Low Space Local Drive C

Well, Gang, I'm back!

XP is finally working...not gonna say good, but at least it is working, but continue to get warning messages about low disc space on local drive C.

Does this mean I need an external hard drive or what? If so, what do I need to do? I have a Sony Vaio Laptop.

Again, thanks to all of you.

Elaine

 

How big is the hard drive?

Is it all a single partition? If not, how large is c:?

How full is it?

 

The C drive is 4G and it says I have 5% free. I've removed almost everything from the pc and added 128 memory card. I never had these issues with Win 98...only after upgrading to Win XP. I'm not even sure I can add an external hard drive to this laptop! HELP!

 

XP requires lots more room to load and operate than earlier versions and it will get worse as you add security patches and then service packs. If you don't keep up to date with those, the PC will be eaten alive if it is connecting to the internet at all. 4Gb simply is not enough space for the OS and anything else.

I don't see any good option for you unless you can either add an external drive or replace the internal drive on the laptop. A new internal drive is by far the best option if possible. I'd say that biting the bullet and removing XP then reloading 98 is the 2nd best. You would need to make sure all your personal data was backed up though since you'd need to wipe the drive and load 98 onto the drive after fdisk and formatting it.

You can run for a little while if you want to try it.
- Make sure the space eaters like hibernation are turned off then delete the hibernation file.
- Cut system restore back to maybe a couple of restore points.
- Allow the absolute minimum space for browser history and temp internet files.
- Set the smallest pagefile size you can use and still operate. Maybe only a little more than the physical memory you have loaded.
- Compress all your drive contents. This will free up enough space for you to operate the PC.

But even with all this (and you can maybe squeeze things down to 2Gb or so for the OS) you will be fighting a constant battle to keep enough operating room.

 

there must be loads of programs installed. i once had XP on a 1.51 GB hard drive and i only got 300 mb left at the end. XP only should take about 1.3 GB total for everything.

Upgradeing the drive would be the best thing to since you would rather run a newer Operating system than older.

Just my opioions

 

Thanks Guys,

XP was an upgrade from win 98....There are over 575,+++KB as Win 98 installation files....do I still need these??

I'll contact Sony reference replacing the internal drive...will advise.

Again, thanks much!

 

Contacted Sony....cannot add or upgrade internal HD....suggested external drive. Question, most of them do NOT have a cooling fan and I'm reading many negative comments from previous buyers about burning up, etc. Can someone tell me how valuable is the cooling fan and what brand is recommended?

Also, ran EZ Cleaner and it shows MANY duplicate files as well as invalid registry keys. Can I delete these without any problems occuring?

Also, the comments on the freeing up disk space says I unless I plan on re-installing Win 98 installation files, that it can be deleted. This is 575,+++ bytes. I have my original recovery cd's in the event anything should happen in the future. Can I delete this without any problems occuring?

Again thanks,

 

elaine,

As long as you do not want 'revert' back to Win98, deleting those files should not be a problem. Those are backup files so you can rollback the upgrade if you were to decide you didn't care for the upgrade.
Removing 'duplicate' files can cause problems. Sometimes they are there for different programs to use and most cleaners cannot distinguish what can or can't be removed. Cleaning out 'invalid' registry entries may help your registry's performance, but it will not reclaim very much space.
I have a couple of external hard drives (that I built from kits) and they have fans. Hard drives create heat, and heat build up is probably the worst enemy of your computer and its components. I would not recommend buying an external hard drive that does not have a fan.
Also, I tend to agree with Newt about 'biting the bullet' and reinstalling Win98. With the limited physical resources of your laptop, your clean up efforts would just be temporarily putting off your 'storage' problem.

B

 

Well, after all the research,etc., I think my best option is to buy another pc with larger g's.

Any recommendations out there for a laptop?

 

Much as it pains me, I have to recommend the recent versions of the IBM Thinkpad. We have been using them at work for a few years now. The most recent batch they bought (several hundred) are running wonderfully and XP-pro is just as happy as a clam.

I say 'it pains me' since I imagine there are less expensive ones that are good but the only laptops I've been around for a while are the Thinkpads.

I strongly recommend you get at least 512Mb of memory and better to just start with 1Gb unless the price is too high for you.

 

Hi Elaine,

I'm with Newt on the IBM Thinkpads. I've owned three of them (all T series) over the past few years, and have had few, if any, problems with them. And, their hard drives CAN be replaced/upgraded ... I did it just a couple of months ago, replacing the 40GB drive in my T40 with an 80GB Western Digital drive from Newegg.

Frankly, I'm surprised that Sony told you the hard drive can't be upgraded. I have no experience with the VAIO laptop, but a search on Google turned up all kinds of information, including specific instructions on "how to ".

As for external drives, I'm using an 80GB Iomega USB external hard drive with the T40, and see no reason why you couldn't do the same with your Sony VAIO. It's small, quiet, and cost only $70 (after rebates) at OfficeMax.

 

As for external drives, I'm using an 80GB Iomega USB external hard drive with the T40, and see no reason why you couldn't do the same with your Sony VAIO. It's small, quiet, and cost only $70 (after rebates) at OfficeMax.

This weeks Office Max flyer has a WD 120GB USB External drive for $69.99 after rebates.
ALSO
Check your local Best Buy flyer ... Have a number of Notebooks on sale.
If you like, send up a check and I'll pick one up and run my special 1 year test.

 

Hey, Dennis ...

Congratulations on post #1000!

The same week OfficeMax had the Iomega USB external drive on sale (the week after Thanksgiving), someone else (Staples, Circuit City, or Best Buy) had the same size WD drive available at about the same price. I've been a WD fan for a long time, but all available information, including user reviews, indicated that the WD drive in question was considerably larger, and noisier, than the Iomega.

I wanted an 80GB external drive to match the 80GB WD Scorpio drive I was installing in my laptop at the same time. Ironically, Newegg's price of $174 for the laptop HD, which was the lowest I could find at the time, has dropped by more than $36 in just over two months.

 

Just my opinion : nothing better than a Toshiba laptop.
Never saw before such a good user manual (even though nobody ever reads them, lol). They send me updates notices for my lappy by email, so I don't even have to bother to regurlarly check the site for them.
And most of all, never had any pb on it. It's 2 years old now and gee it's having a hard life with me (many windows and linux tests on it),but never had any problem. Powerful, silent, no overheating.
I used to work in a computer workshop and the only Tosh lappy we've been brought was like 500 years old ( ) and all it needed wasn't even fixing but just a bigger hard drive...

And, from my experience, never in my life I'll buy a sony laptop.
Just my opinion. Don't know how much it's worth.

 

Many thanks to all you and and I appreciate your comments. I'll look into the Toshiba and the ThinkPads.

Will keep you advised......I'm definitely learning about these things!