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Laptop disk space woes

Red_Dave

Libertarian socialist
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Hi all. I have been having some trouble installing updates as each time I try to do so it tells me that I don´t have enough space. I tried removing literally everything that didn´t come with the computer but it still insists that its full. I tried wiping everything and restarting the computer from scratch but it seems I don´t have enough space to do that either. Does anyone know what might be happening and what solution there could be?
 
Hi all. I have been having some trouble installing updates as each time I try to do so it tells me that I don´t have enough space. I tried removing literally everything that didn´t come with the computer but it still insists that its full. I tried wiping everything and restarting the computer from scratch but it seems I don´t have enough space to do that either. Does anyone know what might be happening and what solution there could be?

How big is the drive?

Have you tried the "Clean Up" option? Selecting the "System Files" option allows you to dump old updates.
 
Hi all. I have been having some trouble installing updates as each time I try to do so it tells me that I don´t have enough space. I tried removing literally everything that didn´t come with the computer but it still insists that its full. I tried wiping everything and restarting the computer from scratch but it seems I don´t have enough space to do that either. Does anyone know what might be happening and what solution there could be?
How large is the disk? Are there multiple disk drives? Which one is the OS installed on?
 
Hi all. I have been having some trouble installing updates as each time I try to do so it tells me that I don´t have enough space. I tried removing literally everything that didn´t come with the computer but it still insists that its full. I tried wiping everything and restarting the computer from scratch but it seems I don´t have enough space to do that either. Does anyone know what might be happening and what solution there could be?

Year, make, model, amount of RAM, size of hard disk?
Much more info needed but without these basics, you might as well be talking about a casserole dish.
 
Hi all. I have been having some trouble installing updates as each time I try to do so it tells me that I don´t have enough space. I tried removing literally everything that didn´t come with the computer but it still insists that its full. I tried wiping everything and restarting the computer from scratch but it seems I don´t have enough space to do that either. Does anyone know what might be happening and what solution there could be?

Solutions are 1) buy a new computer, new computers have lots of disk space. 2) Buy a separate hard disk, though it might not help if the operating system doesn't fit onto the actual computer.
 
Hi all. I have been having some trouble installing updates as each time I try to do so it tells me that I don´t have enough space. I tried removing literally everything that didn´t come with the computer but it still insists that its full. I tried wiping everything and restarting the computer from scratch but it seems I don´t have enough space to do that either. Does anyone know what might be happening and what solution there could be?
A couple possibilities.

1) Possible Problem: Your hard drive is dying.
Explanation: When hard drives start to fail, all sorts of issues can occur, including Windows not being able to read disk size appropriately.
Solution: Buy a new hard drive and reinstall Windows. If you have Windows 10, it SHOULD activate automatically.
Possibility Percentage: 10-25%

2) Possible Problem: You have Windows 10 and you're trying to install the latest Update.
Explanation: The May 2019 update to Windows 10 is quite large and tries to reserve space on your hard drive for future updates. If you have an older computer (especially an older SSD), it's possible you do not have the room the update requires.
Solution: A) Buy a new hard drive or B) Ignore the update or C) keep uninstalling software.
Possibility Percentage: 40-60%

3) Possible Problem: Your hard drive is full
Explanation: Similar to the last one, your hard drive is just full of stuff. If you have movies on your computer, I would start there. Next, if you go to the Add/Remove Programs (or Apps and Features it is called in Windows 10), you should be able to sort your installed software by file size. Find your biggest ones and remove.
Solution: Uninstall software or buy another hard drive
Possibility Percentage: 50-70%

4) Possible Problem: Windows Update is screwed up
Explanation: Sometimes Windows Update just sucks and malfunctions (though less with Windows 10 than other versions in my experience)
Solution: A) ignore the updates or B) take it to a tech person who can help you
Possibility Percentage: 10-15%


Without more information, it is hard to know exactly what your issue is. If you can take a screenshot of your "My Computer" screen (the one where it shows how much hard drive space you have), it could really help us identify your problem and possible solution. At a bare minimum, here is one thing you can do:

Go to your "My Computer" screen where you see your hard drive and how much space is on it. It will most likely be your "C:" drive. Right click on your C: drive and select Properties. On the "General" tab in the new windows, select "Disk Cleanup". On the Disk Cleanup screen, click "Clean up system files". Once it finds all the system files, you should be able to safely delete anything listed. Often old Windows updates have a lot of file space claimed and by cleaning up Windows Update files, you can reclaim hard disk space.
 
A couple possibilities.

