Garmin, your Mom doesn't work here so clean up after yourself

 

So “rocket scientist” recently posted the question is it "Safe To Delete Old Express Installers". The thread is at http://www.poi-factory.com/node/50971. Deleting what was mentioned in that thread, and keeping just the lst two folder freed up a ton of space on my drive.

That got me to looking for other extraneous stuff left behind and it can amount to quite a bit of storage space.

This is for Windows 10 and backslashes have been replaced by the "pipe" symbol | (vertical line). |

In the folder C:|ProgramData|Garmin|CoreService|Downloads|Map
are numerous folders named Map_Map.NA2021.20 or similar. Each folder is 6+ GB.

In the folder C:|ProgramData|Garmin|CoreService|Downloads|Application
there are folders named Application_Application.express-windows 7.1.4.0 or something similar. Each of those folders are 112 MB.

In the folder C:|ProgramData|Garmin|CoreService|Downloads|Firmware
there are folders named Firmware_Firmware.006-B19948.00.8.80 or somthing similar. Each of these folders is about 83 MB. I had 40 of these folder, for a total of 3.3 GB!

In all the instances I've cleaned out everything except for the most recent 2 to 4 entries and there doesn't seem to be any issues with Garmin Express

--
John from PA

Thanks

Thanks to you and the OP for the tip. I just did the same and deleted some of the older map folders to free up space.

Thanks

Thanks for the tip!

Mine are hidden

John from PA wrote:

...In the folder C:|ProgramData|Garmin|CoreService|Downloads|Map
are numerous folders named Map_Map.NA2021.20 or similar. Each folder is 6+ GB.

In the folder C:|ProgramData|Garmin|CoreService|Downloads|Application
there are folders named Application_Application.express-windows 7.1.4.0 or something similar. Each of those folders are 112 MB.

In the folder C:|ProgramData|Garmin|CoreService|Downloads|Firmware
there are folders named Firmware_Firmware.006-B19948.00.8.80 or somthing similar. Each of these folders is about 83 MB. I had 40 of these folder, for a total of 3.3 GB!...

Wow, did I just learn something tonight.
Seems like most folks here have their Garmin folder(s) in

C:|ProgramData|Garmin|...

Originally, I thought that in my system no such folder exists. I have a

C:|Program Files|...folder and a
C:|Program Files (x86)|...folder.

And I thought that all my Garmin Express files are in just one subfolder:

C:|Program Files (x86)|Garmin|Express

And I thought that nowhere in my system is there any folder called CoreService and nowhere in my system are any old versions of Garmin Express.

Tonight I found out that the C:|ProgramData|, |CoreService|, etc. folders on my system are all HIDDEN folders and files. If someone (like me, for instance) doesn't know they're hidden, the whoe above discussion doesn't make much sense. I just blew over an hour and a half trying to figure what the hell you guys are looking at.

So my question to all of you who are a part of this discussion, are your ProgramData folder, et al, hidden, too?

Phil

--
"No misfortune is so bad that whining about it won't make it worse."

Sorry, everything by my choice is unhidden on my PC

plunder wrote:
John from PA wrote:

...In the folder C:|ProgramData|Garmin|CoreService|Downloads|Map
are numerous folders named Map_Map.NA2021.20 or similar. Each folder is 6+ GB.

In the folder C:|ProgramData|Garmin|CoreService|Downloads|Application
there are folders named Application_Application.express-windows 7.1.4.0 or something similar. Each of those folders are 112 MB.

In the folder C:|ProgramData|Garmin|CoreService|Downloads|Firmware
there are folders named Firmware_Firmware.006-B19948.00.8.80 or somthing similar. Each of these folders is about 83 MB. I had 40 of these folder, for a total of 3.3 GB!...

Wow, did I just learn something tonight.
Seems like most folks here have their Garmin folder(s) in

C:|ProgramData|Garmin|...

So my question to all of you who are a part of this discussion, are your ProgramData folder, et al, hidden, too?

Phil

Windows by default hides things and I'm not quite sure why and I failed to check if that was the case in this instance. Supposedly the reason some files and folders are marked as hidden is that they are files/folder that you should NOT be changing, deleting, or moving around. These are often important operating system-related files but not in this case. Both Windows and macOS computers have hidden files.

