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klypos
Lv 6
klypos asked in Computers & InternetSoftware · 2 years ago

Win10 Update blaming the hardware for lack of space?

My Acer Aspire ES11 has a small "hard disk" in modern terms, and the latest Win10 update is refusing to completely install - which leaves it in a messed up state.

I know that when I first updated this system, the update asked for more space, and used a USB drive to complete. Nothing like this is happening now.

I also know that there is very little space on the drive which is not being occupied by Win10.

I have not installed any programs or apps on it. Every app or program which was not in use has been deleted. The automated update process keeps complaining it cannot function without more disk space.

When the system complains about needing to free up space it only finds about 50Mb of stuff to delete. The update will then download when nothing else is running (ie web browser and text editor off), but the install dies saying there is not enough disk space to complete.

The web browser is not running correctly since this update hassle started, and I can only imagine this is because it has been partly modified.

What do I need?

Update:

I should mention that, even before the trouble started, I was getting daily system messages asking for more disk space - but there is nothing much left to delete.

Update 2:

I do know that the answer is NOT "get a bigger hard drive". There is nowhere to put a physical drive, anyway.

The computer has been shown to work well with the small hard drive, in the past. The problem is that the Win10 OS is taking over all available space and then complains that it wants more. I need to know how to get around that.

6 Answers

Relevance
  • ?
    Lv 5
    2 years ago

    Use disk clean-up utility. Windows makes a backup file when it does updatess and those use up loads of space. Its usually safe to delete them. I would do a search for large files larger than 50MB (for example) and maybe chuck them on a DVD.

  • klypos
    Lv 6
    2 years ago

    There is no upgrade to a larger disk available. The computer was working, and an oversize update was previously installed, but the latest update does not ask to use the extra space on a card or USB drive.

    It is obvious that the fault lies between a sloppy Win10 install program and the Win10 memory manager using the disk space. It is also obvious that there are no WIn10 experts on Y! answers willing to answer this, so I'll try elsewhere.

    One user proposed a possible solution, then it was deleted. It wasn't very good, but it was the best answer.

    Acer support said

    "You will need to get a 32GB SD card and insert it into the laptop, then if you right click on the SD card in your File Explorer, select format, then select NTFS.

    Then press the Windows Key and I. Go to system, click on Storage in the left hand list.

    Click on "Change where new content is saved" and set all of the options except maps to save to SD card instead of your computer.

    Then restart the system and it should start updating."

    I used a 16Gb SD card, because that was what I had - it did the job. After I did the restart I had to initiate the update from the Win10 system. Now I have to undo all those settings, but I am up and running.

  • John
    Lv 7
    2 years ago

    What is the part of "not enough space" that you are unable to grasp?

  • 2 years ago

    If you know the answer is not getting a bigger hard drive (it is that btw) then what is the answer?

    You seem to know enough about computers to know that increasing your storage won’t solve the problem (it will solve it) so surely you know how to solve it right?

    Here’s the thing with software updates, they will keep taking up more space. You either disable updates and leave yourself vulnerable to attacks, go live in the past and downgrade to another and smaller version of Windows or get a better hard drive.

    Or you could argue on the internet about how you know what is best and continue to have a slow barely working computer.

    Source(s): Someone who has dealt with people like you for years while working in I.T
  • Anonymous
    2 years ago

    Simple, get a big hard drive. If a container I have is too small, I got a buy a bigger one. There isn’t a magic out there to make it bigger

    Edit: What are you talking about? There’s already a hard dive in it, you need to SWAP it with a bigger one (not literally bigger is size but bigger in storage)

    What you’re experiencing is something you cannot avoid. Windows needs to be updated and updates take up space. You’ve even said it yourself that you constantly get pop ups about the storage getting full.

    Being willfully ignorant isn’t going to get you anywhere. If you want this to work out then listen to the people trying to help you rather than thinking you know best as clearly you don’t.

  • Pete L
    Lv 6
    2 years ago

    You need a bigger hard drive! If there's not enough space to expand the compacted updates then there is not enough space.

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