefox v134.0.2 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.24090.11-1.1.24090.11 * Malwarebytes Premium v5.2.5.158-1.0.5135 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7783 * Dell Update for Windows Universal v5.4.0 * My Dell v2.2.6.0 * Fusion Service 2.2.14.0