Windows 10: 32Gb Notebook - end of the line for Windows 10?

I have not upgraded many of these devices but the method I've described previously has worked for me *Wink

It helps too if the user does not run the system until the memory available runs low, before they add extra memory, as most Phones Tablets and these hybrid devices will, in my experience, default to use of the SD Card or USB Flash drive over it's internal storage if and when present.

The first thing I do when prepping a New Phone or Tablet is add an SD card of the maximum possible size for the intended use, I also include this as a standard cost when purchasing. BTW this is also the case with Garmin Sat Nav units which need a card to update the map data

 

I bought a little Asus Notebook a year ago with Windows 10 preinstalled. It has a 32Gb SSD and I added a 128Gb mini SD card in the slot for documents.

As far as possible I've tried to make Windows 10 use the SD card for the User folder and other space consuming folders. It was not as simple as I hoped (e.g. on earlier versions of Windows it was a single change) so essentially all the OS and Programs are installed on the SSD.

It has been OK up until now - every few months I need to hunt down a bloated folder and delete it. Now unfortunately with the latest cumulative update (I forget the number), I am getting an error message that I need 8Gb free space. After deleting pretty much every program, I have 8.5Gb free - great, let's go! But no... it doesn't install. It gets part way through and then complains it doesn't have enough disk space.

So it looks like this is the end of the line for Windows 10 on this machine. If anyone has suggestions for how to break up the cumulative patch into smaller ones or install it from the larger SD disk then I'm all ears! *Dinesh

:)

 

End of the line for Nokia/Lumia?

I have a Nokia Lumia 521. It was inexpensive, it works well. I like its navigation, maps, Cortana, e-mail and, of course, it's a good phone. But...

It has a couple of annoyances:

*Notifications -- It goes tink-tink, tink-tink, a little red bar with white letters appears at the top of the screen. If I'm holding the phone in my hand and have my glasses on, I might be able to read it; otherwise, after about 5 seconds, the notification
is gone and no way to recover it.

*WiFi -- It connects to my home Wi-Fi but often says "No Internet Access". If I turn the phone Wi-Fi off and then back on, sometimes it has Internet access, sometimes not. Other devices in the home use the same Wi-Fi and don't have this problem.

Those are annoyances. The "biggie" is apps. I see lots of offers of apps all the time, but only for Apple and Android, not for Windows. It appears the Windows phone customer base is not considered large enough to be worth developing apps for.

My wife gave up her Lumia phone for an Android phone, in order to get an app she wanted.

I use very few apps; but I was able to deposit checks to Bank of America with their Windows phone app, a convenience I valued. Then BofA upgraded the app, and discontinued the Windows phone version. When I want to deposit a check, I use my wife's Android
phone.

If I were buying a phone today, I would hesitate to choose a Windows/Lumia phone, only because so many mainstream apps are not available for it. I know that MSFT doesn't create the apps, other businesses do. But that so many businesses ignore Windows phone
is surely a no-confidence vote on the future of Windows phones.

 

End of the line for Nokia/Lumia?

Like most other things on the phone the user controls notifications and actions. The bar at the top is a banner notification and the tink tink is the notification sound. You can select how you are notified, no banner, no sound or no notification at all.
Even though a notification may not have a banner it still shows up in the action center when you swipe down from the top of the phone. It is not gone forever.

The little book icon at the top of the screen tells you have a notification. Swipe down to see what, banner or no banner.

https://www.windowsphone.com/en-US/...rsonalization/notifications-and-quick-actions

Change notification settings

https://www.windowsphone.com/en-US/...-personalization/change-notification-settings

Usually 'no internet access' means the device did not assign an IP address. Try to be in a home location that has a strong signal when you connect.

For whatever BOA did pull their 8.1 app. They are now developing an app for the Windows 10 Store.

Bank of America confirms it's working on a Windows 10 Mobile app

Some apps you have to have. My wife's business only has an iOS app, even though Android has the greatest market share.

 

Hello 2460acc, and welcome to Ten Forums. *Smile

It appears that Microsoft is working on a "Lean" edition of Windows 10 for the Windows 10 April 2018 Update that you may be able to use instead. We'll have to wait until more official details become available about it though.

*Arrow Windows 10 Lean edition for devices with 16GB of storage - Windows 10 Forums

 

As far as I know the only "updates" that need 8gb of free space are the major version upgrades such as Fall Creators Update. Run winver and what version of Windows 10 do you have? You should be on version 1709. If you are not on version 1709, then I suggest you create a version 1709 USB flash drive using the Media Creation Tool:

Download Windows 10

If the MCT complains it does not have enough free space, there is an alternative way to download the ISO file directly from Microsoft that we can show you, if we have to.

