Need help updating

Hi,

I have an HP laptop that came with a 32GB disc, which has nothing except for the OS, Chrome, anti-virus and anti-malware installed. In other words, I can't free up space. I have only 2.5GB of free space, but I need 8GB to download and install a major Windows update. I have tried using large USB sticks and hard drives, but the install won't save to them, or won't recognize them.

There must be a workaround, and I have looked around but couldn't find a solution. Anyone know how to solve this?

Thanks!

CP6NH said:

Hi,

I have an HP laptop that came with a 32GB disc, which has nothing except for the OS, Chrome, anti-virus and anti-malware installed. In other words, I can't free up space. I have only 2.5GB of free space, but I need 8GB to download and install a major Windows update. I have tried using large USB sticks and hard drives, but the install won't save to them, or won't recognize them.

There must be a workaround, and I have looked around but couldn't find a solution. Anyone know how to solve this?

Thanks!

If you don't see the external drive in the drop down box when you get "Windows needs more space", try clicking the circular refresh icon.

Ben

Barman58 said:

Couple of things to try ...

Didn't work. I formatted both the USB stick (NTFS and exFAT) and an SD card (NTFS, FAT32, and exFAT) without success. Still asking for its 8GB of space to install the update.

Ben Myers said:

If you don't see the external drive in the drop down box when you get "Windows needs more space", try clicking the circular refresh icon.

Ben

This is the window I get.

Download the update to a USB stick and run it from there.

Microsoft Update Catalog


If you don't know the knowledge base number, press the Windows and "i" keys simultaneously and click "Updates and Security".

Ben

Clean up disk space. Go to Settings>System>Storage>click on "Free up space now" place a check mark in all the boxes, then click on "Remove Files" Windows won't let you delete any important files. It's possible to gain the space you require by removing temp files.

Ben Myers said:

Download the update to a USB stick and run it from there.
Microsoft Update Catalog

If you don't know the knowledge base number, press the Windows and "i" keys simultaneously and click "Updates and Security".
Ben

This update doesn't have a KBN. Somehow I got the window that you suggested, but the update has two parts, and they for whatever reason need to be on two separate storage units. See attached screenshot. I downloaded Part B, but Part A has to be on the main HDD, and I don't have enough space there. The refresh button on Part A does nothing.

Stitch194 said:

Clean up disk space. Go to Settings>System>Storage>click on "Free up space now" place a check mark in all the boxes, then click on "Remove Files" Windows won't let you delete any important files. It's possible to gain the space you require by removing temp files.

There is little to clean. I freed up 500 MB by removing temp files. I freed up additional 1 GB by removing a few applications. I still don't have enough space and have nothing to remove. System and Reserved alone is 18.6 GB. Issues like this remind me of why I left Windows a decade ago.

Hey CP6NH,
You might need to delete/clean up restore points and reduce the amount of disk space it uses - Delete System Restore Points in Windows 10 | Windows 10 Tutorials

You could try heavily compacting OS and static folders (if it isn't already compacted).

Open a cmd window with administrative rights:

compact /compactos:always
compact /c /a /i /s /exe:lzw c:\Program Files\*
compact /c /a /i /s /exe:lzw c:\Program Files (x86)\*
compact /c /a /i /s /exe:lzw c:\windows\assembly\*
compact /c /a /i /s /exe:lzw c:\windows\inf\*
compact /c /a /i /s /exe:lzw c:\windows\Infused Apps\*
compact /c /a /i /s /exe:lzw c:\windows\Installer\*
compact /c /a /i /s /exe:lzw c:\windows\fonts\*
compact /c /a /i /s /exe:lzw c:\windows\logs\*
compact /c /a /i /s /exe:lzw c:\windows\panther\*
compact /c /a /i /s /exe:lzw c:\windows\system32\driverstore\*

Be careful with latest one. Keep in mind this may yield you several gigabytes but your system will run slower.