Windows 10 Updates Don't Fit on Hard Drive

figarow on 29/01/2020 - 10:58

I have a 32Gb hard drive on my Asus E200ha. Even with no apps installed and nothing on hard drive I don't have enough space to install updates…

Further to my issues I messed up the recovery partition in the hopes of creating more space which still wasn't enough…

I'm stuck wondering if I should put up with the constant update reminders and just use it as is or wipe windows 10 and put something else on it. I'm concerned however if I do that I will never see windows 10 on it again because it fails to make a recovery disc.

I have a copy of windows 7 which takes up much less room I assume and will run faster but I'm worried about driver support after reading someone else couldn't do it because stuff stopped working.

Computing Microsoft Operating System

Comments

  • Fergy1987 on 29/01/2020 - 11:10
    +8

    Get a bigger hard drive.

  • spackbace on 29/01/2020 - 11:29

    See here

    Jees reading through that you need to do a clean install of windows each time. Fk that :/

    Side note, hard drive is not upgradable unfortunately, it's emmc on the motherboard

    I managed to update to version 1803 successfully and still have free 9G on (C) drive.
    * Using a different PC, I downloaded Media Creation Tool from https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10
    * Using the tool, I made a (bootable) USB 16G flash drive (formatted in NTFS).

    Alternatively, you can download a ISO file, unpack it, and copy to the flash drive.

    (It won't be bootable, but you will not need that feature.)

    • I moved all my files to a SD card, but I left a few applications on the main (C) drive

    including Office 2000, Chrome, e-mail client, and Adobe Acrobat.

    • I inserted my USB flash drive and double clicked the setup.exe file.

    I chose the option to keep all my files, apps, and setting.

    It told me that I had enough free memory (10G) on the USB drive, but I needed

    about 4G free memory on drive (C), which as you know is hard to find.

    This is how I found it.

    I went to (C) -> Windows -> SoftwareDistribution -> Download

    and emptied it. I was allowed to proceed with installation.

    • Installation went fine without any problems. It took a long time, perhaps, 7 or 8 hours. I deleted Windows.old folder and now have about 9G free on (C)
    • blitz on 29/01/2020 - 18:32

      Can confirm. I have a Lenovo Ideapad with 32Gig and used the first method to update Win 10 no problems at all.

    • figarow on 30/01/2020 - 18:18

      I'm in the process of trying this but hit a snag with HDD space. I have no old.windows folder and there is only 100mb in SoftwareDistribution -> Download. I have restore points disabled and there are almost no apps to delete. Nothing taking up space in programs.

      I did find a file to delete that will give me enough space.. It is "usmt.ppkg"

      No matter how hard I try I can't delete the file: "the process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process"

      I have tried rebooting to safe mode and also rebooting to CMD using this method https://superuser.com/questions/1135565/how-to-force-the-del…

      Linux is looking good right now but I really want to get windows 10.. I feel so close..

      Out of desperation gave "Delete.On.Reboot 1.11" a go but no love..

  • websterp on 29/01/2020 - 11:36
    +4

    The had drive on your laptop is not upgradeable as it uses a 32GB eMMC (the chips are soldered to the mainboard) so if you prefer to keep the laptop try to install win 7 or a Linux distro.

    Even if you managed to get a stripped down win 10 to work, the user experience would be terrible, more likely totally unusable and there won't be space left for any applications to be installed. I would upgrade to a newer model with a decent SSD instead of putting more time into this one.

    • DemocracyManifest on 29/01/2020 - 12:59

      Bizarre the manufacturer recommends win 10 when there’s simply not enough storage, insanity

    • blitz on 29/01/2020 - 18:34

      Even if you managed to get a stripped down win 10 to work, the user experience would be terrible, more likely totally unusable

      I originally thought this might be the case, but I'm using a lean Windows 10 on a Lenovo Ideapad and it's sound as a pound. Even better, I have no Candy Crush Saga or similar junk cluttering up the experience.

    • x4m2b on 30/01/2020 - 04:00

      Even if you managed to get a stripped down win 10 to work, the user experience would be terrible, more likely totally unusable

      Its actually the opposite

  • c64 on 29/01/2020 - 11:39
    +2

    i had no idea they made laptops with only 32gb storage. i mean wtf!

  • The mikky on 29/01/2020 - 11:53

    Pull it apart and see if there is another HDD port inside.

    I had a Lenovo laptop with the same problem however I was able to put in an M2 SSD and expanded it that way.

