Storage Space Issue

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  1. Posts : 4,131
    Windows 3.1 to Windows 11
       #11

    Your SD card is formatted FAT32 file system (they often are by default) which has a maximum file size of 4GB. You need to re-format it NTFS. Doing this will delete everything on it though
    100% the reason..
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 32
    Windows 10
    Thread Starter
       #12

    Again, thanks for your tips and I'm sorry for the delay in getting back - I've been on the road.

    So I reformatted my SD card and after fiddling with folder access issues and permissions was able to copy across usmt.ppkg. The problem is, however, that I cannot now delete usmt.ppkg from C:\Recovery\Customizations and instead receive this message...

    Storage Space Issue-untitled.jpg

    I tried a little utility called Unlocker that I use under Windows 7 for just this type of scenario. Unlocker revealed there was no locking application and agreed to delete usmt.ppkg at the next reboot. I rebooted but the file remains.

    I don't know why this file would be open in System. In task manager it is not a start-up app and I cannot find it running as a process. I wondered whether this was another permissions issue but inspection of its properties reveals everyone to have full control over this file. I would like to get rid of it for the 5GB of precious system drive space it occupies but then I wonder if I may have issues in copying it back should the need arise.

    Lx07 - about compacting: If I compact the folders as you say, won't this slow my system as they unpack? I am yet to follow some of your other suggestions. There are heaps and I thank you for these.
    Last edited by visibility; 06 Jan 2016 at 03:25.
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 5,478
    2004
       #13

    visibility said:
    Lx07 - about compacting: If I compact the folders as you say, won't this slow my system as they unpack? I am yet to follow some of your other suggestions. There are heaps and I thank you for these.
    It might make it slower but then again it might make it faster - it depends if the total time of reading (less) from disk and then decompressing is faster or slower than just reading the larger uncompressed object. That is to say on the balance of your specific CPU and disk IO speed. For me using compression is a little bit faster than not - you can see here for some measurements.

    In any case you can uncompress the directories again by using the compact /u after the upgrade if it is slower to put it all back to normal.

    You don't have to do all the options to reduce size - just enough to get the space you need.

    I'm not sure why you can't delete the ppkg file as I don't have one. You could try safe mode perhaps.
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  4. Posts : 1,524
    Windows 10 Pro (32-bit) 16299.15
       #14

    Edit: Ignore this - see KYHI's comment on single instancing below.

    lx07 said:
    I'm not sure why you can't delete the ppkg file as I don't have one. You could try safe mode perhaps.
    You might also try using Advanced Startup to boot to a command prompt and delete it from there.
    Option Two in this
    Command Prompt at Boot - Open in Windows 10 - Windows 10 Forums

    then
    Code:
    del C:\Recovery\Customizations\usmt.ppkg
    exit
    Last edited by DavidY; 07 Jan 2016 at 03:22. Reason: I forgot about single instancing
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 32
    Windows 10
    Thread Starter
       #15

    Trying safe mode - either booting to safe mode with or without networking or the command prompt I am greeted by a login screen. When I type in my usual login password I am informed it is incorrect. I have done this several times with the same result. Is there a weird generic password used for safe mode or something?

    I'm aware I have been wandering around in this thread - further away from the initial topic of drive space. I have managed to salvage 9 GB of space following the suggestions above. I have the windows update service disabled until I get this all sorted because it was chewing through my metered bandwidth (even though it was set to metered) continuously downloading and then failing - stupid unintelligent Win 10. When I return home (I am still on the road) I will update. I would still like to delete this pesky package file, however.
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 4,131
    Windows 3.1 to Windows 11
       #16

    My only concern is if it is a single instanced ppkg... So a recovery drive is the Best option - before deleting the customizations folder and the 5GB custiomizations package
    CREATE a recovery Drive....
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 1,524
    Windows 10 Pro (32-bit) 16299.15
       #17

    Kyhi said:
    My only concern is if it is a single instanced ppkg...
    I forgot about this.

