Empirical Storage Telemetry

SWEEPR PC Bloat Watch: Update & Cache Benchmarks

Every Windows 11 cumulative update, GPU driver release, and game launcher patch is benchmarked in our clean VM lab to measure exact orphaned gigabytes and verify safe cleanup commands.

18.5 GB Reclaimed C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\depotcache and steamapps\downloading Published 2026-11-02

Steam Client Update Orphaned .csd / .csm DepotCache Chunks: Reclaiming 18.5 GB Safely

Interrupted or delta-patched Steam game updates leave multi-gigabyte encrypted .csd and .csm staging chunks in C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\depotcache even after downloads complete.

Read Lab Benchmark & PowerShell Fix → Folder Safety Reference

10.1 GB Reclaimed %LocalAppData%\NVIDIA\DXCache Published 2026-11-01

NVIDIA Game Ready Driver 566.x DXCache 10.4 GB Bloat & Frame-Time Stutter Benchmark

Multiple Unreal Engine 5 and DirectX 12 titles accumulate over 10 GB of stale compiled shader binaries in %LocalAppData%\NVIDIA\DXCache across driver upgrades, causing C: drive exhaustion and traversal stutter.

Read Lab Benchmark & PowerShell Fix → Folder Safety Reference

8.8 GB Reclaimed C:\Windows\WinSxS\Temp\PendingDeletes & C:\$Windows.~BT Published 2026-11-01

Windows 11 24H2 8.63 GB Undeletable Update Cache Bug: Lab Benchmark & Safe DISM Cleanup

After installing Windows 11 24H2 (Build 26100), Disk Cleanup reports 8.63 GB of Windows Update Cleanup that refuses to delete, alongside 14.2 GB of superseded WinSxS & SoftwareDistribution delta packages.

Read Lab Benchmark & PowerShell Fix → Folder Safety Reference