SOLVED D drive running out of memory

[Rhea]

I have just installed Trend Micro Antivirus on my laptop (as the 2nd computer). I have been getting a message stating that I am running of of memory on D: drive - only 2.11 MB left out of 20.9GB. I have already switched D: off a while back.

The Recovery Drive D: is empty. On F: drive there is an HP Tools which is 10.1GB. - could this be the Recovery Drive as it contains BIOS, BIOS update and SystemDiags?

Should I copy delete both partitions (?) and then delete them? if so, how?

I still cannot understand why D: drive is so full and it states it is empty.


Laptop: Windows 10 Pro 64-bit, AMD Phenom 11 N970 Quad Core Processor, 4.0 GB Ram, Microsoft Basic Display Adapter, 444GB Hard drive

 

[Ian]

Hi Rhea,

I'm a little confused by the conflicting messages too - could you please post a screenshot of the message that Trend AV shows you, plus a screenshot of your drives from File Explorer?

I wouldn't delete any partitions until we can be sure what is going on - it could be that Trend AV detects that one of your drives has no free space left, but that this drive is the recovery partition (which is generally not shown in File Explorer). If this is the case, the manufacturer normally makes the partition the same size as the recovery data so that no space is wasted (a good thing!).

 

[Rhea]

Sorry Ian,
Have just come through to see your message. I cannot give you any screenshots until tomorrow as I kept getting the message and decided to do a system restore, of course the battery ran out on the laptop whilst I was in bed so I have connected it to power and it is initializing. Will get back to you tomorrow. (I am on my desktop at the moment).

 

[Grizzly]

I think your recovery drive is for the factory restore. Many manufacturers assign those drives and the ones with the tools a drive letter instead of hiding them.
As Ian said, do not delete those drives (which are actually partitions).
IMHO Trend Micro is a little overreacting regarding those drives and I believe that you can ignore the messages.
just my 2 cents...

 

[Rhea]

Could'nt sleep. Attached are the screenshots you requested.
Many thanks for your help. Have rolled back prior installing Trend. Think it would be better for me to sort this out as there isn't much space.

 

[Ian]

That looks ok to me - your recovery partition is where the data is to restore your PC if something goes wrong, so there's no point in that drive having free space.

If you're happy to edit the registry, you can disable this message using the following method (below). When editing the registry you need to be very careful, as changing any other data could cause problems.

1. Open the Registry Editor by right clicking on Start > Run and running "REGEDIT".

2. Navigate to the following location:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\ Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

3. Right-click in the blank area of the right-hand pane of the Registry Editor and create a new DWORD Value by selecting New -> DWORD Value.

4. Name this new DWORD Value NoLowDiscSpaceChecks

5. Double-click on the new DWORD value and assign it a value of 1.

6. Close the Registry Editor and restart the computer.

 

[Rhea]

Many thanks Ian,

Will do this during the afternoon (when I have a bit of patience).

This still does not explain why the File Explorer D: shows only 2.11MB free of 20.99GB.
I cannot access any of the files in the Recovery Drive as it says it is empty, even though the properties state that it is taking up 331MB. Where is the other 20.66GB gone that the File Explorer shows?
Should I allow more GB in the D: drive to be on the safe side? If so, how please?

 

[Grizzly]

Just leave the drive d: as is and do not worry about it. the files cannot be accessed as they are either in a format Windows does not recognize or they are hidden. Manufacturer do that to prevent accidental deletion of the files.
If you change anything on your drive D:, you may damage the installation routines that can revert your computer to the factory state (out of the box).

 

[Rhea]

Thanks Grizzly, have not done anything yet as have been too busy Will try tomorrow.

 

[Rhea]

That looks ok to me - your recovery partition is where the data is to restore your PC if something goes wrong, so there's no point in that drive having free space.

If you're happy to edit the registry, you can disable this message using the following method (below). When editing the registry you need to be very careful, as changing any other data could cause problems.

