Create space on Tiny 32Gb disk for win10 upgrade

autoq · 18 Aug 2019

So I have a small Asus EeeBook with a 32Gb "disk" (only 28Gb useable due to the factory recovery partition).
It is minimal install - just a few browsers and Minimum Office install (word/excel only), a PDF viewer and some music. There are two users set up. That's it.
I have 5.5Gb free. I have 2 Gb of RAM and the page file is typically 2-3gb . I am presently running Win 10 1803 quite fine. I would like to update to 1903. But it says it needs 8Gb free.

Obvously I have done all of the official Disk cleanup steps - I do this regularly anyway to try to keep the free space which I already have. I have also temporailiry turned of the wuauserv and bits services and delete the associated softwaredistribution folders ,etc,etc).

I guess could create the install media on another machine ( and then install from a USB SSD ) but will that still give me the free-space error ?
Option 1:
Delete WinSxs ( about 3Gb) . Normally I would never do this, but am wondering if I would get away with it as I am about to do an Update ?
i.e. is removing the WinSxs (or the windows/Installer folder) ok immediately before an upgrade )
Option 2:
Switch off paging - this would give me just enough space but am thinking that my PC might just stop with an out of memory error
Option 3 : Do a fresh install instead of an upgrade, but then I would need to recreate the users/re-ins tall apps/browsers/restore bookmarks/passwords ,etc ,etc...
Option 4:
Don't bother doing anything just now and just do a full install a few years from now...

Anybody done anything similar. I can't be the only one with this issue. I have already searched around and most people are asking about general issues with space, I am really more interested in specific update tricks/tips (especially Option 1 which is my favoured one at the moment... worst case is I then have to a clean install )?
Thanks in advance to anyone one who has the time/knowledge/experience to respond to this

Samuria · 18 Aug 2019

Welcome to the forum. To do it in the past I copied all the OEM recovery to USB delete the partition and grow c. Often the recovery won't work as windows changes the boot so it doesn't work. As you can download free windows you don't need recovery

Bree · 18 Aug 2019

Welcome to TenForums.

autoq said:

Option 1:
Delete WinSxs ( about 3Gb) . Normally I would never do this, but am wondering if I would get away with it as I am about to do an Update ?

NO! deleting WinSxS will kill the Windows system.

...many of the files are used by Windows from directories outside the Windows Component Store using a technique known as hard linking. In such cases, the files from a component version appear both inside and outside the Windows Component Store.

Analyze Component Store (WinSxS folder) in Windows 10

You can reduce the size of WinSxS (more than Disk Clean up is can) if you use the /ResetBase switch as in Option Three here:

Clean Up Component Store (WinSxS folder) in Windows 10

Option 2: Switch off paging - this would give me just enough space but am thinking that my PC might just stop with an out of memory error

That may well work, particularly if you have (as I'd expect) 32 bit Windows. Just don't try to run any other apps while you try updating. If enabled, you should switch off hibernation too.

I guess could create the install media on another machine ( and then install from a USB SSD )...

You certainly don't have enough space to let windows update download and install the update! An in-place upgrade from USB install media is your only viable option. A 4GB USB stick is large enough to hold the install files, 8GB if you want it to have both 32 and 64 bit install media.

Create Bootable USB Flash Drive to Install Windows 10

a 32Gb "disk" (only 28Gb useable due to the factory recovery partition).

If that machine was supplied with Windows 8 then that is what will be in the factory recovery partition. Do you really need it? You could delete the partition and add that space to your C: drive (or create a new empty partition and temporarily move stuff into it). You can make a system image of all the partitions on the machine as it stands now using Macrium Reflect Free. That way you could restore the Macrium image and perform a factory reset, should you ever want to. In any event, it is always a good idea to have a system image of your machine.

Backup and Restore with Macrium Reflect