A year later, I am attempting to solve my laptop problem.

[Grasswire2]

My original query was here: [link:https://www.democraticunderground.com/109522919|

Inexpensive HP "STREAM" model laptop with ridiculously small capacity. We discussed here the likelihood that an external portable hard drive was the best and least expensive solution.

So here I am a year later. I have a brand new 2T Western Digital external hard drive. Called My Passport.

I plugged it in. It went to an installation action. BUT....I don't have enough space for the installation. That's the message I got.

So I offloaded picture files to a thumb drive, which freed up 2 MB of space, then emptied the recycling bin.

Tried to install the portable HD again.

Same message. Not enough space.

Now, I do not have a lot of added programs or files. Don't know what else to dump.

Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance.

[Newest Reality]

1. First...

You mean storage, not memory from what I see.

What is the capacity of the HD on the machine? You should be able to find that on the drive specifications from My Computer, (I assume you are using Windows).

You should check the HD and defrag it, of course.

Then, you can also clear the temp files and there should be two locations. If you have enough space to install CCleaner, you could use that, as well. It can remove a load of log files, etc., that build up on Windows over time. It is very thorough and can even clean out your browser junk.

I am also wondering why the My Passport needs to be installed. If it is already formatted, you should be able to use it by just plugging it in, (USB) and opening the folder. You don't have to use any of the installed software at all, which I assume would be for security and maybe utilities.

[Newest Reality]

2. Note:

I have a My Passport external drive that I use.

[Grasswire2]

3. When I plug it into the USB port, I am instructed to install it.

I watched a tutorial on youtube, and it went really fast there. But I get the msg that there's not enough space to continue.

[Newest Reality]

4. Ah,

That's software doing an auto run. You should be able to ignore the installation and just click on the drive when it shows up in My Computer. Windows, right? Ah, it should already be formatted and ready to use.

When you do that, you can safely delete the autorun file in the root and that won't happen again. Or, create a folder and stick the software that came with it in there, (select, drag, drop). I never used mine. It all depends on if you want to require security on using the drive. In your case, it sounds like you just want to be able to use it.

Was still curious on how much space your internal drive shows.

[Grasswire2]

6. good idea to defrag. nt

[Jamastiene]

11. That is what I do too.

These are better instructions than what I typed.

[Jamastiene]

10. A trick I use when faced with that problem

is to use a cloud service like Microsoft One Drive. Upload the largest video or audio files from your computer to there, then once you are done uploading them, delete them off your computer. Keep doing that, one video at the time, until it doesn't give you that message any more.

After installing the external drive, move all videos and audio to that drive, and don't forget to go back and get the videos you uploaded to the cloud and put those there too.

It sounds like you have a ridiculously small amount of hard drive space on the computer. That external drive should help out a lot with that.

Another thing to think about is that sometimes, you can skip using their install program and just go to This PC and see the hard drive listed there. If it is, right click on it and open it, then just drag and drop files from your computer to it.

Quite a few external hard drives will let you do that right off the bat without having to use their program to install the hard drive. That is another option. I haven't had any trouble or less space or anything doing it that way. I have done it that way on at least one of my backup drives, because the installation software on it was such a pain.

[Grasswire2]

5. people laughed when they saw the specs in my original threat linked above.

32 GB hard disc space
4 GB installed RAM

This was the review of the machine. I only use it for word processing and social media, basically.

[link:https://www.laptopmag.com/reviews/laptops/hp-stream-14|

[Newest Reality]

7. Yikes.

The RAM is not that bad for most uses, but the HD is small, but I notice it is solid state, which is much faster, but much more expensive, too, hence you got 32GB, which is very limited in most cases these days, especially with how much the OS can take.

Yeah, CC Cleaner might free some valuable space up for you. Windows does generate some junk over time.

[Grasswire2]

8. thanks for the suggestions. nt

[Newest Reality]

9. Your welcome.

Let me know if you get to use your new external. My instructions should do the trick.

[Afromania]

12. Try running disk cleanup. Might be some old update/install files hanging around.

Be sure to click on cleanup system files if its presented to you. Cleanup will close and then go back to the very first box that asks you to pick the drive you want cleaned. The second time it opens the left over windows update stuff will be an option for cleaning.


Here's a guide on how to do that. Let me know how you make out. Good luck.

https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/3012-open-use-disk-cleanup-windows-10-a.html

[BigOleDummy]

14. Agreed

And kinda proud you linked to tenforums I'm a VIP there and a GURU on sevenforums one of their sister sites. I don't post there much anymore as to be entirely honest Win10 just doesn't "break" as often as earlier versions. Still nice to see our work being noticed and referenced.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

13. I have one of these

The 32 GB eCCM SSD is pitifully small.
You can add an SD card in the slot which will appear as D:.
You can then use the Disk Management tool to extend the C: partition on to D:.

A link:
https://www.hdd-tool.com/windows-10/combine-c-and-d-drive.html
This should give some breathing space and enough room to install any updates and any specialty software for the WD Passport.

Good luck/stay safe.