Once you have the USB flash drive created, run disk cleanup using option 2 here:
Open and Use Disk Cleanup in Windows 10 Windows 10 Tutorials

Then run setup.exe from the USB flash drive you created.

You can also gain more free disk space by turning hibernation off (this also turns off Windows fast startup). Open a Command Prompt (Admin) - and I think it is also the same in Powershell (Admin) - and run:
powercfg /h off

I've got a couple of 32GB computers and with careful management I've always been able to update/upgrade to the latest version of Windows 10. But I don't have very many programs installed on them, they are mostly just for surfing internet and email when traveling, or connected to a TV for a media player.

 

When we eventually get the "spring" creators update and it wants to create a Windows.old folder on your notebook then you have a problem.

 

Also, make sure Windows is in the compact state, from Command Prompt (Admin) run:
compact /compactos:always

Also, you can open disk management and see if you have a recovery partition that is taking up space, chances are you can delete the recovery partition. Just make sure you backup all the existing third party drivers first by running:
DISM.exe /Online /Export-Driver /Destination:\destpath

change D:\destpath to the drive letter of the SD card and the folder name of a folder you create to hold the drivers.

In summary, that's how I manage my 32GB computers:
1. Turn off hibernation
2. Make sure the OS is compacted
3. Export the drivers, delete the recovery partition and extend the OS partition into the free space
4. Use folder junctions to move my user data files to an SD card or USB flash drive
5. Use the command line disk cleanup option to keep the disk clean
6. Use a flash drive or SD card with the latest Windows 10 version setup files to do any major version upgrades

 

When I have seen this issue on similar notebooks I've found that an actual USB stick has worked for updates rather than an SD card. It would appear that (on the notebooks I've dealt with, at least), that the BIOS is set-up to look for space from the USB port rather than an SD port.

 

'Outside-the-box' thinking suggests a long-term investment in a newer larger volume-sized SSD, accompanied by a clean install of the April 2018 OS via USB flash drive, to future-proof the notebook another two years. Especially if you are happy with the notebook's functionalities thus far.

 

One problem I did come across or should I say *Banghead against was I had the exact same idea for a client's system but the initial research found a major block to my plans - the Memory chips were soldered directly to the motherboard *Mad probably made it cheaper to build but not all are as bad.

 

I suspect this very much inside-the-box thinking to get people to "invest" in a new computer every 2 years... *Wink I work with computers and am prepared to get down an dirty but your average "investor" is going to hit the wall. I've cleared even more space on the SSD (drivers, etc) and STILL the update wants more more MOAR.

 

32 GB SSD is too small.
128 GB SD card helps ... but it's SLOOOOOW.
I think you need more, better, faster.

 

You might want to check out Susan Bradley's adventures with her 32GB HP Envy.

Search for these articles:

• Patch Lady – Not enough space to install 1709
• Patch Lady – finally got an HP Envy 8 Note 5000 upgraded

 

Here is how to do it with a bit of effort.
You can update a 32 GB tablet but it is a bit convoluted and requires knowledge of Hyper-V virtual machines and Macrium Reflect Free. It is not that difficult but not for beginners.

You need to know if tablet is 32bit uefi or 64bit uefi.


1) Install Macrium Reflect Free on tablet, and also create boot entry from Macrium "Other Tasks" menu. Also create a Macrium Rescue iso.

2) Back up tablet with Macrium Reflect to a usb drive. Copy Macrium Rescue iso to this drive as well.

3) Create a virtual hard drive 2xsize of linx tablet e.g. 64GB for 32GB tablet

4) Restore image to the virtual hard drive and expand C drive to fill all space on VHD from disk management, the detach vhd as well.

5) If 32bit uefi, create a GENERATION 1 Hyper V VM. If 64 bit, create Gen 2, and attach VM from above, and also connect Macrium Rescue iso as a "DVD". Set VM to boot from "DVD"

6) Boot VM and run Macrium Reflect "Fix window boot problems"

7) Boot pc, this time booting into Windows

8) Do upgrade in normal way

7) Do disk cleanup etc. - check installed files less than say 30 GB.

8) Image backup C partition only and copy to a usb drive

9) Boot tablet into Macrium and restore C image partition from usb to tablet, over existing writing C partition

10) Run Macrium Reflect "fix windows boot problems"


11) Reboot tablet into Windows.