1. Open the Registry Editor by right clicking on Start > Run and running "REGEDIT".

2. Navigate to the following location:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\ Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

3. Right-click in the blank area of the right-hand pane of the Registry Editor and create a new DWORD Value by selecting New -> DWORD Value.

4. Name this new DWORD Value NoLowDiscSpaceChecks

5. Double-click on the new DWORD value and assign it a value of 1.

6. Close the Registry Editor and restart the computer.

Ian, have followed your instructions up until CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer - cannot find Explorer on the menu (running Windows 10 Home)
.
I right-clicked on in the blank area of Policies and there was a pop-up telling me that DWORD is for 32bit and QWORD is for 64bit. My laptop is 64bit - thought I had better check this with you first before I put in QWORD.

Many thanks.

 

[Ian]

Hi Rhea,

I've made a .reg file that will make the changes for you, which may be easier . Just unzip this attachment and run the .reg file - you'll need to allow permissions when prompted, then accept the registry data merge.

If you'd like, you can right click the .reg file and select "edit" before running it. This will allow you to preview the changes and see how it works - it's good practice when downloading and running a .reg file, as it's a very powerful tool that can do damage if misused.

 

[Comp Cmndo]

I have an HP laptop, disk partitions are configured the same way.
RECOVERY partition is the installation image that was used to install the Windows version that came with the machine. F11 at power-on will start that Windows installation. It's not used for anything else. It should not be running out of space.
HP_TOOLS is used to install the BIOS updates.

There should be a way to stop the low disk space message. You could take a little bit from "C" & give it to "D".

Likely, Win10 needed space for it's Recovery partition & it took it from "D" instead of "C".
You need to view the partition manager to see the ones that don't have drive letters.
Computer Management---Disk Management

 

[Rhea]

Many thanks to Ian, Grizzly & Comp Cmndo for all the assistance.

Ian, I have downloaded the .reg file and run it........so far so good.

Comp, good idea but how do I give D: some of C: storage.

 

[Wolfie]

Hi Rhea,

one of the possible reasons that your D: drive (partition) is nearly full is because of "hidden files" which may well include system restore points and the waste bin (trash) among other things?.

Do you have a system cleaner installed (Ccleaner for instance) or have you used on-board system cleaner?:

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/best-way-clean-windows-10-step-step-guide/

https://www.howtogeek.com/113382/how-to-use-ccleaner-like-a-pro-9-tips-tricks/

 

[Rhea]

Thanks Wolfie, I used ccleaner but only had 3GB deleted, no difference to the D: drive.
Would like to put some of the C: drive onto the D: drive.
Can anybody help me please.

Since I downloaded Ian's .reg everything seems to be working alright, no more warnings of 'running out of memory'.

 

[Wolfie]

Would like to put some of the C: drive onto the D: drive.

Hi Rhea,

you can simply copy and paste whatever you want over (not system files as most are hidden), you can then delete the old files when you are certain that all have copied over successfully!.

Take a look here if you don't know how to do it:

https://seniorplanet.org/how-do-i-copy-and-paste-on-my-computer/

 

[Grizzly]

Hi Rhea,
what you also could do is create Factory Discs if your laptop allows that. There should be a program in the manufacturers folder for that (HP,Dell etc.). Since I do not know what brand and model you have I can not point you in the right direction....

 

[Rhea]

Grizzly & Wolfie,
Many thanks for your suggestions. I do know how to copy & paste, but there is nothing there that I can do it with. I thought the easiest way to do it was to put a few screenshots so that you can see. Details of my HP laptop are on my original post. Sorry that there are so many of them.

 

[Wolfie]

HI Rhea,

in the pasted shot, it shows that D: drive is your "Recovery" drive and is most likely write protected to stop any bugs getting on to the drive and that is why you cannot paste anything to it!.

 

[Rhea]

I noticed that D; drive contains Windows10Upgrade, can these three files be copy & pasted to a file on my C: drive, thereby giving me 3.3GB to still use on D: The folders are as per screenshot.