1) Possible Problem: Your hard drive is dying.
Explanation: When hard drives start to fail, all sorts of issues can occur, including Windows not being able to read disk size appropriately.
Solution: Buy a new hard drive and reinstall Windows. If you have Windows 10, it SHOULD activate automatically.
Possibility Percentage: 10-25%

2) Possible Problem: You have Windows 10 and you're trying to install the latest Update.
Explanation: The May 2019 update to Windows 10 is quite large and tries to reserve space on your hard drive for future updates. If you have an older computer (especially an older SSD), it's possible you do not have the room the update requires.
Solution: A) Buy a new hard drive or B) Ignore the update or C) keep uninstalling software.
Possibility Percentage: 40-60%

3) Possible Problem: Your hard drive is full
Explanation: Similar to the last one, your hard drive is just full of stuff. If you have movies on your computer, I would start there. Next, if you go to the Add/Remove Programs (or Apps and Features it is called in Windows 10), you should be able to sort your installed software by file size. Find your biggest ones and remove.
Solution: Uninstall software or buy another hard drive
Possibility Percentage: 50-70%

4) Possible Problem: Windows Update is screwed up
Explanation: Sometimes Windows Update just sucks and malfunctions (though less with Windows 10 than other versions in my experience)
Solution: A) ignore the updates or B) take it to a tech person who can help you
Possibility Percentage: 10-15%


Without more information, it is hard to know exactly what your issue is. If you can take a screenshot of your "My Computer" screen (the one where it shows how much hard drive space you have), it could really help us identify your problem and possible solution. At a bare minimum, here is one thing you can do:

Go to your "My Computer" screen where you see your hard drive and how much space is on it. It will most likely be your "C:" drive. Right click on your C: drive and select Properties. On the "General" tab in the new windows, select "Disk Cleanup". On the Disk Cleanup screen, click "Clean up system files". Once it finds all the system files, you should be able to safely delete anything listed. Often old Windows updates have a lot of file space claimed and by cleaning up Windows Update files, you can reclaim hard disk space.
I agree with all the above, but I'd also add he should do an 'Error Check' of the hard drive via Windows, to see if there are any bad sectors, and then use the UEFI/BIOS hard drive diagnostics, and see what turns up.
 
I agree with all the above, but I'd also add he should do an 'Error Check' of the hard drive via Windows, to see if there are any bad sectors, and then use the UEFI/BIOS hard drive diagnostics, and see what turns up.
Not a bad idea either.

Do a search and type in "cmd". Right click on the "cmd" and Run as Administrator. At the command line, type: chkdsk /f

It will tell you it cannot do a check while the computer is running and that you need to restart. Restart the computer and let it do a disk check. See if that helps.
 
Not a bad idea either.

Do a search and type in "cmd". Right click on the "cmd" and Run as Administrator. At the command line, type: chkdsk /f

It will tell you it cannot do a check while the computer is running and that you need to restart. Restart the computer and let it do a disk check. See if that helps.
Red_Dave if this fails to resolve your problem, I'd suggest going into the BIOS and running a hard drive diagnostic test for a second check. I assume you know how to get into the BIOS, but if you don't just search on the web for your computer models access key.

If both tests find nothing or the tests stall out it's likely your hard drive is simply failing. Another symptom of that can be excessive heat from the hard drive bay, grinding/clicking noises, and sudden shutdowns and system crashes.

Regardless, you should start saving your data NOW - as in right this moment.
 
Linux or Windows?
 
Linux or Windows?
Generally speaking, if someone tells me they do not know how to figure out how much storage is on their hard drive, I am going to assume it is not Linux. :)

Mac, maybe, but not Linux.
 
I know some versions of Windows don't dispose of the old update packages after they get installed, which will add up dramatically over time.

It might be possible to manually delete those and free up quite a bit of space, but we'll need to know the version of Windows you're using.
 
2) Possible Problem: You have Windows 10 and you're trying to install the latest Update.
Explanation: The May 2019 update to Windows 10 is quite large and tries to reserve space on your hard drive for future updates. If you have an older computer (especially an older SSD), it's possible you do not have the room the update requires.
Solution: A) Buy a new hard drive or B) Ignore the update or C) keep uninstalling software.
Possibility Percentage: 40-60%.

Bingo! well almost. I have windows 10 and it would have been around May this year that everything started to act up. Thing is its a new computer and I have taken literally everything off. Like I say i tried to restart everything from scratch just to be sure and it wouldnt even let me do that.
 
I know some versions of Windows don't dispose of the old update packages after they get installed, which will add up dramatically over time.

It might be possible to manually delete those and free up quite a bit of space, but we'll need to know the version of Windows you're using.

10 :)
 
Hi all. I have been having some trouble installing updates as each time I try to do so it tells me that I don´t have enough space. I tried removing literally everything that didn´t come with the computer but it still insists that its full. I tried wiping everything and restarting the computer from scratch but it seems I don´t have enough space to do that either. Does anyone know what might be happening and what solution there could be?