    From here:
    https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/lib...=vs.85%29.aspx
    Compact OS, single-instancing, and image optimization - Windows 10 hardware dev

    Single-instancing of provisioning packages

    For Windows 10, when you add new Windows desktop applications to a device, you'll capture these changes into a compressed provisioning package for use by the automatic recovery tools. Rather than maintaining both the original files and the provisioning package, you can use DISM to remove the original files, and run from directly from the compressed provisioning package instead. This is known as single-instancing the image.
    So if this had been applied by the OEM, it would mean that the usmt.ppkg file (the 'provisioning package') would contain the only copy of some applications, with Program Files folders only containing pointers to the usmt file. This would also explain why Windows won't let you delete the usmt.ppkg file easily, and I think deleting it could be a bad idea.
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 32
    Windows 10
    Thread Starter
       #18

    I see. Okay, I'd better leave it where it is.
    Thanks all for your tips. I now have about 9 GB to play around with and a recovery USB drive in case anything goes horribly wrong.

    Storage Space Issue-untitled.jpg

    This should be enough space to do the update when I arrive home. Curiously, usmt.ppkg doesn't show up under the 'other' category now.
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 4,131
    Windows 3.1 to Windows 11
       #19

    Ok now the question is - what is on the drive that you wish to keep ??
    Files - programs - etc ??

    Also is this a touch device ???

    The reason I ask is now that you have the recovery drive - you can re-apply recovery without the customizations package (ppkg)
    By simply renaming the "Recovery" Folder to "Recovery.old"

    you can now also do a clean install - insert the recovery USB and double-click the .ppkg to install the customizations..

    Now that you have the recovery drive as a fallback you can play around with the PC..
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 32
    Windows 10
    Thread Starter
       #20

    Okay folks. I have stopped my travels and for the past week have been trying to update to Windows 10 Home, version 1511, 10586. If you've followed the story thus far, I did manage to reclaim about 10 GB of space in readiness for my upgrade, thinking that should be sufficient. Now here's the thing. The 2.658 GB update file has been downloaded, I would say 8 times now, and each time I have had to delete it and begin again because I get trapped in this illogical loop from which there is no out. According to Einstein, I am insane:

    Storage Space Issue-4.jpg

    But let me explain myself to see if you draw the same conclusion.
    The download proceeds normally and at what seems like the end I am greeted with this window:

    Storage Space Issue-1.jpg

    So I click the 'Fix issues' button and what seems like an eternity later this Window appears:

    Storage Space Issue-2.jpg

    Now my computer drive is as lean as possible, I've even uninstalled all of the applications I installed after purchasing this little beast 4 weeks ago (including Norton AV) not to mention a whole lot of junk software that came preloaded with this laptop. I've compressed, deleted, uninstalled, transferred, you name it. So Disk Cleanup provides no useful avenue for me, which leaves only the option to try another drive. When I attach another drive, and click the second option, I get this screen:

    Storage Space Issue-3.jpg

    In other words, no external drive shows up in the drop down list apart from my SD card, which I permanently leave inserted. So, it doesn't matter whether I attach another drive or not because I cannot use it for the update (This mightn't seem important at this stage but it becomes so, please read on.) Okay, so I use my SD card, after all it's got plenty of space. And away it goes downloading the update yet again.

    Now I don't have the fastest internet connection so about 3 hours in all seems to be going well and I am asked to restart manually (because I turned off the automatic restart). Upon restarting I am greeted by a little window that I would love to show you but alas I cannot take a screen shot because my system hasn't yet loaded. So, here's what it says:

    Error
    Please insert the external storage media and press ok.


    There's two buttons - "Ok" and 'Cancel'. The Ok option keeps returning this same error message and cancel starts the computer normally leaving a massive installation file at C:\$WINDOWS.~BT\Sources\ and one on my SD card that both need to be deleted.

    I can truthfully say I am a little more than frustrated.

    My current build is 10240 and I'm trying to get to 10586. I fail to see why 10+ GB is required in order to install an update. It makes no sense to me and moreover the process seems flawed for people with tiny drives. Can I download this update on my Win 7 pro desktop and somehow transfer it to my laptop because as sure as hell I cannot use Windows update?
      My Computer


 

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