Brian On Software

If you’re a Windows user looking for a way to analyze your hard drive(s) usage statistics, you can stop looking around because WinDirStat is the tool you’re looking for. Published under the GNU General Public License (which means it’s free), this tool is so useful, that I sometimes wonder why Microsoft didn’t include it in its Windows operating systems.

Written entirely in C++, WinDirStat (short for Window Directory Statistics) is a software that analyzes the disk(s) or folder you want it to analyze, and then generates a visual statistical report which shows you the disk usage of each directory. This is very helpful, for example, if you’re wondering which directory in your hard drive is taking too much space so that you can take some action towards it. WinDirStat is easy to use and the following screenshots should give you a pretty good idea how it works…don’t mind the Seinfeld DVD in the Z drive…not that there’s anything wrong with it.

Step 1. Select the drive(s) or a folder to analyze

Step 2. Wash a couple of dishes while WinDirStat analyzes the drive
(depending on how big your drive is and how much dishes there are to wash…)

Step 3. Once the analysis is completed you can view each directory’s size