The first thing I do on any PC is "unhide" files and folders. To view the hidden files and folders in Windows 10 open File Explorer. Windows by default includes a File Explorer shortcut on the taskbar; the icon resembles a folder. You can also type in File Explorer in the search field (lower left) or use the shortcut key combination Windows + E.

Once in File Explorer, select the View tab (usually near top left) and then over to the right you'll see a section marked show/hide. Check off the option "Hidden items". I also suggest you check off the item "File name extensions".

--
John from PA

On a MAC, with Finder open

On a MAC, with Finder open type Shift+Command+., that's shiftcommandperiod. Type again to hide.

--
Frank DriveSmart55 37.322760, -79.511267

Windows Explorer isn't what it used to be either

John from PA wrote:

Windows by default hides things and I'm not quite sure why

Seems with the latest "upgrade" to Windows10 it's even hard to find the folders.. period. Windows Explorer has changed.. big time.

--
Lives in Edmonton AB A volunteer driver for Drive Happiness.ca and now (since June 20 2021) uses a DS65 to find his clients.

Windows Explorer is now called File Explorer

Ralph6410 wrote:
John from PA wrote:

Windows by default hides things and I'm not quite sure why

Seems with the latest "upgrade" to Windows10 it's even hard to find the folders.. period. Windows Explorer has changed.. big time.

Technically what used to be called Windows Explorer is now called File Explorer in Win 10. As I said it can be accessed using the Windows + E keyboard shortcut of click the folder icon on the taskbar.

--
John from PA

Hidden

Tks for the tip; cleand up ~150GB, not that I'm hurting; now have ~750GB free.

BTW, recently switched to SSD from HD - like having a new PC!

--
DougJ - Ottawa, ON, CA

Wow, and I was happy with regaining 10 GB

wdjohnson2 wrote:

Tks for the tip; cleand up ~150GB, not that I'm hurting; now have ~750GB free.

BTW, recently switched to SSD from HD - like having a new PC!

150 GB! I wonder how many people unknowingly have taken their PC to a repair facility to have their storage increased or even purchased a new PC because of the Garmin shortcoming in cleaning up after updates.

--
John from PA

clean up files

This is one of the things I never get around to. I am always afraid I will delete a file that I need.

settings

Mine aren't garmin, the tomtom software lets you tell it how many priors to keep, it deletes beyond those, Is there a setting hidden down among the bowels that says how many ?

--
the title of my autiobiography "Mistakes have been made"

Good idea, but not that I’m aware of

almostbob wrote:

Mine aren't garmin, the tomtom software lets you tell it how many priors to keep, it deletes beyond those, Is there a setting hidden down among the bowels that says how many ?

With respect to Garmin, not that I’m aware of.

--
John from PA

"Unhiding" things (Windows 10)

Another way to "unhide" things is

Type "Folder" in the search field of the taskbar

In the resulting dialog box, select the View tab

Under the "Hidden files and folders" option (usually 6th down from the top) check off "Show hidden files, folders, and drives".

Click OK to exit out.

--
John from PA

Hidden files

You can also go to All settings and type in Show hidden files. Scroll down to File explorer and click on show settings.

If you have the Open Shell installed on your computer. You can do it the old way. Click start tab, control panel, file explorer options and then view.

--
Charlie. Nuvi 265 WT and Nuvi 2597 LMT. MapFactor Navigator - Offline Maps & GPS.

Thanks

big help!

Bought a new Dell

wdjohnson2 wrote:

BTW, recently switched to SSD from HD - like having a new PC!

I too bought one with a 128 GB hard drive. Physically barely bigger than my thumbnail!!! Larger capacity wasn't available. So I bought a 512 GB drive, it looks more like the old desktop memory stick used to be.
To my surprise the DELL had an additional spot to install a more conventional laptop drive. So I bought a 1 TB SSD and put it in also. So now the 512 GB is for the OS and some programs which almost refuse to install to a D: drive, but essentially almost all programs etc. go to the D: drive. Talk about speed!

