Expand C: drive space on Windows 11

Forums › Microsoft Windows › Expand C: drive space on Windows 11 - is it possible?

quickymart

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#318151 20-Dec-2024 22:14

I was prompted to install an update for Windows 11 (24H2?) the other morning. The download (4.3GB) completed successfully but the file install couldn't be completed, for some reason.

I gave it another crack this morning and it seems to have re-downloaded the file from the other day, and now my C: drive is running out of space and the install can't proceed:

Is it possible to somehow move 25-30GB of free space on D: and allocate it to C: ? I don't mind moving everything off D: and then blowing it away and moving stuff back to it afterwards.

I'm probably not using the right search terms on Google - plenty on "how to delete a partition" but that's not what I'm trying to do.

Alternatively, is there a way to delete this update file (I suspect I have two copies of it) and then try and download it/install it again?

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#3322909 20-Dec-2024 22:18

Do you have a pile of photos or videos in your "My Documents" folder?

You could 'move' the files to D drive to free up some space, then move them back.

But note if that is an SSD, its going to be under performing being almost full.

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Jase2985

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#3322912 20-Dec-2024 22:56

You really need a bigger SSD, 256GB just isn't big enough these days if you are storing stuff on it and not wanting to constantly manage the space.

timmmay

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#3322928 21-Dec-2024 07:15

Run "Disk Cleanup", and when it loads hit the "Clean Up System Files" button. That will free up space. Other than that, work out what is taking up the space with something like "Treesize Free", run in Admin mode.

I have a 120GB partition on my SSD for Windows and it works fine, I don't run out of space. I keep it small so I can take OS images that are a reasonable size, all data goes onto other disks. I don't have any games on the computer though.

OldGeek

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#3322936 21-Dec-2024 08:49

Assuming both partitions are on a single physical drive, you can use partition manager software (such as Partition Wizard https://www.partitionwizard.com) to shrink D: then expand C:. PW has a free version.

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Jase2985

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#3322938 21-Dec-2024 09:06

timmmay:

Run "Disk Cleanup", and when it loads hit the "Clean Up System Files" button. That will free up space. Other than that, work out what is taking up the space with something like "Treesize Free", run in Admin mode.

I have a 120GB partition on my SSD for Windows and it works fine, I don't run out of space. I keep it small so I can take OS images that are a reasonable size, all data goes onto other disks. I don't have any games on the computer though.

And while that's fine, and it does work, it takes effort to set up, and over time requires you to constantly keep track of space.

timmmay

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#3323005 21-Dec-2024 12:15

Jase2985:

And while that's fine, and it does work, it takes effort to set up, and over time requires you to constantly keep track of space.

Or just pick a reasonable space for your usage when you do the partitioning. I just rechecked, I have a 200GB partition, 119GB used, 80GB free. I never check for free space, if I run out Windows will tell me, Hard Disk Sentinel might tell me in advance.

ANglEAUT

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#3323053 21-Dec-2024 18:21

quickymart: ... Is it possible to somehow move 25-30GB of free space on D: and allocate it to C: ? ...

For that, you would have to show us a screenshot of the Disk Management Console (Start > Run > diskmgmt.msc from memory) If both the C: & D: drive are partitions of the same physical disk, you can achieve what you suggested.

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MadEngineer

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#3323110 21-Dec-2024 21:21

timmmay:
Run "Disk Cleanup", and when it loads hit the "Clean Up System Files" button. That will free up space. Other than that, work out what is taking up the space with something like "Treesize Free", run in Admin mode.

I have a 120GB partition on my SSD for Windows and it works fine, I don't run out of space. I keep it small so I can take OS images that are a reasonable size, all data goes onto other disks. I don't have any games on the computer though.

Short of a new drive, this.

