Running Out Of Disc Space - Windows 7(C:)

[UbonOz]

My laptop keeps giving me a pop-up message saying I am running out of disc space.

I have run "cleanmgr" and a couple of other things but I still get the message.

I am not a technical expert with computers and I am not sure what I need to do to fix the problem.

Could anybody please assist.

Thanks for any help.

[rakman]

Go to "My Computer" set the display for "Details" and the screen will have how much disk space you have, and how much is "Free"

You're probably low on the free space. A couple of things you can do:

Get an external USB drive and backup those pictures, movies and other items.

Empty your "Recycle bin" then right click to properties, select a smaller amount of space.

Reduce the amount of space devoted to "Restore" points.

Get rid of junk files that clutter the disk, but be careful of erasing system files.

Go to C:\Windows\Temp and delete the accumulated junk there.

There are a bunch of other things you can delete or move to a USB drive for safe keeping.

Be sure to backup your machine, everything eventually fails.

[UbonOz]

Thanks for the info. I only have 236MB of 35.9GB free on C drive.

I have a 1TB external harddrive, Western Digital I think, but the back-up button does not function.

As I said I am not familiar with the technical bits.

[PoorSucker]

36 GB?

Windows 7b will swallow one third of that.

Get your computer to a shop.

Two alternatives.

1. get a bigger hard drive.

2. Install win XP.

[UbonOz]

36 GB?

Windows 7b will swallow one third of that.

Get your computer to a shop.

Two alternatives.

1. get a bigger hard drive.

2. Install win XP.

Thanks, will take to shop.

I assume I can get a larger hard drive.

What size do you think is needed?

[PoorSucker]

36 GB?

Windows 7b will swallow one third of that.

Get your computer to a shop.

Two alternatives.

1. get a bigger hard drive.

2. Install win XP.

Thanks, will take to shop.

I assume I can get a larger hard drive.

What size do you think is needed?

I have 200 GB on my laptop.

They don't sell small hard drives anymore.

Same price for 200 GB as for your old 36 GB.

Ask the shop to fit in a new hard drive and transfer all data from the old one.

[UbonOz]

36 GB?

Windows 7b will swallow one third of that.

Get your computer to a shop.

Two alternatives.

1. get a bigger hard drive.

2. Install win XP.

Thanks, will take to shop.

I assume I can get a larger hard drive.

What size do you think is needed?

I have 200 GB on my laptop.

They don't sell small hard drives anymore.

Same price for 200 GB as for your old 36 GB.

Ask the shop to fit in a new hard drive and transfer all data from the old one.

Thanks, will get it fixed

[aarn]

Gosh, your machine must have been running really slowwwwwwlllllllly! Good luck finding a 200Gb hard drive to replace your 36/40. If you can, it might also be a good idea to check in the store if you can increase your RAM, that will boost performance.

In my (somewhat limited) computing experience, win7 starts to go slower once the HD is >25% used. So shift anything that you don't anticipate using (for, say, the next few days) over to your 1Tb storage system, copy it back when needed later.

You can get advice (google) concerning switching off features that slow the boot-up time etc.

If you opt to go back to xp, just beware that MS are going to stop supporting it soon (within the year?)

Good luck, AA

[Pib]

Some info/suggestions from the Windows web site regarding low disk space: Link

[UbonOz]

Gosh, your machine must have been running really slowwwwwwlllllllly! Good luck finding a 200Gb hard drive to replace your 36/40. If you can, it might also be a good idea to check in the store if you can increase your RAM, that will boost performance.

In my (somewhat limited) computing experience, win7 starts to go slower once the HD is >25% used. So shift anything that you don't anticipate using (for, say, the next few days) over to your 1Tb storage system, copy it back when needed later.

You can get advice (google) concerning switching off features that slow the boot-up time etc.

If you opt to go back to xp, just beware that MS are going to stop supporting it soon (within the year?)

Good luck, AA

Is it hard to get a 200GB hard drive?

I will go and visit the shop today and see what I can get. I am backing up everything now before I go.

Thanks for everbody's help

[BB1950]

If you opt to go back to xp, just beware that MS are going to stop supporting it soon (within the year?)

The actual end of support for Windows XP service pack 3 is April 8, 2014.

Previous versions of Windows XP (prior to service pack 3) are no longer supported.

Source: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/products/lifecycle

[klikster]

Consider a hybrid drive http://www.seagate.c...ops/laptop-hdd/

[curtklay]

I think it's time to buy a new computer with better specs.

[UbonOz]

My laptop is only two years old.

I would prefer to add a better hard drive and RAM, it still works well.

I shudder at buying a new laptop and having to transfer all my data etc.

Which new laptop is worth the investment?

