c: drive getting full

  • Thread starter Thread starter Patriot
  • Start date Start date
P

Patriot

Is it possible to move the windows updated files or other files in the
c:\windows directory to another partition? A new customer purchased a server
from Dell with a 12 GB primary partition. Now they have 2GB free, over 7 GB
is the c:windows directory. The other big directory is c:\documents and
settings.

BTW they are running Windows 2003 sp2 with AD and Exchange 2003.

Thank you for your help.
 
Re: drive getting full

"Patriot" <Patriot@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:F48D2ACD-DF0E-448D-9EDD-34EF613717BA@microsoft.com...
> Is it possible to move the windows updated files or other files in the
> c:\windows directory to another partition? A new customer purchased a
server
> from Dell with a 12 GB primary partition. Now they have 2GB free, over 7
GB
> is the c:windows directory. The other big directory is c:\documents and
> settings.
>
> BTW they are running Windows 2003 sp2 with AD and Exchange 2003.
>
> Thank you for your help.


FAQ - try Google
 
I always install the OS on C:, then install all other apps on another drive,
such as D. Is there any way that they could uninstall and then reinstall the
third party apps in this manner? Just the OS alone should not be eating up
10 gigs. I'm sure that the Exchange store is eating up most of that... move
it to D as well. Exchange has a utility to move it to other locations, or a
t leasr version 5.5 did...

Mark



"Patriot" wrote:

> Is it possible to move the windows updated files or other files in the
> c:\windows directory to another partition? A new customer purchased a server
> from Dell with a 12 GB primary partition. Now they have 2GB free, over 7 GB
> is the c:windows directory. The other big directory is c:\documents and
> settings.
>
> BTW they are running Windows 2003 sp2 with AD and Exchange 2003.
>
> Thank you for your help.
 
Patriot wrote:

> Is it possible to move the windows updated files or other files in the
> c:\windows directory to another partition? A new customer purchased a
> server from Dell with a 12 GB primary partition. Now they have 2GB free,
> over 7 GB is the c:windows directory. The other big directory is
> c:\documents and settings.
>
> BTW they are running Windows 2003 sp2 with AD and Exchange 2003.
>
> Thank you for your help.

This is an increasingly common problem. The default C:\ partition size at
Win2K3 install is 12GB and after usage, time, updates, etc. the 12GB isn't
enough anymore. The easiest solution is to delete un-needed files. After
that, the next easiest solution is to move data to other partitions. The
final option is to resize the partition. In this post I will provided the
easiest solution, remove unnecessary data.

WARNING:

If you delete the "wrong files" and wreck your system or lose data, that is
your problem. YOU and ONLY YOU are responsible for anything you delete. It
is therefore recommended that you first move the files to another volume,
until you are sure that they are not needed and then, delete them from
there later. YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN.

WARNING:

Start with the removal of dump files. These files are images of the system's
memory contents created by the system to troubleshoot problems when
applications crash or the system blue screens. The files have a .dmp
extension so, simply search C:\ for *.dmp and delete the files it finds in
C:\Documents and Settings\ and C:\Windows\

Spurious temporary files in C:\Windows\Temp\ likely exist that can be
deleted. Compare the date/time stamps on the files with the last reboot.
Files older than the last reboot can be deleted from here.

Next, examine the C:\Documents and Settings directory. These are user
profiles which are famous for growing out of control. On a server running
AD and Exchange, regular users should not be logging in and there should
only be a few profiles for administrators here. It is likely that these
profiles can be deleted or shrunk, you must decide.

Patches and system updates are also notorious for taking up disk space.
Directories C:\Windows\ServicePackFiles\ and C
\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\ contain copies of all the hotfixes and
service packs so that when new software is installed, the latest files can
be used without you being prompted for the installation media. Removing
these files frees up space but, be aware that you will need the
installation media for future installations and it may/will be necessary to
reapply services packs after those installs.

Also, each time a hotfix or service pack is installed, the old files are
backed up into directories such as C:\Windows\$NTUninstall... If the system
is working properly then you may be able to remove these directories. Be
aware that once removed, you will not be able to uninstall service packs or
hotfixes.

Another issue that you likely are already aware of is Exchange log files.
These files are frequently the culprit for running disks out of space.
Verify that the Exchange databases and log files are not being stored on
C:. If they are then they should be moved to another volume.