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1024kb

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#3323111 21-Dec-2024 22:21

The 4.3GB Windows update download is not the biggest storage space thief. The update process replaces your current Winstall & instead of handily deleting the existing Winstallation, simply renames it Windows.old & leaves it there - often 30GB+. Not only that, but there’s a complicated trail of permissions that won’t let you right-click delete - this is where @timmay suggestion kicks in - you’ll delete Windows.old & all the temporary files from the update via System / Storage / Storage Used On Other Drives (even though it’s not on other drives)

The amount of storage taken up by .dmp files, Windows Reports / Update files / .tmp files & other detritus is obscene. It’s probably quite effective as a marketing tool to convince non-techies that it’s time to buy a new computer because you’ve filled this one up,

K8Toledo

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#3323125 22-Dec-2024 02:01

mentalinc:

Do you have a pile of photos or videos in your "My Documents" folder?

You could 'move' the files to D drive to free up some space, then move them back.

I also put My Docs on a separate drive, although @quickymart, in your case with a single drive it may be easier to merge both partitions, using an app like EASUS....

CCleaner's Disk Analyser is pretty handy for finding large files/folders.

1101

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#3324425 25-Dec-2024 16:53

Honestly, just buy a bigger HD .
You'll be forever trying to move things around to free up space on the C:

For now ....
If C & D are a single HD , merge them into one partition .
or Move all your photos , movies , mp3's , Docs etc to the D:

Running disk cleanup wont really free up the space you'll need to keep this PC running smoothly . Strange things will start to happen
when the C: runs too low on free space

ANglEAUT

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#3324529 26-Dec-2024 08:54

For others going through the same problem in future.

Is the 'D Drive (D:)' on the same line as Disk 0 and 'OS (C:)' or is 'D Drive (D:)' on its own line for Disk 1?

If all on same line as part of Disk 0, you can merge / resize partitions to fit your needs.

If 'OS (C:)' is on Disk 0 and 'D Drive (D:)' is on Disk 1, your only options are a disk clean up or replacing with a larger disk. You can't merge / resize partitions.

If you want to do a disk clean up for immediate results, run these commands from an elevated PowerShell session

====

Clear-RecycleBin -Force
$driveName = (Get-ChildItem -Path Env:\SystemDrive).Value
Remove-Item -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue -Recurse -Force -Path $driveName\`$Recycle.Bin
Remove-Item -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue -Recurse -Force -Path $driveName\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER
Remove-Item -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue -Recurse -Force -Path $driveName\WINDOWS\Logs
Remove-Item -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue -Recurse -Force -Path $driveName\WINDOWS\Temp
Remove-Item -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue -Recurse -Force -Path $driveName\WINDOWS\SoftwareDistribution\Download

=====

Running the Disk Cleanup Wizard now will also finish a lot faster.

For ongoing maintenance, enable Storage sense & set these values

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quickymart

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#3327983 5-Jan-2025 22:59

Sorry for not coming back to this thread - I got caught up with arranging Christmas stuff. I did try Minitool but it apparently it only works if the file type of the drive is NTFS and this one is Bitlocker, so I may need to look at something like ANglEAUT suggested. Disk Cleanup only freed up about 60MB, sadly.

Thanks for all the suggestions, will try them soon and see how it goes, although I agree I may ultimately need a new drive - just need to get Christmas bills out of the way first.

Oblivian

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#3327988 5-Jan-2025 23:17

Bitlocker is encrypted. Still NTFS.

But to do any disk changes outside the OS It will need to be decrypted to manipulate.

quickymart

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#3335005 24-Jan-2025 10:11

ANglEAUT:

For others going through the same problem in future.

Is the 'D Drive (D:)' on the same line as Disk 0 and 'OS (C:)' or is 'D Drive (D:)' on its own line for Disk 1?

If all on same line as part of Disk 0, you can merge / resize partitions to fit your needs.

If 'OS (C:)' is on Disk 0 and 'D Drive (D:)' is on Disk 1, your only options are a disk clean up or replacing with a larger disk. You can't merge / resize partitions.

Had a free minute so went in and had a look at this - this is how mine looks:

If I correctly understand what you're saying I should be able to increase the size of C: from here and take some away from D: - they're all on the same physical SSD.

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