Get Low Disk Space Fixed without Data Loss in Windows 7/Vista

Low Disk Space in Windows 7 and Vista

It is an annoying thing to get “Low Disk Space” warning when you work or entertain on the computer. However, it is a common issue that almost all users will meet. Windows uses disk space for caching files and virtual memory. Files will not save, discs will not burn, and the computer might become unreliable if the free space on the hard drive drops too low.Below discusses this problem from three perspectives of view.

Why Low Disk Space Pop-up in Windows 7?

Generally speaking, this error occurs when there is not enough space for computer operations. Increasing programs and files and continuously generated cache file are main force that takes up disk space. You may receive the error on C drive, D drive or E drive that contains a large amount of data, or right after Windows Update.

Low disk space in Windows 7 Recovery Drive has something different from above situations. When you have Dell/Lenovo/HP recovery partition low disk space warning, D or E drive, chances are that other stuff is occupying the space currently, for example, Windows backups or system restore points. If you have started backup task and don’t have dedicated drive for these backups, recovery drive could be the most possible location. Sometimes, Windows 7/Vista may incorrectly reports low disk space error because you know the stored data is far less than partition size. In that case, you can check if there are hidden files on that drive.

Windows 7 Low Disk Space Warning Threshold

Low disk space warning will keep popping up if you don’t solve the problem. In general, if the partition has 10% free space out of total partition size left, you’ll find the partition becomes red bar in Windows Explorer. When the free space reaches 200MB, the alert window will come into your sight like picture below says you’re running out of space. When it reaches 80MB point, the window will pop up saying you’re running very low on disk space. Showing up for 30 seconds and you’ll get this every 4 hours. 50MB is the smallest threshold and the intervals will reduce to every 5 minutes.

Windows 7 Turn Off Low Disk Space Warning via RegEdit

Obviously, the first thing to do after receiving this error is to clean up disk space or find out other solutions. However, some users don’t have more plans to the alert partition and want to keep it unchanged. So just to disable the low disk space warning can solve this problem. Disk space checking can be stopped via RegEdit.

Note: Registryis a database for Windows system programs and installed applications. These programs might not be able to run well if you delete any important file by accident.So be careful when operating.

1. Press Windows + R key combo to start Run. Type “regedit” and hit Enter.

2. Go to "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer".

3. Right click on blank space and select “New”>“DWORD Value” (choose 32bit or 64bit based on your own system).

4. Type “NoLowDiskSpaceChecks”, and then press Enter. Right click on “NoLowDiskSpaceChecks” and select “Modify”.

5. In the pop-up window, change 0 to 1, and click “OK”.

Tips: If you want Windows to check low disk space in the future, just change the data value from 1 to 0.

Have Low Disk Space in Windows 7 Fixed in Three Ways

When you get low disk space error prompting on whichever partition, the very first thing to do is to figure it out and solve Windows 7 low hard disk space permanently. There are three methods including Windows built-in tool and third-party partition software that you can use to assist you solving this trouble.

Way1: Run Disk Cleanup to fix low disk space on C in Windows 7

Disk Cleanup removes temporary junk for the most part and only works its magic on the C drive. This is a frequently used tool by common computer users.

1. Press Windows+R key combo to start Run again. Type “c:\windows\SYSTEM32\cleanmgr.exe /cDrive” this time and press Enter. You can replace “c” with any other drive letters if you want to.

2 A small dialogue will pop up, click to verify the behavior. After that, it needs several minutes to count the junk file that can be cleaned up. Then select the file you want to remove and click “OK”.

Tips:

• You can also get into this interface through Windows Explorer>Properties>Disk Cleanup.
• “Clean up system files” option allows you to delete system files yet take caution with that.
• Low disk space may caused by scheduled backup or system restore backup, but make sure you have had other system backups before you delete them all.

Way2: Extend low disk space partition with free space without data loss

After cleaning up junk file and you still get low disk space warning, maybe it’s time to solve this problem from different points of view. If there is unallocated space right next to the alert partition (you can check this in Disk Management), you can “Extend Volume” to enlarge partition size. Nevertheless, if the unallocated space is distributed on the hard drive, which is typically the case, you can turn to below method.

1. Download, install and launch AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard (Windows 7, Vista, 8, 8.1, 10 supported, both 32bit and 64bit) on your computer. At the main interface, right click the partition that running low disk space and select "Advanced", then hit "Merge Partitions".

2. At this page, you are able to select all unallocated space and merge them to target partition.

3. Click “Apply”>“Proceed” to take out the change.

Tips:

• A reboot is required if changes occurs on system partition.

• To fix low disk space on Windows Server by resizing partition, please turn toAOMEI Partition Assistant Lite for free.

With this feature, it is possible to merge two existing partitions together withoutlosing data as well. If there is no unallocated space on hard drive, you can upgrade to AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional which allows you to “Allocate Free Space” from one partition to the other directly.

Way3: Solve low disk space by upgrading to larger hard disk

When the “Low Disk Space” error is simply caused by limited disk capacity, the best solution is to replace the hard drive with a larger one. No matter it is data partition or system partition, you can move everything on it to new disk without reinstalling or losing data. Aforementioned AOMEI Partition Assistant is a great tool in upgrading hard drive and migrating OS to SSD or HDD on both laptop and desktop.

For more steps with screenshots on upgrading hard drive to new and large disk, please refer to How to Clone Hard Drive to SSD on Windows 7? .

Conclusion

Low disk space on Windows 7 or Vista is a common issue during computing, the key point is to find the most suitable way for you. You can also use AOMEI Partition Assistant to check partition or check disk before extending or upgrading.