[astral]

My advice is get the extra disk space and stay with Win 7.

Make sure you take your installation disks so they can reinstall Win 7 correctly

[steve187]

if you only have a 40gb hard drive installed in your laptop,( a 40gb hd only has a usable space of about 36gb) i would think it is an IDE hd. most newer/ larger hd's are SATA, and will not fit. A 'clone' can be made of your hd making it easy to replace.

when you look at 'computer' from the start menu how many hd are there?

What is the make and model of your laptop.

Do not change back to XP, it will not help. as already posted, reducing the size of your 'system restore' space will.

[curtklay]

My laptop is only two years old.

I would prefer to add a better hard drive and RAM, it still works well.

I shudder at buying a new laptop and having to transfer all my data etc.

Which new laptop is worth the investment?

You're going to have to reload everything whether you go with a larger hard drive or a new computer. If you're happy with what you have, back up all your data to an external hd, and delete your data from the computer's hd. That will give you back the original space on your computer.

A 2 year old computer with only a 40gb hard drive sounds kind of low end. Instead of replacing the hd, increasing RAM, etc. I'd invest in a computer with a larger hd, more RAM, and better processor. Dell is the only Windows computer I'd buy. If money is no object, I'd get a Macbook.

[BB1950]

Being the computer is only 2 years old, I doubt the hard drive is only 40GB. It probably has the operating system on a small partition. I would look in to checking if it is partitioned and if it is, re-size the partition.

Here is a good free partition manager:

http://www.partitionwizard.com/

I also doubt it has an IDE drive.

Edited April 1, 2012 by BB1950

[whybother]

You only (from what I read) talk about space on "C" drive. What spaces do you have on any other drives?

Suggestion ... download "Tree Size Free" which will tell you where the space is being used. You might be able to move some things off onto an external drive.

[UbonOz]

I have a Compaq Presario CQ40

Windows 7 (C:) - 292MB free of 35.9GB

Data (E:) - 184GB free of 196GB

My Book (F:) - 776GB free of 930GB

[whybother]

I have a Compaq Presario CQ40

Windows 7 (C:) - 292MB free of 35.9GB

Data (E:) - 184GB free of 196GB

My Book (F:) - 776GB free of 930GB

Move your "My Documents" folder to "E" drive.

A lot of apps automatically save files to the "C" drive. Try and find those files and move them.

[UbonOz]

I have a Compaq Presario CQ40

Windows 7 (C:) - 292MB free of 35.9GB

Data (E:) - 184GB free of 196GB

My Book (F:) - 776GB free of 930GB

Move your "My Documents" folder to "E" drive.

A lot of apps automatically save files to the "C" drive. Try and find those files and move them.

Not sure how to do that, I don't want to lose anything.

[whybother]

I have a Compaq Presario CQ40

Windows 7 (C:) - 292MB free of 35.9GB

Data (E:) - 184GB free of 196GB

My Book (F:) - 776GB free of 930GB

Move your "My Documents" folder to "E" drive.

A lot of apps automatically save files to the "C" drive. Try and find those files and move them.

Not sure how to do that, I don't want to lose anything.

Actually ... I'm not sure how to do it with Windows 7 either. You could do it with Vista.

So ... next ...

Check what folders are taking up all your space on C drive.

Pictures, Music, Documents ... and probably a lot of other stuff ... can be moved to your E drive.

As I suggested above, check out TreeSizeFree ... http://www.jam-software.com/treesize_free/ ... it's good for working out which folders are taking up space. Then you can ask questions about specific folders.

[UbonOz]

Just looking at the drives and My Documents is in E drive.

I am a little confused

[whybother]

Just looking at the drives and My Documents is in E drive.

I am a little confused

OK ... you need to find what is taking up the space on C drive.

[UbonOz]

I have run TreeSize.

What do I do now?

[whybother]

I have run TreeSize.

What do I do now?

Besides Windows (edit: and program folders), what are the big folders?

Edited April 1, 2012 by whybother

[BB1950]

Read this:

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/18629-user-folders-change-default-location.html

[UbonOz]

I have run TreeSize.

What do I do now?

Besides Windows, what are the big folders?

19,111.5MB - Users

13,877.5MB - Windows

3,345.8MB - Program Files

1,652.1MB - Program Data

574.4MB - (5 Files)

528.3MB - MSO Cache

482.1MB - System Volume Information

141.2MB - Recovery

16.6MB - saw setup

1.9MB - temp

0.5MB - SYSTEM.SAV

0.0MB - $Recycle.Bin

0.0MB - Config.Msi

0.0MB - Documents and Settings

0.0MB - PerfLogs

[PoorSucker]

Instructions for re-size your partitions.

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/resize-a-partition-for-free-in-windows-vista/