Finally, your Exchange system is likely using some sort of antivirus/spam
filtering software. Where is this software installed? More to the point,
where is the quarantine directory and logs stored and when last were they
cleaned out?

Remember that if you hose your system, you are solely responsible so, be
careful and make sure that you have adequate backups.


HTH

Peter
 
I have done all of these - our PDC runs AD and SQLserver in 7.8Gbyte:

C:\Windows - move all *uninst* files to a new directory D:\uninstexc\ - you
will have to move them back to uninstall Windows updates, but provided you
waited a few weeks to install them you may never need to do this.

C:\Documents and settings - eliminate users, restrict Internet explorer temp
files,..

C:\Program Files - any app software you have install disks or downloads for
can be deleted and installed in D:\extraprograms\

Move pagefile.sys to D:\ - search web for how to accomplish this.

Get rid of bloat-ware like Backup Exec - use ntbackup instead.
--
Newell White


"Patriot" wrote:

> Is it possible to move the windows updated files or other files in the
> c:\windows directory to another partition? A new customer purchased a server
> from Dell with a 12 GB primary partition. Now they have 2GB free, over 7 GB
> is the c:windows directory. The other big directory is c:\documents and
> settings.
>
> BTW they are running Windows 2003 sp2 with AD and Exchange 2003.
>
> Thank you for your help.
 
I have already moved the exchange store as well as all applications to the
second partition. Again most of the drive space it taken by the c:\windows
directory.



"Mark" wrote:

> I always install the OS on C:, then install all other apps on another drive,
> such as D. Is there any way that they could uninstall and then reinstall the
> third party apps in this manner? Just the OS alone should not be eating up
> 10 gigs. I'm sure that the Exchange store is eating up most of that... move
> it to D as well. Exchange has a utility to move it to other locations, or a
> t leasr version 5.5 did...
>
> Mark
>
>
>
> "Patriot" wrote:
>
> > Is it possible to move the windows updated files or other files in the
> > c:\windows directory to another partition? A new customer purchased a server
> > from Dell with a 12 GB primary partition. Now they have 2GB free, over 7 GB
> > is the c:windows directory. The other big directory is c:\documents and
> > settings.
> >
> > BTW they are running Windows 2003 sp2 with AD and Exchange 2003.
> >
> > Thank you for your help.
 
On Jul 10, 6:16 am, Patriot <Patr...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
> I have already moved the exchange store as well as all applications to the
> second partition. Again most of the drive space it taken by the c:\windows
> directory.
>
>
>
> "Mark" wrote:
> > I always install the OS on C:, then install all other apps on another drive,
> > such as D. Is there any way that they could uninstall and then reinstall the
> > third party apps in this manner? Just the OS alone should not be eating up
> > 10 gigs. I'm sure that the Exchange store is eating up most of that... move
> > it to D as well. Exchange has a utility to move it to other locations, or a
> > t leasr version 5.5 did...
>
> > Mark
>
> > "Patriot" wrote:
>
> > > Is it possible to move the windows updated files or other files in the
> > > c:\windows directory to another partition? A new customer purchased a server
> > > from Dell with a 12 GB primary partition. Now they have 2GB free, over 7 GB
> > > is the c:windows directory. The other big directory is c:\documents and
> > > settings.
>
> > > BTW they are running Windows 2003 sp2 with AD and Exchange 2003.
>
> > > Thank you for your help.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

You can add a second hard drive to the system and span it and the
system drive. You make the system drive dynamic, and then span it with
the second drive. For example if your system drive is drive C, is 12
gb and the second disk is 100 gb then spanning will appear as if your
C drive is 112 gb. The downside is that it is not fault tolerant like
raid 5 or mirroring and if either drive fails all data on both will be
lost. A second way to go is to compress the drive but if you have some
problems then try decompressing parts of it until the problem is
solved. For example exchange may not work correctly with compressed
files. The best way is to ghost, backup, etc the drive onto a larger
new drive. Also you can use a program like partition magic to increase
the size of the primary partition.
 
