C drive nearly full [Archive] - Caithness.Org Forums

daviddd

22-Sep-08, 14:53

We have a 2-3 year old Fujitsu PC with (only) a 10Gig C drive which is nearly full. We're getting a new PC soon but keep getting error messages when the remaining space is down to 300 meg or so. The thing I'm curious about is that the PC also has a 'D' drive (this is not the CD/DVD drive which is E) - apparently another hard drive - that is only 1/3 full. Anything saved seems to go onto the C drive so how does the D drive get filled? Are there 2 hard drives? How does one access the D drive if so?

Bobinovich

22-Sep-08, 16:04

dortmunder

22-Sep-08, 16:26

Are there 2 hard drives? How does one access the D drive if so?
There won't be 2 hard drives. It sounds like your disk was 'partitioned' i.e. split into different drives although they're all still part of the one disk. Most common purpose of this is to separate the operating system (Windows) from your day-to-day files i.e. Windows is loaded on to the C drive and you would then use the D drive for everything else. I had my PC's disk partitioned into 3 - C, D & E drives.

blueivy

22-Sep-08, 16:45

Usually when installing programs it asks where you want it to go and you can substitute the default C:\ with a D:\ and thereby use the D: drive instead.

In the meantime you can could a Documents folder on D: and drag some of your files from My Documents into it to relieve the pressure on the C: drive.

There are other things you can do to free space on your C: drive but if you're investing in a new PC it may not be worth while.

Before you do any of this let us know what your D: drive is called (if you go into My Computer the D: drive will have a name - although is may just be called D:)

If it's a Recovery partition then it's best to leave it alone but if it is a Recovery partition it will have a name indicating this. Coying files to the Recovery partition may cause you problems (although if you have your original Windows CD's and you're getting a new PC this may not matter).

daviddd

23-Sep-08, 20:57

thanks for this guys. Whilst C is nearly full there's 10 gig (of 15) free on D - can I use that 10 gig in some way? It looks as if there's only software and the XP operating system on the c drive, but it is just about full. Can I move sorftware e.g. XP from C to D?

What I can't understand is that yesterday on C there was 800 meg free, whereas todayb there's only 300!! We haven't added any software or anything else that I'm aware of - what's going on?

blueivy

24-Sep-08, 12:42

thanks for this guys. Whilst C is nearly full there's 10 gig (of 15) free on D - can I use that 10 gig in some way? It looks as if there's only software and the XP operating system on the c drive, but it is just about full. Can I move sorftware e.g. XP from C to D?

Hi David,

I wouldn't recommend you move software to the Recovery Partition (which is what D looks like it is) however if it's temporary and you're getting a new laptop you should get away with it. Just be careful what you move.

Create a folder though and keep the files in it (don't put them in the root of the drive). If you have problems and need to use the Recovery Partition to reinstall Windows you may have problems though if there are other files on there.

What I can't understand is that yesterday on C there was 800 meg free, whereas todayb there's only 300!! We haven't added any software or anything else that I'm aware of - what's going on?The Pagefile may have taken up this space. When you run lots of programs they won't all fit in memory. Windows creates a Pagefile and puts the data that is in memory for programs that not doing anything into this Pagefile freeing up more memory for you to run extra programs in. Windows manges this file (unless you've changed thta) so it will grow and shrink as needed. The more programs you are running the bigger the file will be. Unless you know what you're doing it's best to not play with the settings and make sure you don't turn it off (again unless you know what you're doing).