Windows 10: Surface Pro - what is eating all my disc space?

I have a Surface - I can't recall the exact version but i bought it almost two years ago, so whatever the new model was back then. The last few days I have been hurting real bad for disc space; today I am completely crippled. And for the life of me I can't figure out why. Okay about a month ago I started using it as a second computer for developing a game I'm working on, and copying over all my project files plus unity and Visual Studio ate up a big chunk of my disc space. So I wasn't surprised when last week I started getting notifications that I was low on disc space. But I keep losing more and more space when I haven't even been working on that project. Last week I had checked my drive and I had a few gigs of space, but I wasn't terribly concerned as I wasn't going to be adding anything for a while. But even though I hadn't downloaded anything or saved any new files, the other day I suddenly had less than a gig of space. Later I found there was a windows update that was downloaded, and after it was applied I had some breathing room again, but I was still unusually low on space. And then today I found myself down to just over 200 megs of disc space. i checked if another update was downloading, but it says I'm up-to-date now. I figured some programs might have been eating up some space, like perhaps Chrome is saving stuff locally, maybe clip studio is as well, but I closed those programs and i didn't get any more space. I went into my downloads folder and deleted at least a gig worth of installation programs, emptied the recycle bin, and then immediately checked my disc space again and found that I now have even LESS space, only about 180 megs. What is eating up my disc space? I'm not even running anything at this point. I haven't been downloading anything; I've barely used more than a web browser, mostly just to watch some YouTube. I honestly doubt that I have a virus because I haven't been anywhere trusted that I haven't been a hundred times before, but even if i did I don't even have the drive space to install something to scan for it. But failing a virus then Chrome or some other program is just s****ing all over my C drive and won't clean itself up. Is there a way to get it to clean itself up? Or find what program is doing this?

:)

 

Surface Pro 3

Hi ChrisWaters3,

Thank you for writing to Microsoft Community Forums.

Could you please help me with the below information:

1. Does the battery drain out, if the tablet is not connected to peripherals?
   
   
2. Which version of Windows you are using? (To check, type: winver in start menu and hit enter.)
   

I understand how something like this can try your patience. This issue is an indication of faulty drivers or incompatible driver.
However, I suggest you to follow the troubleshooting steps mentioned below:

Method 1: Check the drivers.

Step1: Battery driver

1. Press Windows andR
   key together on your Keyboard.
2. Type devmgmt.msc and hit enter.
   
3. Click on view on top > Select Show hidden devices.
   
4. Expand the Batteries option from the list.
   
5. Select the ACPI Compliant Control Method Battery> right click on the driver and click on
   Properties.
6. Click on Driver tab > check if you have the option to
   Roll Back Driver.
7. If yes, Roll back the driver or uninstall it and restart the computer.
   

Uninstalling the driver will be automatically installed after the system is restarted. Check if the issue is fixed.

Step 2: Keyboard driver.

1. In the Device manager, go to ‘Other devices’, you will find
   Unknown devices.
   
2. Double tap on the unknown device > click on
   Driver tab> click on update driver.
   
3. Select browse my computer for driver software> Click on Let me pick from a list of device drivers
   
4. Select keyboard, then click ‘Next’.
   
5. Select HID Keyboard device and click finish.
   

Method 2: Run the toolkit.


Note: If your Surface is managed by your work or school, check with your organization's IT department before running the tool.

I would suggest you to run the toolkit provided by Microsoft on
Fix common Surface
problems using the Surface Diagnostic Toolkit

If the above steps, doesn’t fix the issue. I would suggest you to follow the steps mentioned in the article on
Surface Pro 3 Battery
FAQ for the Surface Pro Embedded Controller Firmware update.


Hope it helps.

Roohi Taj S

Microsoft Community - Moderator

 

Problem updating Windows Surface Pro 4 with Windows 10 feature updates

Hi,

I have manage to install image for Microsoft Surface Pro 4 by going to https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...erecoveryimage and download a recovery image for Microsoft Surface Pro 4.

What I did to reset your Surface from a USB recovery drive was:
Step 1: Make sure your Surface is turned off and plugged in (hold down the power
button for 30 seconds).
Step 2: Insert the USB recovery drive into the USB port on your Surface.
Step 3: Press and hold the volume-down button while you press and release the
power button on your Surface.
Step 4: When the Surface logo appears, release the volume button.
Step 5: When prompted, select the language and keyboard layout you want.
Step 6: Select Troubleshoot > Reset your PC.
If prompted for a recovery key, select Skip this drive at the bottom of the
screen.
Step 7: Select the target operating system you wish to reset. This
refers to the current operating system installed on your Surface.
Step 8: Select Yes, repartition the drives, and on the next page, select Next.
Step 9: Choose Just remove my files.
Step 10: Select Reset.
Surface restarts and the Surface logo displays while the reset process continues
(this can take a while).

This always fails and I have to do the below which continues installation.
Windows 10 Installation Media:

1. Insert the Media (DVD/USB) in your PC and restart.
2. Boot from the media.
3. Select Repair Your Computer.

Select Troubleshoot.

1. Choose Command Prompt from the menu:

Type in the command:
Diskpart
Type in the command:
List disk (Note which disk is your Boot drive number mine is 0)
Type in the command:
Sel disk 0
Type in the command:
List vol (Note which volume is the EFI partition mine is 4)
Type in the command:
Sel vol 4
Type in the command:
assign letter=V:
Type in the command:
Exit
Type in the command:
V:
After you have assigned a drive letter Using Diskpart You can format the EFI partition:
Example: if you assigned a letter V to the partition the command would be:
format V: /FS:FAT32
Type in the command:
bcdboot C:\windows /s V: /f UEFI


Now I have an issue that I cannot install Feature Updates. They keep failing to install.
Any ideas how to resolve issue?

 

Low local disc space on a Surface and separately a laptop, both Windows 10, following Microsoft updates

Following a major Windows update around 4-6 weeks ago, my Microsoft Surface Pro displays a message 'Low disc space. You are running out of space on Disc: D: ' etc. I have read that this is a consequence of a Windows update. My Asus laptop, also Windows
10, underwent a major Windows update last night - that took over an hour - and this laptop is now displaying the same message, referring to a local disc F. This MUST be caused by the Windows 10 update. Can anyone provide a step by step fix please - I am not
a computer boffin and need your help to fix this Microsoft problem. Thank you, Rob Faircloth.