Low Disk space on OS Partition

[Lordmathos]

Hi All One of our servers is reporting very low available hard disk space on the OS partition.

We have the server split up into 2 partitions. 1 the os Partition and the other the data partition.

The data partition has about 700gb of free space.

Is there any software out there that will allow me to realocate space from the data partition and add it to the OS partition with having to format and reinstall the OS and programs.

Cheers

 

[ForumKB]

Acronis Disk Director should be able to do this for you (although I've never tried it myself with RAID partitions), depends on you budjet of course

http://www.acronis.com/enterprise/products/diskdirector/

If its a stand alone drive rather than RAID which i assume it isn't then partition magic will do it.

Of course there is always the backup / recreate partitions & restore method (which is cheapest)

Always backup before trying to change the partitions or it'll all end in tears.

Adrian Paris
Paris Engineering Ltd

http://www.ForumKB.com

- Tech forum only Google search, find answers faster by not searching the junk.

 

[Helenp1983]

Hi,

What server is it?

When i had this problem, i re-pointed my backup exec catlogs to the second partion,

moved dhcp and the exchange databases etc.

I deleted the microsft patch unistall folders in C:\WINDOWS

I didn't think you could extend a boot partition.
(e.g $NtUninstallKB899587$)

They is lots of software on the net that claims to but my tests on a laptop were unsuccessful.

I did think about replacing the disks and running a backup on larger disks as i use vertias idr, which allows re-size when restoring.

 

[Lordmathos]

Hi it is a raid partition on a Dell poweredge 2950. There isnt a great deal running on the server except file shares and sql (which is the worrying part as I don't have much sql experience).

We use backup exec every night to a tape drive but we havent tried to do a full disaster recovery restore as we dont have a spare server.

Is there any way of redirecting the patch folder to a different location?

 

[Helenp1983]

Is the database on C:\ ?

Do a search for .mdf and .ndf and .ldf are any of these on C:\ ?

also in Back up exec move the catalogs

 

[ForumKB]

Hi, not sure if you can redirect the folder but you can delete the old files under

C:\WINDOWS\SoftwareDistribution\Download

to clean it up,

you can also delete the stuff in

c:\windows\system32\dllcache\

as Helenp1983 mentions you can also delete the $NTuninstall . . . folders in the windows directory but this will mean you loose the ability to uninstall updates that have been applied.

You may however just be delaying the inevitable.

I assume your SQL databases are on the D: drive?

Are there any large local profiles that could be moved or removed?





"Back it up before you do anything or it will all end in tears . . ."

Adrian Paris

Paris Engineering Ltd

http://www.ForumKB.com

- Tech forum dedicated Google search, find answers faster by not searching the junk.

 

[Lordmathos]

There is only the administrator profile on the server as it just holds shares for our HR department and the Sql database (on the d: drive) for the hr system.

The server is running fine and there are no problems with it but we can no longer install updates on there. All programs that have needed to be installed have been installed on the D: drive.

 

[NortonES2]

Check the location of your pagefile this is normally on the c:\ drive. You can change it via control panel, system, advanced, settings.

-------------------------------

If it doesn't leak oil it must be empty!!

 

[Lordmathos]

Hi I have just checked the pagefile and I have already moved it from the C: drive to the D:. I have deleted the updates uninstall files and have managed to free up about 20meg. Cannot find a "dllcache" folder in windows.

 

[ForumKB]

c:\windows\system32\dllcache\ you need to tick the box to show system files in the folder options or copy and paste to win explorer to go straight there

"Back it up before you do anything or it will all end in tears . . ."

Adrian Paris

Paris Engineering Ltd

http://www.ForumKB.com

- Tech forum dedicated Google search, find answers faster by not searching the junk.

 

[Lordmathos]

Found it. Feel really embarassed now that I didn't realise it was hidden.

Well that freed up about another 150megs worth.

Cheers

 

[ForumKB]

No probs, another thing that can help is to search the c: drive for files larger than lets say 250MB to see if anything is creating large files for any reason (logs etc) and see if these can be moved off to the d drive . . .


"Back it up before you do anything or it will all end in tears . . ."

Adrian Paris

Paris Engineering Ltd

http://www.ForumKB.com

- Tech forum dedicated Google search, find answers faster by not searching the junk.

 

[LWComputingMVP]

You should have a look over my web page on boot drive size. While you didn't post yours, if it's 10-20 GB, then you have have enough space on C: - what you need to do is move DATA off the C: drive. My web page lists 20 or so things you can move to get more space available (and when and if you should move them).

reference:

http://www.lwcomputing.com/tips/static/bootdrivesize.asp

 

[Helenp1983]

Thanks LWComputingMVP i' ll be adding your web site to my favourites.

In the end i mirgrated to new hardware, but whilst i was planning the mirgatation i did do most of the things on your list to keep it going.

Then i re-isntalled the server for some thing else