--
Nuvi 2797LMT, DriveSmart 50 LMT-HD, Using Windows 10. DashCam A108C with GPS.

Good tip. Although I didn't

Good tip. Although I didn't have much to cleanup, deleted 1 map folder - a little over 2Gb. Everything else was lean and clean. Keep most stuff on the SD card.

Good reason to buy Dell

Melaqueman wrote:
wdjohnson2 wrote:

BTW, recently switched to SSD from HD - like having a new PC!

I too bought one with a 128 GB hard drive. Physically barely bigger than my thumbnail!!! Larger capacity wasn't available. So I bought a 512 GB drive, it looks more like the old desktop memory stick used to be.
To my surprise the DELL had an additional spot to install a more conventional laptop drive. So I bought a 1 TB SSD and put it in also. So now the 512 GB is for the OS and some programs which almost refuse to install to a D: drive, but essentially almost all programs etc. go to the D: drive. Talk about speed!

This is one of the reasons I recommend Dell. They are, given very basic skills, easy to upgrade the RAM and/or hard drive (HDD/SSD). As an example if you upgrade RAM at time of purchase it can cost an extra $200 to go from 8GB to 16GB. You can generally do that yourself for about $50.

Dell also makes it easy by putting the service manuals for each model online.

--
John from PA

thank you

I just deleted 38 GB

thank you

I had a lot of old maps

Amazing

hermosabeach wrote:

I just deleted 38 GB

thank you

I had a lot of old maps

Amazing, even Microsoft cleans up after a Windows upgrade, although I think it waits for 30 days.

--
John from PA

Thank You.... From a

Thank You.... From a different post I knew about Map downloads, but today I find folders in places you commented (W7-64 here) that in each case went back to 2016!!

I didn't even bother to calculate how much space I retrieved!!!
Thanks Again!!!

--
A 2689LMT in both our cars that we love... and a Nuvi 660 with Lifetime Maps that we have had literally forever.... And a 2011 Ford Escape with Nav System that is totally ignored!

Thanks, great catch.

Thanks, great catch.

Inside my Download Folder I went from:

Application 68.6 GB - 561 MB

Firmware 109 MB - 2.0 MB

Maps 63.6 GB - 12 GB

Temp 1.81 GB - 82 MB

I probably could have safely deleted more but as some others did, I left some of the newest files.

Another wow!

mcginkleschmidt wrote:

Thanks, great catch.

Inside my Download Folder I went from:

Application 68.6 GB - 561 MB

Firmware 109 MB - 2.0 MB

Maps 63.6 GB - 12 GB

Temp 1.81 GB - 82 MB

I probably could have safely deleted more but as some others did, I left some of the newest files.

That's about 120 GB!

--
John from PA

TreeSize free

Others have reported this issue in the past with respect to removing old maps.

I happen to use TreeSize free (https://www.jam-software.com/treesize_free) and that is how I found about all this space used by other Garmin components. TreeSize had originally reported 75GB in the CoreService folder. Cleaning things out, it now reports 12.6GB. That includes two older maps, which I’ll retain should I feel the need to revert back, which probably is unlikely.

Rather surprisingly, TreeSize reports the ProgramData folder as the largest on my drive, and Garmin as the largest within the ProgramData folder at 13GB. Absolutely crazy when you consider the purpose of Garmin Express!

--
John from PA

Didn't notice the folders were hidden

It didn't even dawn on me when I posted that the folders were hidden. Whenever I install a new OS -- going back to at least Windows XP -- one of the first things I do is to make hidden files and folders visible. I do keep the separate "hide protected operating system files" option checked.

Not sure why these folders are hidden - they seem to mostly consist of leftovers that Garmin leaves behind after something - firmware, maps, Express - has been successfully installed.

Maybe hidden from Garmin as well

rocket_scientist wrote:

It didn't even dawn on me when I posted that the folders were hidden. Whenever I install a new OS -- going back to at least Windows XP -- one of the first things I do is to make hidden files and folders visible. I do keep the separate "hide protected operating system files" option checked.

Not sure why these folders are hidden - they seem to mostly consist of leftovers that Garmin leaves behind after something - firmware, maps, Express - has been successfully installed.

