Check disk space on Windows

People generally check disk space usage when they are running short . In both Windows XP and Windows Vista operating systems, you can quickly find the available disk space in a couple of mouse clicks. In fact, depending on the configuration, the used and unused space on each drive will be shown when you start the Windows Explorer program.

Thus, open Windows Explorer (found under "Programs" -> "Accessories") in Vista. Click on "Computer" from the "Folders " panel. This should display all the available disk drives and will visually show disk space used and available on each of these. Below is a screenshot from my computer. The blue bar indicates the used up space.

As shown in the above image, I have 3.78 GB free on the C: drive and about 60.5 GB in the D: drive. A nice thing about Vista is that if the disk drive is about to be full, the blue bar turns red - danger!

Checking disk space on Windows XP using Explorer won't get you pretty visuals as in Vista. However, you can find out the disk space - used and unused - on all drives. Click on "View"and select "Details". This should show you the total disk space size and the amount available.

Find the exact amount of disk space on Windows

You can also determine the exact amount of available disk space -down to a single byte. Right-click on a drive and select "Properties" from the menu (both Windows Vista and XP). The pop-up window will show disk space usage as a pie diagram - the blue denoting the used space while pink tells you what is available. Just above this nice graph will be the exact figures.