How to free up disk space in Windows 2003 Server fast and safely

Windows 2003 Server low disk space

Today's hard drives feature jaw-dropping amounts of space, but no matter how big your drive, you'll be amazed at how quickly application/Windows update installs, browser caches, and temporary files can eat up your free space and clutter your system.

Windows created the low disk space warning to alert computer users when their hard drive is running low on available disk space.

Windows 2003 Server low disk space will cause many problem, such as:
1. System runs much slower.
2. You cannot install any applications or Windows updates.
3. System crash if extremely low free space remains.

You'd better fix this problem as fast as possible, the eariler and the better, as no one wants to see the System crash, in that case, you have to start over and keep the Server under downtime for a long time.

When Windows 2003 Server low disk spacw warning pops up, the first thought is free up disk space.

How to free up disk space in Windows 2003 Server

Delete old temp files in Local Settings\Temp.

This step is probably one of the most effective steps in helping you recover the most hard disk space.

In Windows 2003 Server, the Temp folder path is "C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Local Settings\Temp". If you cannot find the Local Settings folder, that is because the folder is hidden. Just copy the address above, change "Administrator" to your Username and paste it into the address bar.

Free up disk space with Windows Disk Cleanup

Open up My Computer. Right click on the drive that you want to free up space, and select Properties. Click on the Disk cleanup button.

After a couple of minutes, you will be shown a list of options where you can take in order to free up hard disk space. The options range from deleting files to compressing old files.

In this window, you may also select "Compress drive to save disk space" option to compress files and release some free space.

Free up disk space by deleting Internet temp files

Every brower has its own way to delete these files, you may open its options setting and delete these files.

Free up disk space by moving page files

Paging file is an area on your hard disk where Windows uses it as if it were a RAM. Usually, this paging file is located in your C drive and can take up to 1 or more GB. It is ideal to place this file in the C drive instead of other drives because it is faster to access it from C. Having said that, this is not a recommended step but it works.

To open this setting, right-click My Computer > Properties > Advanced > Settings under Performance > Advanced > Change.

Disable Hibernation

Hibernation doesn't come cheap - it requires at least 512MB depending on your system. If you enabled this option, disable it and more free disk space was freed up.

After these steps, you can free up some disk space in Windows 2003 Server, but generally, these tools take a long time to run and cannot free up large amout of space, they just help you disable Windows 2003 Server low disk space alert temporarily, the permanent way to solve this problem is extending the C drive.

The most effective and fast way to solve Windows 2003 Server low disk space problem permanently is extending the system C drive.

That is to say, shrink other existing data partition to get some free space and then add it to the system C drive. No need to delete or reformat partition and help you increase C drive space within several minutes.

Steps to increase C drive space on Windows 2003 Server fast and easily

Step 1, Launch Partition Magic Server, you'll see all disks and partitions that connected to your Server and free space, used space and other properties of each partition.

Right-click the data partition and select "Resize", in the pop-up window, drag the left border rightwards to shrink it.

There will be some Unallocated space behind the system partition.

Step 2, Right-click the system partition and select "Resize", in the pop-up window, drag the right border rightwards to hold the Unallocated space.

Click "Apply" to proceed, done.

Now you have a "new" Server that can be used for a long time again.

How to allocate free space from any data partition and add to C drive?

For enterprise users, Unlimited Edition allows unlimited usage within your company to save time and money.

Benefits to resize Windows 2003 Server partition with this Partition Magic Server

• All-in-one Partition Solution - All your partition and disk maintenance requirements can be fulfilled.
• Enhanced Data Protecting - No Data Loss
• Hot Resize - Extend NTFS system partition without rebooting
• Easy to use & user-friendly interface & working fast
• Trustworthy, many Fortune 500 companies select it to maintain their Servers
• Read More...