1. Welcome Guest! In order to create a new topic or reply to an existing one, you must register first. It is easy and free. Click here to sign up now!.
    Dismiss Notice

My Laptop C Disk Bar Is Showing Red Colour. Need Simple Steps Help To Resolve

Discussion in 'New Member Introductions' started by SaraswatiSharma, Aug 13, 2012.

  1. SaraswatiSharma

    SaraswatiSharma

    Joined:
    Aug 13, 2012
    Messages:
    1
    Location:
    India
    Operating System:
    Windows Vista Enterprise
    Hi Everyone, I am new to this site as was struggling to get some help. My laptop C disk bar is showing red colour. I know it means nearing full capacity but don't know how to go about. I have limited comp knowledge so need help (step by step instructions) to resolve this. I have windows vista.

    Hope to get quick response & thanks for help.

    Sharmas
     
    SaraswatiSharma, Aug 13, 2012
    #1
  3. BeeCeeBee

    BeeCeeBee ADMINISTRATOR IN MEMORY

    Joined:
    Apr 20, 2009
    Messages:
    7,201
    Location:
    New Jersey "Stronger than the Storm"
    Operating System:
    Windows 7
    I am not sure where you are seeing this red bar. Is it in disk management or perhaps defragmenter?
    A screenshot would be helpful.
     
    BeeCeeBee, Aug 13, 2012
    #2
  4. PseFrank

    PseFrank Registered Members

    Joined:
    Nov 10, 2010
    Messages:
    962
    Location:
    Cambridge UK
    Operating System:
    Windows 7
    I think what Sharmas is seeing is the C: drive when you click Start > Computer (Used to be My Computer in Win XP).

    If the above is indeed the case Shamas, then what you have to do is very simple. You must remove some of your personal files from the C: Drive. Things like, Music, Videos, Pictures, Documents, etc.

    It is always best to have at least 15% of your HDD empty or clear. In fact 20% would be better.

    Example:
    100GB Hard Drive
    No more than 80GB of the space being used/filled
    Leaving 20GB of free space.

    An easy way to do this would be to purchase a USB based external drive. If you can tell us the size of you existing drive, that will help us to advise you of what the minimum size of external drive you need to buy.
     
    PseFrank, Aug 13, 2012
    #3
  5. Match

    Match Registered Members

    Joined:
    Apr 23, 2009
    Messages:
    4,175
    Location:
    Wolverhampton, UK.
    Computer Brand or Motherboard:
    Abit AN52
    CPU:
    AMD Athlon dual core 5000+
    Memory:
    4 Gig Corsair
    Hard Drive:
    160 Gb Hitachi 500 Gb Western Digital
    Graphics Card:
    Radion XFX 4650
    Power Supply:
    550W EZcool
    Could this also be being caused by windows backup? I know I used get the problem in windows 7 till I deactivated it, not sure if Vista has it though. but basically you end up with a backup image that shows as empty but takes up half your HDD.
     
    Match, Aug 13, 2012
    #4
  6. woodyblade

    woodyblade Inactive Staff Member

    Joined:
    Dec 20, 2009
    Messages:
    720
    Operating System:
    Windows 8
    To add there is a tool called WinDirStat which generates a handy graphical layout of what is taking up the most space on your HDD (it might take a few mins to run) - http://windirstat.info/index.html
     
    woodyblade, Aug 13, 2012
    #5
  7. allheart55 (Cindy E)

    allheart55 (Cindy E) Administrator Administrator

    Joined:
    Jun 11, 2009
    Messages:
    10,573
    Location:
    Pennsylvania
    Operating System:
    Windows 10
    Computer Brand or Motherboard:
    ASUS M4A77TD AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD
    CPU:
    AMD Phenom II X6 1090T-Thuban 3.2GHz
    Memory:
    Crucial-DDR3 SDRAM 1333-8GB
    Hard Drive:
    WD Caviar Black SE HDD 640 GB - WD Caviar Black SE HDD 500 GB
    Graphics Card:
    Sapphire Radeon HD-7870 2GB
    Power Supply:
    CORSAIR CMPSU-750W
    Reduce the maximum usage settings for System Restore. This will free up quite a bit of space on your HDD.
    Right click my computer and select Properties. Under the System Protection tab click Configure, in the box
    next to restore settings, manage disk space etc. In the System Protection window slide the max usage arrow
    down to 6 % - 8 %. You would be surprised how much hard drive space system restore points use...
     
    allheart55 (Cindy E), Aug 16, 2012
    #6
  8. Dalo Harkin

    Dalo Harkin Registered Members

    Joined:
    Apr 24, 2009
    Messages:
    1,820
    Location:
    Stockport near Manchester
    Operating System:
    Windows 7
    Computer Brand or Motherboard:
    ASUS - are there any others worth buying?
    CPU:
    Q6600 at 4.0Ghz per core (Watercooled)
    Memory:
    OCZ PC8500 4x1GB sticks
    Hard Drive:
    Samsung - all the way
    Graphics Card:
    XFX 260GTX rev 1
    Power Supply:
    Seasonic 600Watt
    Windows requires 10% of your HDD free space to use as a 'swap area' if you fall below this the bar turns red, its nothing to worry about but as the others have said look in control panel add/remove programs and see if there is anything you no longer use that you can remove to give you additional space (it also states the space the programs have used, so look for the larger ones and see if you really need them)
    If the PC/Laptop came with recovery disks you can also look to completely disable system restore if you are confident your AV and Firewall are up to spec
     
    Dalo Harkin, Aug 29, 2012
    #7

Share This Page