Greg O wrote:

> On Jul 10, 6:16 am, Patriot <Patr...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
>> I have already moved the exchange store as well as all applications to
>> the second partition. Again most of the drive space it taken by the
>> c:\windows directory.
>>
>>
>>
>> "Mark" wrote:
>> > I always install the OS on C:, then install all other apps on another
>> > drive,
>> > such as D. Is there any way that they could uninstall and then
>> > reinstall the
>> > third party apps in this manner? Just the OS alone should not be
>> > eating up
>> > 10 gigs. I'm sure that the Exchange store is eating up most of that...
>> > move
>> > it to D as well. Exchange has a utility to move it to other locations,
>> > or a t leasr version 5.5 did...
>>
>> > Mark
>>
>> > "Patriot" wrote:
>>
>> > > Is it possible to move the windows updated files or other files in
>> > > the c:\windows directory to another partition? A new customer
>> > > purchased a server from Dell with a 12 GB primary partition. Now they
>> > > have 2GB free, over 7 GB is the c:windows directory. The other big
>> > > directory is c:\documents and settings.
>>
>> > > BTW they are running Windows 2003 sp2 with AD and Exchange 2003.
>>
>> > > Thank you for your help.- Hide quoted text -
>>
>> - Show quoted text -
>
> You can add a second hard drive to the system and span it and the
> system drive. You make the system drive dynamic, and then span it with
> the second drive. For example if your system drive is drive C, is 12
> gb and the second disk is 100 gb then spanning will appear as if your
> C drive is 112 gb. The downside is that it is not fault tolerant like
> raid 5 or mirroring and if either drive fails all data on both will be
> lost. A second way to go is to compress the drive but if you have some
> problems then try decompressing parts of it until the problem is
> solved. For example exchange may not work correctly with compressed
> files. The best way is to ghost, backup, etc the drive onto a larger
> new drive. Also you can use a program like partition magic to increase
> the size of the primary partition.

If only this were true, many an administrator would be saved a lot of grief
and downtime. But, you can NOT span system or boot volumes.

To get more space on system and boot volumes requires resizing these volumes
with third party tools, typically after moving them to a larger physical
disk.


HTH

Peter
 
"Peter" <spamfree@tampabay.rr.com> wrote in message
news:46a14675$0$4693$4c368faf@roadrunner.com...
> Greg O wrote:
>
>> On Jul 10, 6:16 am, Patriot <Patr...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
>>> I have already moved the exchange store as well as all applications to
>>> the second partition. Again most of the drive space it taken by the
>>> c:\windows directory.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> "Mark" wrote:
>>> > I always install the OS on C:, then install all other apps on another
>>> > drive,
>>> > such as D. Is there any way that they could uninstall and then
>>> > reinstall the
>>> > third party apps in this manner? Just the OS alone should not be
>>> > eating up
>>> > 10 gigs. I'm sure that the Exchange store is eating up most of
>>> > that...
>>> > move
>>> > it to D as well. Exchange has a utility to move it to other
>>> > locations,
>>> > or a t leasr version 5.5 did...
>>>
>>> > Mark
>>>
>>> > "Patriot" wrote:
>>>
>>> > > Is it possible to move the windows updated files or other files in
>>> > > the c:\windows directory to another partition? A new customer
>>> > > purchased a server from Dell with a 12 GB primary partition. Now
>>> > > they
>>> > > have 2GB free, over 7 GB is the c:windows directory. The other big
>>> > > directory is c:\documents and settings.
>>>
>>> > > BTW they are running Windows 2003 sp2 with AD and Exchange 2003.
>>>
>>> > > Thank you for your help.- Hide quoted text -
>>>
>>> - Show quoted text -
>>
>> You can add a second hard drive to the system and span it and the
>> system drive. You make the system drive dynamic, and then span it with
>> the second drive. For example if your system drive is drive C, is 12
>> gb and the second disk is 100 gb then spanning will appear as if your
>> C drive is 112 gb. The downside is that it is not fault tolerant like
>> raid 5 or mirroring and if either drive fails all data on both will be
>> lost. A second way to go is to compress the drive but if you have some
>> problems then try decompressing parts of it until the problem is
>> solved. For example exchange may not work correctly with compressed
>> files. The best way is to ghost, backup, etc the drive onto a larger
>> new drive. Also you can use a program like partition magic to increase
>> the size of the primary partition.
>
> If only this were true, many an administrator would be saved a lot of
> grief
> and downtime. But, you can NOT span system or boot volumes.
>
> To get more space on system and boot volumes requires resizing these
> volumes
> with third party tools, typically after moving them to a larger physical
> disk.
>
>
> HTH
>
> Peter
>
>

Are you sure you can span a system or boot volume? For example:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/323442/

It says you can't extend a system or boot volume but is silent about
spanning one. I recall having done it in the past, which is why I mentioned
it but I could be mistaken. I searched around after your comment but can't
find anyone saying it cannot be done.
 
