Solved: Low Disk Space Alert on Windows Server 2012 (R2) [4 Solutions]

What if Low Disk Space alert occurs to C drive on Windows Server 2012 (R2 )? You can remove unnecessary apps, move apps to another drive, run Disk Cleanup and so on.

Bryce

By Bryce / Updated on May 12, 2023

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Low Disk Space alert on Windows Server 2012 (R2)

As more and more data saved to your drive on Windows Server 2012 R2, it is possible to get a Low Disk Space alert, which means that the Local drive is running out of space. If such an alert occurs on C drive, you can find that the speed of operating system boot, application running is getting slower and slower; and you may even encounter system crash. By the way, it is annoying to get Low Disk Space warning when you are working dedicatedly.

Effectively fix drive running out space issue on Server 2012 (R2)

Due to the negative effects that inadequate free space on Windows Server C drive can cause, it is rather necessary to fix the Low Disk Space on C drive problem.

Solution 1. Remove unnecessary applications 

It is possible that you have never used it after an application on your drive. For such unnecessary applications, why not uninstall them to reclaim space? Here are detailed steps about how to uninstall programs under Windows Server 2012 R2.

1. Press Windows + R, input “control” and hit Enter.

2. Click “Uninstall a Program” under "Programs".

Uninstall

3. Right-click the program that you want to remove and choose “Uninstall”. Then, do the following prompts to finish this operation.

Solution 2. Transfer programs from C drive to another drive on Windows Server 2012 (R2)

If there are important programs installed on C drive and occupy lots of space, you can choose to transfer them from C drive to another drive, like D drive via a safe app mover, AOMEI Partition Assistant Server. It enables you to transfer programs from one drive to another drive without reinstallation. Here are the detailed steps:

Step 1. Install and launch the tool. Click “Free up” on in the top toolbar, and choose App Mover

App Mover

Step 2.  Choose  C drive and click the Next button. 

Choose Partition

Step 3. Select one or more applications that you want to transfer from C drive to another drive and choose the destination space (here is D drive). Then, click Move.

Tick Appa

Step 4.  A message requires you to confirm closing running apps forcibly when moving starts. Click OK to continue. 

OK

✍ You can download the demo version to preview and simulate the operation.

Download Demo Server 2008/2012(R2)/2016/2019/2022
Secure Download

Solution 3. Run Disk Cleanup on Windows Server 2012 (R2)

Disk Cleanup, a Windows built-in tool, enables you to remove unnecessary files on C drive that are unable to be deleted within File Explorer. Here are the detailed steps:

1. In File Explorer, right-click C drive and choose Properties among listed options.

2. In the pop-up window, click Disk Cleanup under General tab and it will calculate how much space you’ll be able to free from C drive.

3. Tick the box before the files that you want to delete and then click OK button.

OK

Tip: To avoid removing indispensable files mistakenly, you can click View Files to check what the files are in advance.

If you have not ever used Disk Cleanup tool on Windows Server 2012, you can enable by doing as follows in order:

• Go to Control Panel > Programs>Programs and features;
• Click Turn Windows Features on or off
• Click Add Roles and Features
• Choose Installation Type
• Select Role-based or feature-based installation and then click Next
• Click Next and Next and you’ll go to Features
• Locate User Interfaces and Infrastructure, expand it and check Desktop Experience
• Click Add Features
• Click Next and Install

After installation, you need to reboot the computer.

Solution 4. Enlarge C drive without data loss on Windows Server 2012 (R2)

If C drive is allocated with too small capacity unreasonably at first, it is recommended to extend it to solve Low Disk Space alert after run Disk Cleanup. Usually, there is no contiguous unallocated space behind C drive and you are unable to extend C drive without deleting partition within Disk Management.  Then, you can turn to the tool mentioned above, AOMEI Partition Assistant Server. 

With it, you can allocate free space from one partition with enough space to C drive directly without data loss or merge non-adjacent unallocated space into C drive on the same hard drive easily. Now, have a look at how to extend C drive on Windows Server 2012 (Supposed that there is no unallocated space on the same hard drive)

Step 1. Install and run the software. Right-click the partition with adequate free space and choose Allocate Free Space.

Allocate Free Space

Step 2. In the pop-up window, adjust the space that you want to allocate to C drive and choose C drive as the destination path. Then, click OK.

Allcoate Free Space from D to C Drive

Step 3. You’ll get back to the main console. Click Apply and Proceed to commit operation.

Proceed

✍ Notes:
◆ Allocate Free Space function can also help you to alloacte free space from one partition to non-system partition. For example, allocating free space to D drive.
◆ If the hard drive with Low Disk Space alert appearing is not large enough, you can upgrade Windows Server 2012 (R2 )hard drive to a larger one without reinstallation through cloning disk.
◆ It is available to extend C drive in Windows Server 2003, 2008 (R2), 2016, 2019 and 2022 as well via AOMEI Partition Assistant Server. To manage partitions and disks on  unlimited PCs within one company, you can employ AOMEI Partition Assistant Unlimited

Wrap things up

It is not rare to encounter Low Disk Space alert on Windows Server 2012 (R2) operating system or other Windows Server operating system like Windows Server 2008. When you are in such bothering condition, don’t put the issue aside as you won’t be happy to face the consequences that C drive running out of space can make.

Bryce
Bryce · Staff Editor
Bryce is an editor of AOMEI Technology, he covers backup & restore, hard disk & partitions management, cloud files transfer, website & database backup and so on for AOMEI. He enjoys helping people find solutions to their problems. He loves traveling, Sleeping, reserching and so on. He enjoys helping people find solutions to their problems. He loves traveling, Sleeping, reserching and so on. He would like to spend all time on reaserching computer problems. He is a very cute boy.