Updated: December 7, 2012 3:50 AM

Find out what's using all the space on your hard drive

Problem: Your hard drive is getting full.

Solution: Delete unnecessary data to make more room.

Easy enough, right? Actually, it's not always easy to find the files and folders that are using the most space on your drive. In fact, it can be downright complicated and time-consuming.

Free disk-space analyzer WizTree quickly scans your drive and shows you the names and locations of your largest files, which can help if you're trying to root out and delete "fat" data.

Just download and install the tiny program (there's also a portable version if you want to run it from, say, a flash drive), then click Scan.

You won't have to wait long. On my heavily used system with a mostly full, 750GB hard drive, WizTree finished its scan in about 12 seconds. Literally. Indeed, developer Antibody Software (makers of one of my all-time favorite utilities, WizMouse) says that WizTree works much faster than competing utilities like TreeSize and WinDirStat.

WizTree may lack the latter's colorful drive map, but there's no question it's a speed demon. And you can see the scan results in a tree view or click the even handier Top 1000 Largest Files tab. From there you can right-click and choose Delete from the pop-up context menu (which offers various other functions as well). WizTree wisely grays-out any system files that may be unwise to delete.

So there you go. WizTree is fast, efficient, and free. Of course, if you find it useful, the developer encourages donations. Isn't a tool like this worth five or ten bucks? Let your conscience be your guide.

Contributing Editor Rick Broida writes about business and consumer technology. Ask for help with your PC hassles at hasslefree@pcworld.com, or try the treasure trove of helpful folks in the PC World Community Forums. Sign up to have the Hassle-Free PC newsletter e-mailed to you each week.