My computer thinks it is out of disk space, but it is not!
Marian
Basically what's going on is that my computer thinks I'm
out of disk space but I'm not. I've
rebooted (and rebooted and rebooted...), removed many
programs (big unused
ones, old games etc), performed a disk clean-up,
defragmented my disk
drive, removed all my pictures, AND compressed my files.
I've also reduced
the memory allocated to "system restore" from 12 to 4%,
and yet when I check
my memory my comp. thinks I have 1.7 out of 33gb's of
memory. (The only
thing that temporarily helped was when I compressed my
files, it reduced
used memory to about 50%, but the memory mysteriously
disappeared w/in an
hour.) I was initially having all kind of problems as a
result; unable to
open Outlook Express, internet unresponsive, unable to
save to floppy or
c/d, and the first symptoms: I would backspace over
misspelled writing to
correct errors and my mouse wouldn't respond, and I
couldn't left click and
drag to highlight writing in order to correct it. I am
currently totally
functional even though according "my computer", I still
have less than 5% of
my hard drive available. Yes, I have run a virus check.
(Online subscription
to McAfee, updated via internet as prompted.)
So I found an article relating to this issue on the
Microsoft website.
Unfortunately I don't have a disk to reinstall xp (my
computer didn't come
w/one, it has "system restore" instead, which I basically
eliminated in
order to create more disk space, :( and the rest is a
little beyond me.
Help!
This is the info I found on the Microsoft website:
Windows XP Does Not Recognize All Available Disk Space
The information in this article applies to:
a.. Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
b.. Microsoft Windows XP Professional
This article was previously published under Q316505
SYMPTOMS
Windows XP may not recognize all of your available disk
space. For example,
you may have a hard disk with a capacity of more than 30
gigabytes (GB), but
according to the Disk Management utility or Windows
Explorer, you have only
2 GB of disk space capacity.
As a result, even though you have ample hard disk space,
you may receive the
following error message:
Low Disk Space. You are running out of disk space on
<Drive Letter>.
RESOLUTION
To resolve this issue, use the following methods as
appropriate. To best
determine the method(s) appropriate for your situation,
please read through
the entire article before you proceed.
WARNING: The following methods may require that you
reinstall Windows XP.
Microsoft recommends that you back up all important data
before you use the
following methods.
Method 1: Run Windows XP Setup to Determine Whether the
Hard Disk Space Is
Accessible
To determine whether all of the hard disk space is
accessible, run Setup
from the Windows XP installation media.
1.. Insert the Windows XP installation CD into the CR-
ROM drive, and then
restart the computer. When you are prompted to start from
the CD, press any
key.
NOTE: You may need to configure your BIOS to boot from
the CD-ROM first,
in order to do this step.
2.. Press ENTER when the Windows XP Setup screen
appears.
3.. Press F8 to accept the End User License Agreement
(EULA).
4.. When the Windows XP Setup screen appears with a
list of current
Windows XP installations on the computer, press ESC to
continue installing a
fresh copy of Windows XP without repairing.
5.. The Windows XP Setup screen appears with partition
information. Note
the partitions and unpartitioned space listed. Determine
whether all of your
available space is listed, and then do either of the
following:
1.. If you determine that not all of your hard disk
space is listed,
then you may have a BIOS problem that is preventing the
computer from
recognizing your hard disk correctly. If this is true,
continue with Method
2.
-or-
2.. If you determine that all of your hard disk space
is listed, you can
continue with either of the following options:
a.. Select the existing Windows XP partition, and
then press D to
delete the partition.
NOTE: If you do this, all data on the partition
will be lost. Only use
this option if you are sure that you want to completely
remove the partition
in order to create a new partition by merging all of the
available space.
b.. Select the unpartitioned space, and then press
C to create a new
partition.
NOTE: You can use this option without first
deleting the existing
Windows XP partition. Use this option if you do not want
to lose the data in
the existing partition, and you want to install a second
copy of Windows XP
in the unpartitioned space.
NOTE: You cannot create a volume larger than 32 GB
in size by using
the FAT32 file system in Windows XP. The Windows 2000
FastFAT driver can
mount and support volumes larger than 32 GB that use the
FAT32 file system
(subject to the other limits), but you cannot create one
by using the Format
tool. This behavior is by design. (See Method 3 in this
article for more
information about this issue.)
Method 2: Update the System BIOS or Use a Boot Manager
If the previous method determines that you have a BIOS
problem that is
preventing the computer from recognizing your hard disk
correctly, do either
of the following:
a.. Update the system BIOS. Contact the manufacturer of
your motherboard
or your computer for more information on how to do this.
b.. Use a third-party boot manager to access the extra
space on your hard
disk. Many hard disk manufacturers provide utilities to
do this. Contact the
manufacturer of your hard disk for more information about
how to do this.For
information about how to contact manufacturer of your
hardware, click the
appropriate article number in the following list to view
the article in the
Microsoft Knowledge Base:
65416 Hardware and Software Third-Party Vendor Contact
List, A-K
60781 Hardware and Software Third-Party Vendor Contact
List, L-P
60782 Hardware and Software Third-Party Vendor Contact
List, Q-Z
Method 3: Use Fdisk or a Third-Party Partitioning Utility
If you need to format a FAT32 volume greater than 32 GB,
you can use a
third-party partitioning utility to increase the size of
the current Windows
XP installation partition, or use the Fdisk utility on a
Microsoft Windows
Millennium Edition (Me) Startup disk or a Microsoft
Windows 98 Startup disk
to reformat the hard disk entirely. For additional
information about how to
do this, click the article number below to view the
article in the Microsoft
Knowledge Base:
255867 How to Use Fdisk and Format to
Partition/Repartition a Hard Disk
Once you have created the partitions that you want,
continue to reinstall
Windows XP by using the Setup program on the Windows XP
installation media.
MORE INFORMATION
For additional information, click the article numbers
below to view the
articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
314463 Limitations of the FAT32 File System in Windows XP
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ingrid Eschen" <Ing...@theredwoods.org>
To: "MARIAN ESCHEN (E-mail)" <marin...@comcast.net>
Sent: Monday, September 08, 2003 4:21 PM
Subject: FW: PC at Home
-----Original Message-----
From: Cynthia Neumann
Sent: Monday, September 08, 2003 4:17 PM
To: Ingrid Eschen
Subject: FW: PC at Home
Have Mary Ann try this tonight ...
-----Original Message-----
From: Jim Nash [mailto:Ji...@plumtree.com]
Sent: Monday, September 08, 2003 4:14 PM
To: Cynthia Neumann
Subject: RE: PC at Home
What is the program that she is getting the error from?
In any case, the
first thing is to reboot the computer, just run the one
program and see if
she still gets the message.
-----Original Message-----
From: Cynthia Neumann [mailto:Cyn...@theredwoods.org]
Sent: Monday, September 08, 2003 4:10 PM
To: Jim Nash
Subject: PC at Home
Ingrid's (woman I work with here) daughter has a computer
at home and she's
getting a message "out of memory". She claims she
doesn't have alot of
programs on the computer or alot of files ... but she
took Quicken off and
she's still getting the message ... what should she
do ... does she need to
add memory? Or is there some information that she could
get from her pc
that would allow you figure out whether it's really a
problem or just her
computer being weird ...
No rush ...
Frank Minutillo
huge files in hidden folders.First, make hidden files
visible in folder options. Then go to C:\Documents and
Settings\'your name or user folder'\Local Settings\Temp
and look for huge files and delete them. You may have to
restart before Windows lets you delete them. This fixed
the problem for me but it re-occurred a couple times and
I had to repeat the steps outlined .
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