Full System Drive (C:)

[sgscit]

Folks,

My C drive has slowly filled up over the past year or so on my w2k server.

This is also my PDC.

I have moved my print queues, swap file, logs etc to another partition on the server but am finding that my space is still filling up.

I can't buy another server until the new financial year (July).

Am I able to add another disk to the system and mount it some how to extend the C partition? Or is there other options available to us?

Cheers,

Pete

 

[haemphyst]

Have you emptied all of your temp directories? This includes the temporary internet files, c:\temp, c:\winnt\temp amd all *.tmp files on the drive? Look into this first, they can get VERY large, if you do not keep up with the housecleaning... I know it is not going to be a HUGE help in the bg scheme of things, but this is a start.

Yes, you can add a physical drive to the system, and re-direct a folder on your c: drive to it. You can't stretch the actual partition natively, but the redirection makes the OS think the directory is as large as the new HD, therefore giving room to breathe. My recommendation is to move the MOST dynamic of your existing folders to the new drive. Another option would be (and the benefits to this option will be dependent on how much system RAM you have) to move the swap file to another partition, preferably on another physical drive. In addition to freeing up some space, the drive contention can be minimized, which improves system response time.

e-mail me at ddraper at igalaxy dot net

 

[DebiJo]

There are products that can grow your partition if you have disk space on your physical drive. I've used a product from Paragon called Hard Disk Manager. It's relatively inexpensive and works great.

Good luck,
Debi

 

[haemphyst]

You'll notice I *DID* say a NATIVE application. I NEVER recommend applying third party utilities to a server environment. One of the reasons you went with server in the first place is for stability, and it is probably not a good idea to "extend" your partition using a third party utility, if not ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY. Use the tools available to you in the OS already. I think your BEST option is to add a physical drive, and map it to the most dynamic (or fastest growing) directory.

e-mail me at ddraper at igalaxy dot net

 

[agrappe]

/me agrees with haemphyst. Stay native unless you have to.

 

[PatGarner]

I'm having the same issue as sgscit. I was wondering if either of you could provide instructions on how to redirect a folder on the C: drive to use space on another physical drive.

I've spent a considerable amount of time trying to figure out how, but I've come up with nothing. I'm using Windows Server 2000 by the way.

Thanks in advance.

 

[technome]

If you are that desperate for space, reinstall your programs residing in c:\program files to another directory, on another partition. All my WK2 server have about 2 non OS related programs installed in C:\programs files, everything else goes to a subdirectory of \APPS on a second partition. MS SQL server and American Power Conversion's crappy java based software reside in C:\program.. , that all.

End result, from a partition formatted out to 4.39 gig, I have 2 gig left..I leave a 300 meg pagefile on the system partition, place a larger one on another partition.

If you have Symantec CE, the program uses the system partition as a garbage can, does not clean up temp files, leaving 1.2 to 2 gigs of it's temporary files after installation.

If you have active directory, do not allow roaming profiles on the servers

 

[haemphyst]

First question is: Do you have a folder being shared on the c: drive? If yes, then you are OK, and this will be a fairly painless solution. This will obviously require at LEAST one shutdown of the server, so you will need to do it after business hours. Also, if you have any remote users, be certain to NOT leave the network cable attached, or disable the NICs in the machine, so no remote users can log in.

1: Rt. Click share, and find out the share name - make a note of it. Write it down EXACTLY as it is shown in the share properties.
2: Rename share, saying yes to warning messages.
3: Create new folder with EXACTLY the same folder name as the old one used to have.
4: Shutdown server, install new hard drive.
5: Rt. Click "My Computer" and select "Computer Management"
6: In the left hand Explorer window, select "Disk Management"
7: Create and format partition (you must use NTFS), but tell it to not assign a drive letter, instead map new partition to the empty NTFS folder on the C: drive - the one you re-created in step 3 above. Note: I do not recommend the quick format option, especially on a new drive. Use the full format option.
8: Re-share the folder on the C: Drive, using exactly the same share name as you wrote down from step 1, above.
9: COPY, DO NOT MOVE, the contents of the renamed folder BACK to the newly created/shared folder.

Hope this helps!

e-mail me at ddraper at igalaxy dot net

 

[haemphyst]

Oh, and one last step I forgot to mention... re-enable your NICs or reconnect your network cable.

e-mail me at ddraper at igalaxy dot net

 

[PatGarner]

Thanks for the instructions haemphyst!

Speaking of installing new hard drives, perhaps someone may be able to lend a hand on this as well (bear in mind that I am primarily a programmer that has been thrown into a Sys Admin role by necessity):

I opened up the casing of the server in question to find that there is no additional rectangular connector on the ribbon that connects to the hard drives. How would I go about adding an additional rectangular connector onto the ribbon so I may add an additional hard drive? Is this something that I should not attempt?

Thanks for all your help.

 

[Castor66]

What is the spec of your server? Make and Model would be good as we can then have a look at the spec of that and get some guidelines from there.

 

[PatGarner]

The server spoken of in my previous post is a mom-and-pop shop ACPI Multiprocessor server. No brand name and model appear anywhere on it. Under System Properties, General Tab, Computer, it says

x86 Family 6 Model 8 Stepping 6

Not sure if that will help, but it's all I can come up with.

Thanks.

 

[haemphyst]

Is it a SCSI bus or an IDE bus? If SCSI, and you do not have 7 devices on that cable, all you need is a SCSI cable with more connectors. Be certain your cable is rated for the speed of your SCSI card i.e. ultra160, ultra320, etc. If it is an IDE bus, and there are two drives on that chain already, you cannot add any additional drives to that chain. If there is only one drive, all you need is a two position IDE cable - should be about 6 bux at your local computer store.

Hope this helps...

e-mail me at ddraper at igalaxy dot net

 

[hannahsh]

Mmmm interesting points here especially about the c:\redirect.

You will probably find u have a dump file of 500Mb plus, either save it somewhere else or delete it, system32 directory and then go into performance/recovery and either stop the dumps or choose to point to another drive. That will give u a significant lump of space back.

I find this problem regularly on NT4 where there is only a 2gb root drive and they have a million and one things installed like PDC/Exchange !!!! ie all in one server,

NEVER LET YOU ROOT DRIVE GET ANYWHERE NEAR 300MB IN NT4 or you might not be able to boot it without a floppy.

another option is to move some services to a bdc supposing you have one?

 

[sgscit]

A collegue of mine found this article on the ms website:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/221093/EN-US

We now have 1.2gb of space where previously we only had 60mb or so.

Hope this helps aleviate any one else with the same issue!

Cheers,

Pete