On Jul 22, 3:54?am, "Greg O" <n...@all.com> wrote:
> "Peter" <spamf...@tampabay.rr.com> wrote in message
>
> news:46a14675$0$4693$4c368faf@roadrunner.com...
>
>
>
>
>
> > Greg O wrote:
>
> >> On Jul 10, 6:16 am, Patriot <Patr...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
> >>> I have already moved the exchange store as well as all applications to
> >>> the second partition. Again most of the drive space it taken by the
> >>> c:\windows directory.
>
> >>> "Mark" wrote:
> >>> > I always install the OS on C:, then install all other apps on another
> >>> > drive,
> >>> > such as D. Is there any way that they could uninstall and then
> >>> > reinstall the
> >>> > third party apps in this manner? Just the OS alone should not be
> >>> > eating up
> >>> > 10 gigs. I'm sure that the Exchange store is eating up most of
> >>> > that...
> >>> > move
> >>> > it to D as well. Exchange has a utility to move it to other
> >>> > locations,
> >>> > or a t leasr version 5.5 did...
>
> >>> > Mark
>
> >>> > "Patriot" wrote:
>
> >>> > > Is it possible to move the windows updated files or other files in
> >>> > > the c:\windows directory to another partition? A new customer
> >>> > > purchased a server from Dell with a 12 GB primary partition. Now
> >>> > > they
> >>> > > have 2GB free, over 7 GB is the c:windows directory. The other big
> >>> > > directory is c:\documents and settings.
>
> >>> > > BTW they are running Windows 2003 sp2 with AD and Exchange 2003.
>
> >>> > > Thank you for your help.- Hide quoted text -
>
> >>> - Show quoted text -
>
> >> You can add a second hard drive to the system and span it and the
> >> system drive. You make the system drive dynamic, and then span it with
> >> the second drive. For example if your system drive is drive C, is 12
> >> gb and the second disk is 100 gb then spanning will appear as if your
> >> C drive is 112 gb. The downside is that it is not fault tolerant like
> >> raid 5 or mirroring and if either drive fails all data on both will be
> >> lost. A second way to go is to compress the drive but if you have some
> >> problems then try decompressing parts of it until the problem is
> >> solved. For example exchange may not work correctly with compressed
> >> files. The best way is to ghost, backup, etc the drive onto a larger
> >> new drive. Also you can use a program like partition magic to increase
> >> the size of the primary partition.
>
> > If only this were true, many an administrator would be saved a lot of
> > grief
> > and downtime. But, you can NOT span system or boot volumes.
>
> > To get more space on system and boot volumes requires resizing these
> > volumes
> > with third party tools, typically after moving them to a larger physical
> > disk.
>
> > HTH
>
> > Peter
>
> Are you sure you can span a system or boot volume? For example:
>
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/323442/
>
> It says you can't extend a system or boot volume but is silent about
> spanning one. I recall having done it in the past, which is why I mentioned
> it but I could be mistaken. I searched around after your comment but can't
> find anyone saying it cannot be done.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

On the topic of spanning, don't do it. Ever. While you gain additional
space, you double your risk of data loss resulting from a drive
failure. If one physical drive in a spanned volum fails you lose all
data. If this is a production server it should be on at least a RAID 1
array hanging off a hardware controller.

To migrate to a larger disk there are a number of imaging products on
the market. I recommend Acronis True Image. In this case you simply
boot the machine off of an Acronis boot CD, browse the network to a
share of sufficient capacity to hold the image, and begin the image
creation process. Install a larger disk, or install multiple disks and
create a RAID array, boot off the CD again and pull the image back to
the new volume. It's really fairly simple.

Finally, Windirstat is an excellent piece of freeware for determining
disk consumption by directory. You can find it here:

http://windirstat.info/

HTH
 
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