Maybe the people that write code for Garmin need to unhide their folders smile

--
John from PA

"Cleaning up" statement

I just did a GE update on an older computer. The final thing in the update process is a quick flash of "Cleaning up".

grin grin grin

--
John from PA

Built-in Alternative In Windows

When in File Explorer, right click any folder and select Properties to view several details about the files, folders, and their sizes within that part of the "tree".

John from PA wrote:

Others have reported this issue in the past with respect to removing old maps.

I happen to use TreeSize free (https://www.jam-software.com/treesize_free) and that is how I found about all this space used by other Garmin components. TreeSize had originally reported 75GB in the CoreService folder. Cleaning things out, it now reports 12.6GB. That includes two older maps, which I’ll retain should I feel the need to revert back, which probably is unlikely.

Rather surprisingly, TreeSize reports the ProgramData folder as the largest on my drive, and Garmin as the largest within the ProgramData folder at 13GB. Absolutely crazy when you consider the purpose of Garmin Express!

TreeSize = more versatility

TreeSize offers much more versatility than File Explorer.

--
John from PA

Thanks

Thanks for the tip!

--
Nuvi 3490

FAQ

Fellow POI Factory member canuk created a FAQ about drive cleanup after a map update back in 2017: http://www.poi-factory.com/node/47390.

It looks like the FAQ needs to be corrected by having the back slashes shown using one of the documented methods. I don't think canuk visits POI Factory often these days, so maybe JM or Globe Turtle will make the correction in the FAQ.

--
Alan - Android Auto, DriveLuxe 51LMT-S, DriveLuxe 50LMTHD, Nuvi 3597LMTHD, Oregon 550T, Nuvi 855, Nuvi 755T, Lowrance Endura Sierra, Bosch Nyon

thanks. I removed a lot of

thanks. I removed a lot of folders.

Yeah,

I downloaded TreeSize this morning. I'm running out of space on two different PCs. I freed up dozens of GBs this morning by doing nothing more than deleting old maps that were still present after removing them using the traditional "Uninstall" routine. Very thankful to have gotten up to speed on all of this. Thanks to all !

--
(2) Nuvi 1450LMT + 3597LMTHD + 2557LMT + DS61LMT-S Boston MA

No space issues here

No space issues here smile

https://i.imgur.com/IWpejXj.png

Saw this before, a while

Saw this before, a while back.... Glad I re-visited....
Freed up ~25GB!

Thanks!

--
A 2689LMT in both our cars that we love... and a Nuvi 660 with Lifetime Maps that we have had literally forever.... And a 2011 Ford Escape with Nav System that is totally ignored!

Tree Size updates

For anyone that desires Tree Size Free (initial or an update) it can be downloaded from https://www.jam-software.com/treesize_free. The current free version 4.53.

The change log can be found at https://www.jam-software.com/treesize_free/changes.shtml.

--
John from PA

Thanks for the tips John

idea grin

--
Nuvi 2595LMT

thanks

I am always afraid to delete the files but will do so now. It will be nice to get the added space.

Garmin, Your Mom Doesn't Work Here So Clean Up After Yourself

Now that many of us are updating to 2023.10, maybe it is a good time to get rid of some things we no longer need.

Garmin

Thank you

--
Garmin Nuvi 765T, Garmin Drive 60LM

Thank you

GReat tip

Thanks For The Tip

I usually buy huge hard drives for my computers so storage issues aren't normally a problem.

Since they are easily switchable when using Basecamp and Mapsource, I keep all the older Garmin map files. I sometimes use them for historical research, along with the time slider in Google Earth, when creating certain specialty files.

Thanks for the information though.

I guess a task to remove it

I guess a task to remove it occasionally will work. Thanks for reminding me, have not cleaned the Garmin left overs in awhile.

separate files

The map files discussed in this thread are -- or should be -- temporary files and are separate from, and independent of, the installed map files that Basecamp uses. The map files under ProgamData>Garmin>CoreService>Downloads can be deleted without losing access to the installed maps that are stored separately.

Just clarifying for those that might need to recover some space.