Error message saying local disk E is full, but it's empty

[carolsc]

I have a laptop that's over a year old, running windows 10. All of a sudden I started getting a message that local disk E is full, even tho' I didn't even know I had a disk E. When I checked it, it's empty. It's no big deal, I guess, since it seems totally irrelevant, but it's irritating and I wonder if it indicates anything I should be concerned about?

 

[Saltgrass]

Try this, but there are threads all over the place.

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us...er-after/115d2860-542e-410f-983c-2aeb8bbd7d13

 

[carolsc]

Thanks so much, Saltgrass! I'm not sure if I'll try to get rid of the thing or not, but it helps just to know why I'm getting the message, and to have the option - maybe one of these days when I'm feeling brave ;-).

 

[carolsc]

Well, I just went to that drive and right-clicked, then clicked on properties, & there it did show it as being almost full. When I just opened it, it said it was empty. Do I need to do something with it after all? I tried to run disk cleanup, and again it showed it as being 0 bytes.

 

[Saltgrass]

The messages are being generated because a very small (~450 MB) partition, which isn't normally accessed by the system, has been opened to usage by the system. Removing the drive letter stops that access and the messages stop.

The partition is normally one of the original Recovery Tools partitions which has been replaced by a new one. It seems the build upgrade may need more room in such a partition so it creates a new one.

It is easy to remove the letter. Did you try using Diskpart yet? There is no reason to run any disk cleanup.

 

[Saltgrass]

I just added a partition so I could remove it. Just make sure you pick the correct volume number and Letter. If the letter comes back, which it might do, remove it again and then shutdown the system.

 

[carolsc]

Well, I did finally follow your directions and the directions in the link you provided - thanks so much. They were very clear and I had no problem following them. The reminder thing had become very irritating, but we had company, and I didn't want to try to do this until I had quiet and energy! Thanks again!