When you are on task manager, is it saying Dish 100% full? You have Windows 10? I would google that problem, there are a number of things you can do and deactivate to help that out. Seems to be a problem with Windows 10
 
Bingo! well almost. I have windows 10 and it would have been around May this year that everything started to act up. Thing is its a new computer and I have taken literally everything off. Like I say i tried to restart everything from scratch just to be sure and it wouldnt even let me do that.

Questions that need to be answered: what is the size (capacity) of your drive, and how much is on it?
 

WinDirStat - Windows Directory Statistics

This is small utility that will tell you in detail what is using space on your drive. It'll give you a fairly solid idea of where the problem lies. If you want, post the results here and we can chew on them.


10 best ways to free up hard drive space on Windows 10 | Windows Central

This has several options to help free up space via the system. Seems like you'd tried some of this already, but maybe worthwhile. I don't and would never recommend #8, as drive compression has a sketchy history and even if it's better nowadays, I will never trust it.


How to Free Over 10GB of Disk Space After Installing Windows 10’s May 2019 Update

This talks about the recent update issue, and how to free up that space, if it impacts you.

Hope it helps!
 
Bingo! well almost. I have windows 10 and it would have been around May this year that everything started to act up. Thing is its a new computer and I have taken literally everything off. Like I say i tried to restart everything from scratch just to be sure and it wouldnt even let me do that.
If it's a brand new computer, did you buy it from a store or custom order it? If you custom ordered, things may be different but if you got it from a store then my guess is your hard drive is failing. It can happen in new computers.

As other people have stated, if you can tell us what size your hard drive is, then it can lead us to better help. If you bought it from the store, can you tell us what the model is? It's often listed on the computer tower.
 
If it's a brand new computer, did you buy it from a store or custom order it? If you custom ordered, things may be different but if you got it from a store then my guess is your hard drive is failing. It can happen in new computers.

As other people have stated, if you can tell us what size your hard drive is, then it can lead us to better help. If you bought it from the store, can you tell us what the model is? It's often listed on the computer tower.

No it came from a store. It say i have 27.8 GB of which there is only 134 mb left
 
No it came from a store. It say i have 27.8 GB of which there is only 134 mb left
...if you bought a brand new computer from the store with only 32 GB of storage, that is not good. Like, tablets come with more storage. I hope you didn't pay more than $250 or $300 for it.

You need to buy a hard drive. You're not going to have enough storage space, no matter what you delete. There are HDD and SSD drives. HDD will usually get you more storage for less money, but SSD will be noticeably faster. Depending on your budget, I would recommend a minimum of a 256 SSD or a 500 GB HDD. Windows now gives you the ability to download and create your own installation disc, so I would do that and then install a new hard drive. There are plenty of instructions on how to do that, or if you'd like I could try to help you here.
 
...if you bought a brand new computer from the store with only 32 GB of storage, that is not good ~

Just had a look as Red Dave is posting from the UK. There are computers being sold with 32GB hard discs but they are sold as internet machines. Worst case scenario - some of these machines might even have the hard disc soldered on as they are pretty cheap at around £150 so possibly not even user serviceable in the slightest.

Could he hook up and run his laptop from a large external hard disk?
 
Just had a look as Red Dave is posting from the UK. There are computers being sold with 32GB hard discs but they are sold as internet machines. Worst case scenario - some of these machines might even have the hard disc soldered on as they are pretty cheap at around £150 so possibly not even user serviceable in the slightest.

Could he hook up and run his laptop from a large external hard disk?
I'm not familiar with the machines of which you speak, so I do not know if they will allow booting from an external device. Additionally, if the machine is that inexpensive, it may be that it does not have enough or the correct ports to run a USB device (much less any other kind of port). Finally, running an entire computer over USB (especially USB 2.0) would likely be fairly slow in terms of performance.

So the answer is "I don't know, but my guess is he would not want to even if he could".
 
I'm not familiar with the machines of which you speak, so I do not know if they will allow booting from an external device. Additionally, if the machine is that inexpensive, it may be that it does not have enough or the correct ports to run a USB device (much less any other kind of port). Finally, running an entire computer over USB (especially USB 2.0) would likely be fairly slow in terms of performance.

So the answer is "I don't know, but my guess is he would not want to even if he could".

It would be so much easier if Red Dave posted the machine specs here and we could help. Personally, I think it's an internet machine only, not meant for any other software other than browser based applications.
 
My Raspberry Pi which costs about $90 with all the accessories has more storage than that.

No it came from a store. It say i have 27.8 GB of which there is only 134 mb left
 
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