Need to save space in System drive

[Chandhru]

Hi,

I inherited an Windows 2003 with Exchange 2003 server. I am facing a big problem now. The system has 3 drives.

C:\ - 7.7 GB (0 bytes left)
E:\ - 60.0 GB (30 GB left)
F:\ - 60.0 GB (59 GB left).

The Windows Server 2003 with SP1 and Exchange server are installed in C:\ drive. The mailbox store is located in E:\ drive.

As the C:\ drive is full, the users are having trouble using Outlook web access. so I moved the Inetpub directory and also the exchange log file settings to F:\ drive. it was working fine for sometime.

I tried all the methods to clean C:\ drive space. but after sometimes it gets filled up and no space left. so this is causing a big problem.

I think the system log files are stored in the C:\ drive. Is it possible that I can change the location of the system log files.

My main aim is to have atlease 400 MB of free space in my C:\ drive. I also find Outlook Express and Netmeeting folder in my C:\ drive. can I delete them. please let me know a good solution for this problem

 

[SMBgeek]

If you have not already done this, you could move your virtual memory swap file from c: to another partition. This will most likely free up at least 1.5GB.

I am not sure if your partitions are on seperate physical disk arrays or not, but you will want to think about where you move it for performance reasons.

SMBgeek

SMBgeek

http://www.smbgeek.com

 

[Chandhru]

Thanks for the reply. I am an new admin. It would be great if you could let me know, how I could swap my virtual memory swap file.

you were also mentioning about performance. If I transfer the virtual memory file, will it slow down the entire system.

basically, this is an email box and no one would expect it to be slow.

 

[SMBgeek]

Here is a nice article to bring you up to speed on swap files.

http://www.windowsdevcenter.com/pub/a/windows/2004/04/27/pagefile.html

The reason I mention performance is because I am not sure if your C: E: F: on just volumes on the same physiucal disk array or actually seperate arrays. The swap file can be heavily accessed under load and so you should think about placement just like you would a database.

SMBgeek

http://www.smbgeek.com

 

[rjs]

Are you running any 3rd party backup software, like Veritas or Arcserve? If so, take a look at moving its catalog and log files off the C: drive and/or reducing the number of days it keeps those files. Defaults can be 30-90 days sometimes and that can be HUGE chunks of space.

R.Sobelman

http://www.tracklogins.com

 

[Chandhru]

Thanks for the article, SMBgeek. as I need to restart my server. I will do it tonight and let you know, how it goes.

Hi Sobelman, I am not running any 3rd party software for backup. I am only using ntbackup and that also runs on a different system.

I am trying to create more space by deleting outlook express and Netmeeting folders (I am using Remote desktop) to connect to my exchange server. first of all I am unable to delete them. just by curiosity if we delete them will it affect my exchange server.

 

[rjs]

Outlook Express and Netmeeting are not going to free up enough space to make a difference.

You could also look at under the Windows directory for all the service pack and critical update directories - all start with a $. They are there if you needed to unistall an update or service pack. You could delete the old ones or move them to another drive. If you needed to uninstall a particular update, you would have to move the directory back first.

R.Sobelman

http://www.tracklogins.com

 

[Chandhru]

Well actually I deleted all the files starting with $ in windows directory. I now realise, just by uninstalling windows service pack1 would have fixed the issue. from your above posting I find that I cannot uninstall sp1 anymore.

 

[Chandhru]

Thanks SMBgeek and rjs. AS per the article, I changed the pagefile.sys to the other hard disk and I am now able to save around 1.5GB. slightly concerned about error recovery. but the article says, we can have an small pagefile.sys in the system drive.