Windows 10: Win 11 reports erroneous space limitation and refuses to copy

I have a new Windows 11 computer and I am transferring data from both my old Win 10 machine via network shared folders and physical storage media external disc. USB. Regardless of which source I use, when I attempt to copy a large amount of data like an entire folder, the Win 11 computer reports there is not enough space. There is plenty of space on the 2 TB disk. This error cascades with subsequent attempts to copy smaller numbers of files, for example. I drag 3 files over, error. I drag even 1 file over, error. The error msg reads: There is not enough space on [Folder name]. You need

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Win 11 reports erroneous space limitation and refuses to copy

I have a new Windows 11 computer and I am transferring data from both my old Win 10 machine (via network shared folders) and physical storage media (external disc. USB). Regardless of which source I use, when I attempt to copy a large amount of data like an entire folder, the Win 11 computer reports there is not enough space. There is plenty of space on the 2 TB disk. This error cascades with subsequent attempts to copy smaller numbers of files, for example. I drag 3 files over, error. I drag even 1 file over, error.

The error msg reads:

There is not enough space on [Folder name]. You need an additional ## MB to copy these files.

Sometimes it gets the [Folder name] wrong.

system information

OS Name Microsoft Windows 11 Home
Version 10.0.22000 Build 22000
Other OS Description Not Available
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Name SANDEREJ
System Manufacturer HP
System Model HP Pavilion Gaming Desktop TG01-2xxx
System Type x64-based PC
System SKU 33V37AA#ABA
Processor 11th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-11700 @ 2.50GHz, 2496 Mhz, 8 Core(s), 16 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Version/Date AMI F.12, 4/21/2022
SMBIOS Version 3.3
Embedded Controller Version 112.06
BIOS Mode UEFI
BaseBoard Manufacturer HP
BaseBoard Product 8860
BaseBoard Version A (SMVB)
Platform Role Desktop
Secure Boot State On
PCR7 Configuration Elevation Required to View
Windows Directory C:\windows
System Directory C:\windows\system32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume2
Locale United States
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "10.0.22000.778"
User Name sanderej\usasa
Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 16.0 GB
Total Physical Memory 15.8 GB
Available Physical Memory 10.1 GB
Total Virtual Memory 18.1 GB
Available Virtual Memory 10.3 GB
Page File Space 2.38 GB
Page File D:\pagefile.sys

disk space on the DATA drive shows 1.81 TB free. Windows Disk (partition?) shows only 3.10 GB free of 237 GB

Can you help?

Ellen

 

Win 11 reports erroneous space limitation and refuses to copy

OK will try that. I tried moving the folder manually, by dragging it to the data drive (into a folder with a different name) and it did copy the files, but did not remove them from the C drive. I also looked up h ow to specify another location for OneDrive's folder and am attempting that.

Assuming that all works, I do believe there is an issue here, which is that transferring files to folders listed under "this PC" in File Explorer sends them to the system drive, not the data drive. How do I fix that? Is this a bug in Windows 11?

Many thanks for all your help. You've been indispensable.

Ellen

 

Win 11 reports erroneous space limitation and refuses to copy

Hi Ellen,

I am Dave, I will help you with this.

When Windows is coping files, temporary files are created on the System (C) drive and if the C drive is short on space, that is usually the cause of the disk space error when copying large amounts of data on any drive

Can you free up space on your C drive, because the system drive is not running efficiently if you only have 3.1Gb of 237Gb free and that will also shorten the lifespan of that drive.