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"Low Disk Space D Drive"

2K views 21 replies 5 participants last post by  Noyb 
#1 ·
I have a Compaq Presario with Windows XP Home Edition. I keep receiving the above message. How do I get rid of it? Yes, I know it means I don't have enough disk space on my D Drive, but how do I fix it? It won't defragment because it needs more space (I have only 45 mgs.) My D Drive is solely for Restore so I cannot delete files from there. Can I enlarge the D Drive?

Thanks, gb
 
#2 ·
The recovery partition is not usually accessible by normal Windows tools, so any modification of it may prove to be difficult. Do you know of any changes to the system that would have caused the new monitoring of the partition's disk space to have begun?

In any case, the recovery partition is often quite full normally. You can turn off the low disk space warning.

Go to Start > Run, and type:

regedit

Navigate to:

Code:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
Find or create:

REG_DWORD NoLowDiskSpaceChecks

0 for disabled and 1 for enabled.
 
#4 ·
The recovery partition is used to restore your computer, or the OEM supplied applications.
It is also used to make your recovery DVDs.

Have you made your recovery DVDs yet ? ... If not .. do it NOW.
The recovery partition will be useless if the HD crashes .. or won't boot.

And .. Welcome to the TSG Forum.
 
#7 ·
Believe it or not, Noyb, I spent an hour on the phone with HP/Compaq support last night - he walked me through the Elvandil fix, and at the end of the hour he had no more ideas. He suggested I merely delete some of the files on my D Drive. I DON'T THINK SO!!

I am currently in E-mail back-and-forth with HP/Compaq, who have given me the same "unfix", so I am still waiting for another suggestion.

Thanks for the message.

Geri
 
#8 ·
That's very Funny ...
You have a process running "recguard" that prevents reading or changing the recovery partition.

Sometimes you just have to keep trying till you get someone who knows.

I don't suggest doing this .. It can be tricky .. but you can delete the recovery partition.
Then, If you try to do a recovery, such as an application, you will get the error .. It can't find it.
Just keep poking .. It will eventually give up and ask for the DVDs.

To restore your computer back to the way is was shipped is not what you really want to do most of the time.
Have you heard about Acronis True Image and do you have an external Hard drive ??
 
#10 ·
With Acronis True Image you can backup your computer to a data file in you External Hard drive ..
Then if you have to recover ... you can recover it back to the way it was when you made the Acronis Backup.

Much better than putting it back to the way it came, without all the updates and your installed programs.

Acronis can also do it faster than you can read one DVD.
Now this is what I call recovery ... but its a different subject.
 
#11 ·
Thanks for the suggestion. That makes the most sense yet! Not sure if I want to shell out $50 + though. I'm keeping your message to think about it for the next couple of days.

Thanks again, Noyb. Of course the other option is to just place a piece of duct tape over the lower right-hand part of my screen so I can't see the message!!!!

gb
 
#12 ·
What kind of hard drive do you have in this computer? Make and model is what I am looking for?

And have you been adding files to this drive outside of the normal recovery files that were there?
 
#14 ·
Excuse me but I asked what kind of hard drive in the computer, external ones are outside of the computer? But since you have an external drive it would be possible to use the backup software to backup the drive D: to the external hard drive then you can use gparted to delete the D: drive partition and then expand the partition on Drive C: to fill the whole drive....

GParted - Gnome Partition Editor

http://gparted.sourceforge.net/
 
#16 ·
You CAN'T delete the recovery partition .. Unless it's the LAST partition on the drive.
You really have to know what your doing if it's before the C: Partition.
This can cause serious bootup problems ... like kill the computer.
Some HP/Compaq's are before the C: partition.

I'm wondering if you'd still have the problem even after you removed it.
Before you go deleting ... I'd like to see a screen shot of your Disc Management screen.

If you want to play with Acronis ... get it here.
ATI was just updated to V11 .. this is still the old version .. might wait till newegg updates.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...A=0&Description=acronis+true+image+&x=14&y=27
 
#17 ·
You really got me curious so I went Googling ...
What happens if you go to "windows restore" and shut down the monitoring of the D: drive ???
This should not hurt anything to try it.

Right click "My Computer" >> Properties >> choose the system restore (tab) ..
select the D: >> Settings ... and shut it off.
 
#20 ·
Duct Tape fixes anything .. But that's cheating :D

Thanks for the nice PM
In response .. and to let the others know … (who are also scratching their heads) …
The registry edit you mentioned can be performed by downloading the VBS script .. #11 .. from here …
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm

Each time you run this .. It will toggle Off > On (or On > Off) the Balloon Tips.
This is a whole lot Quicker/Easier/and Much Safer than manually navigating and editing the registry.

I'm thinking this is covering up a process that shouldn't even be looking at the recovery partition to start with.
But if it works for you ... That's fantastic.
I have several such band aids installed (including this one) .. and blame Bill Gates.

This will be a nice tool to have (and keep) if you ever want to switch back n forth.

If you're ready ..
You can mark this problem solved by finding the "thread tools" at the top of this page.
Might save a few others from going bald.
We'll still be here if you want to stop by and chat.
 

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