Windows 10: Windows 10 reserved storage explained

Microsoft revealed today that it plans to integrate a feature called reserved storage in Windows 10 version 1903, the next feature update of the operating system.

Windows 10 will set aside some available storage automatically so that it is can be used exclusively by the operating system.

Through reserved storage, some disk space will be set aside to be used by updates, apps, temporary files, and system caches.
​

Microsoft wants to improve the reliability of "critical OS functions" that rely on disk space, e.g. updating or caching, by reserving disk space.

Existing devices won't have the reserved storage functionality enabled by default; new Windows 10 version 1903 installations and systems that come pre-installed with that particular version of Windows 10 -- and future versions -- will make use of reserved storage automatically.



Microsoft notes that reserved storage will set aside about 7 Gigabytes of space; not a lot if Windows is installed on a device with lots of free storage but quite a lot if it is on a device with 16 or 32 Gigabytes of storage space.

The 7 Gigabytes that Windows 10 will reserve initially may change over time, and Windows 10 may use other space if the reserved storage is out of space.

The size depends on two major factors -- optional features and installed languages -- which are used to determine the reserved space.

Windows 10 users can check the size of reserved storage by going to Settings > System > Storage > Show more categories > System & Reserved. There you find listed the reserved storage that Windows 10 has set aside.

Administrators may reduce the size of reserved storage by removing optional features or languages, if installed. Reserved Storage may increase if additional features or languages are installed on a device.

It is not possible, however, to remove reserved storage from the operating system. It is unclear if that means that reserved storage cannot be disabled anymore once activated, or if that just means that data that is stored in the reserved storage area cannot be removed by users.

Windows 10 will delete files in reserved storage regularly when they are not needed anymore

Microsoft published the following instructions to enable Reserved Storage on Windows 10 Insider Builds:

1. Right-click the Windows icon on the taskbar, search for Registry Editor, and Open it.
2. If prompted, select Yes to allow the app to make changes to your device.
3. Select HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ReserveManager.
4. Right click ShippedWithReserves to modify and update the value to “1.”
5. After you upgrade the device to the next available build, you will be using reserved storage!

A value of 1 means that Reserved Storage space is enabled, a value of 0 that it is not enabled.

It remains to be seen if it is possible to set the value to 0 on devices that come with Reserved Storage enabled to disable the feature and free up space.

How does it work?


Microsoft's explanation on Technet falls a bit short as it is not clear just from reading the article how Windows 10 reserves the storage space. Craig Barkhouse explains in a comment that Microsoft created a solution that adds "new support" for that to the NTFS file system.

The idea is NTFS provides a mechanism for the servicing stack to specify how much space it needs reserved, say 7GB. Then NTFS reserves that 7GB for servicing usage only.
​

Barkhouse notes that the main drive will report the available space and that the reserved storage is subtracted automatically from that.

Closing Words


The use of reserved storage should improve the reliability and stability of certain processes, e.g. updating; that is a good thing but the whole feature may make low storage devices running Windows 10 even less appealing than they are already.

Now You: What is your take on Reserved Storage?

Ghacks needs you. You can find out how to support us here or support the site directly by becoming a Patreon. Thank you for being a Ghacks reader. The post Windows 10 reserved storage explained appeared first on gHacks Technology News.

read more...

 

I'm a bit confused about this reservation on the Windows 10.

Hi Colton,

Thank you for posting your query in Microsoft Community.

I suggest you to cancel the reservation and reserve it again.

Refer to the below steps to cancel the reservation.

• 
  Right click on the Get Windows 10 App or Windows icon located in right end of the taskbar.
  
• 
  Select “Check your upgrade status”
  
• 
  Select “Cancel reservation”
  

Refer to the below link to reserve Windows 10.

Questions about reserving Windows 10

Reply with the status of the issue, I will be happy to help you.

 

Windows 10 Tweaks

Pressing “Windows+Pause Break” (it’s up there next to scroll lock) opens the “System” Window.

Windows 10: In the new version of Windows, Explorer has a section called Quick Access. This includes your frequent folders and recent files. Explorer defaults to opening this page when you open a new window. If you’d rather open the usual This PC, with links to your drives and library folders, follow these steps:

• Open a new Explorer window.
• Click View in the ribbon.
• Click Options.
• Under General, next to “Open File Explorer to:” choose “This PC.”
• Click OK

credit to Lifehacker.

 

Unlocked Realtek HD Audio Drivers Windows 7 & 8 (With Dolby Digital Live and DTS Interactive)

DTS supported natively by Windows 8/8.1 and it should work on windows 10 too just DDL require to unlock your driver .