  • o53djz7qTPY4der on 29/01/2020 - 11:56

    You can always make your own windows 10 USB with the ISO.

    Just install Linux, Mint/Ubuntu Variant or Manjaro will do fine on 32gb

    • Typical16-bitEnjoyer on 29/01/2020 - 14:18

      32bit efi bootloader. It is an absolute pain in the ass :(

      Best option is to sell the laptop.

  • ESEMCE on 29/01/2020 - 12:05
    +1

    Delete all the previously installed update files and system snapshots.

    https://www.technig.com/delete-windows-10-update-files/

    32Gb should be sufficient assuming you have a very lean app selection. MS Office is massive, so try to steer clear of it.

  • ode1online on 29/01/2020 - 12:05

    Heres an article from a couple of years ago about the issue

    https://www.theguardian.com/technology/askjack/2017/jan/05/w…

    Id suggest also looking for anything you can remove. EG windows10old folder etc

  • Baysew on 29/01/2020 - 12:34
    +2

    How to Upgrade to the latest Windows 10 Feature Update on a Drive with Limited Space

    Note. Not sure if this works, have same sort of issue, but never got around to trying out solution.

  • [Deactivated] on 29/01/2020 - 12:49
    +1

    Might be able to reduce your virtual memory which takes up space.

    • CC123 on 29/01/2020 - 13:28

      and disable hibernation unless the OP uses it as that uses a fair amount of space.

  • DemocracyManifest on 29/01/2020 - 12:58

    Considering the system specs I would install this https://forum.manjaro.org/t/manjaro-xfce-minimal-18-0-4/8059… or your preferred Linux distribution with minimal included software. Xubuntu would be good too.

    Good it has a SD card slot for downloads etc.

    You should have no issue installing Linux and the packages are easy to install the majority of the time as well

    • Typical16-bitEnjoyer on 29/01/2020 - 14:20
      +1

      I posted above, this model has a 32bit efi bootloader. It's a pain to get installed.

      I've done it once on an X205TA model and it was not fun lol.

      • o53djz7qTPY4der on 29/01/2020 - 14:27

        Debian has a 32bit version.

      • spackbace on 29/01/2020 - 14:28
        +1

        I posted the steps early in this post.

        Yeah, it's a PITA but can be done

        • DemocracyManifest on 29/01/2020 - 14:40

          Very odd about issues with drivers, I mean it is possible to cut down windows 10 to size but hopefully with future kernels and the community issues are ironed out with Linux

  • pjetson on 29/01/2020 - 13:20
    +3

    I think I read somewhere that Windows will use any available storage for its temporary files during updates. Does your device have an SD or MicroSD card slot? Does the update work if you put a large enough card into that slot?

    Or can you plug a USB stick or external USB drive in and see if that helps?

  • Mechz on 29/01/2020 - 14:41
    -1

    Get a copy of win98se. I used to be able to trim that down to 180mb after the original installation was closer to 250mb.

    • DemocracyManifest on 30/01/2020 - 02:11

      Even if a troll that would be sick for comps with dodgy ACPI implementation

  • Riczter on 29/01/2020 - 16:52
    +2

    Had the same problem. It gave the option to insert an external storage device (SD Card, USB Flash Drive, External USB Hard Drive) and it then used that to download the files and install the update. Annoying but it worked.

  • figarow on 30/01/2020 - 19:20
    +1

    Ok update here is where I'm at lol. Finally deleted the file 4Gb file "usmt.ppkg" using CMD after booting from USB windows 10. Now my system seems to boot up fine, login screen good but then after login screen I get a blank screen, can move my curser around and start task manager etc…. I'm really thinking a light Linux distro is the go.. I'm only needing browser and video playback.

    • DemocracyManifest on 31/01/2020 - 10:22
      +1

      Boot up with a couple of Linux live usbs and see how everything runs out of the box

  • figarow on 31/01/2020 - 16:31

    Been trying out a few distros seems audio drivers will be an issue. Nothing I have tried works so far.
    Edit wait…. Audio works on Manjaro!! Winning so far still testing but looks good. Needed to disable secure boot in order to get it booting from usb.

  • figarow on 01/02/2020 - 11:51

    I just don't have the patience for linux lol. Can't do it. So ive installed windows 10. I will use it un-activated.

  • MuddyClear on 01/02/2020 - 18:35

    Please use the built in disk cleanup to remove unwanted system or install files on Windows.

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