Jan 27, 2024 • Filed to: Answer Hard Drive Problems • Proven solutions
Q: How to fix recovery drive full error in Windows?
"I have been using an old HP laptop for a long time now. My recovery disk contains preloaded folders that consume a lot of space. It not only slows down my PC but also consistently shows a warning sign, which says that my recovery drive is full. How can I get rid of this particular warning message?"
Have you ever got the warning of "Recovery Hard Drive Is Full"? The notice pops up on your screen mainly because that your Recovery Drive is running out of space. Except that, when you search Windows Explorer, you will find Recovery Drive D turns red. In the post, you can learn details about Recovery Drive and methods to fix the "The Recovery Drive Is Full" error. Scroll to find out the exact solutions to your problems.
There are two unnoticed but important partitions on your Windows computer, one is the supplier's recovery drive and the other is the Windows recovery drive. Whenever your computer system fails/crashes, it can be restored to supplier settings thanks to the supplier's recovery drive. However, usually, the recovery partition does not have any drive letter.
The first type of recovery partitions is the most popular. It has the bare OS thus taking only several hundred MBs of the disk space. It holds the Windows Recovery Environment, as it is built in the Windows OS on a GPT disk.
The second type of recovery partitions is set by the PC manufacturer. It is used in restoring factory settings of the computer. This includes drivers, Operating System, and in-built applications. This recovery partition is marked as OEM Partition and unlike Windows Recovery Partition, it occupies more space.
the recovery drive D may be filled with a lot of backup files and system files so it gets full. In the case, it gives out warning notice. But you do not worry, just find your ways below.
When you get an "PC Recovery Drive Is Full" warning when using Windows, it means the Recovery disk no longer has space. Due to the periodic warning that one gets, it can be quite frustrating, but the good thing is it can be fixed. Here in the guide, I listed six solutions to get your drive rid of the heavy storage.
Extending the partition is the best way to clear the low disk space error and the recovery partition full warning. With the in-built Disk Management utility in your Windows computer, you can clear the error. It does so by allowing you to extend the partition size to get rid of the recovery drive full problem.
Step 1: Click "Win+R" in Windows 10/8/7. To run Disk Management, you should then type "compmgmt. msc" in it.
Step 2: Here you should right-click the "target partition D." At this point, Extend Volume is grayed out. Go ahead and resize the partition.
Windows Disk Management has limitations and it is the reason why this happens. Extend Volume is only available in the two situations below.
To do this, first backup your stored information. That's because you are required to delete the volume which in turn deletes your stored information. Without a proper backup, you will lose it.
To stop low disk space on the recovery drives Windows 7/8/10 error, you can disable system protection. But how do you disable it? The below steps are doing so in Windows 10.
Step 1: Right-click on the "Windows" icon on your Windows 10 and then select "System."
Step 2: On the left side of the screen, look for "System Protection" and click on it.
Step 3: at this point, the protection settings of your disk partitions are displayed. You need to confirm if the recovery partition D is on or off. Select drive D if it is "On" and then the "Configure" button subsequently.
Step 4: Next, check the "Disable system protection" option in the popup window. On the other hand, if the system protection on your recovery partition D indicates it is off, you should try the third solution.
My recovery drive is almost full but no files. This is another issue that users report, and it could be a result of hidden files. If hidden items have occupied the disk space of the recovery drive, you should unhide folders and files.
Step 1: Proceed to the "View" table on your Windows Explorer.
Step 2: Once there, select "Options" to choose "Change folder and search options."
Step 3: Now, here you should choose the "Show hidden files, folders, and drives" option located in the "Folder Options" window. Also, make sure you take out the tick from the "Hide protected operating system files" option.
Most users tend to solve the recovery drive full issue in Windows 7/8/10 using the above two methods. In some cases, the two methods are not effective in removing the low disk space error in a recovery drive D. this is because these methods do not increase the disk space. The best solution would be to extend the recovery partition and that is the reason experts recommend method 1 here.
At times, you may prefer another solution rather than extending the recovery partition. The other option is when using Windows 10/8/7, you disable the low disk space warning on hp_recovery drive D. once you modify the registry setting and it will be very easy.
Step 1: The first step involves opening the registry editor. To do so, select "Win +R" to input "Regedit." Before proceeding to step 2, backup your registry.
Step 2: Now, proceed to the following path.
HKEY CURRENT USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
Note: You will need to create an "Explorer" folder. To do this, right-click on the "Policies" folder, select "new/key" and name it as "Explorer." You have successfully created an "Explorer" folder.
Step 3: The "NoLowDiskSpaceChecks" item must be there and if it is not, you need to create it in this step. Right-click your mouse, select "New," then "DWORD," and name it as "NoLowDiskSpaceChecks."
Step 4: To change the value to 1 from 0, right-click on the item.
If you have completed the 4 steps above, the error you are getting should be cleared.
One of the solutions you may find on the internet regarding the hp_recovery drive full is removing the drive letter. It suggests that you remove your HP's recovery partition drive letter.
In Windows Disk Management, computer manufacturers include a drive letter in the recovery partition. While using an HP computer you will realize that the drive letter is D. go ahead and right-click on the recovery partition then choose "Change Drive Letter and Paths." This will remove it.
Deleting a partition that gives the recovery drive is almost full warning is an option for some users. There is a misconception that it takes up disk space, but this is not the case.
When you experience system issues, the recovery partition will help you restore the system. To use the solution mentioned above effective, it is crucial that you first backup partition.
Step 1: Proceed to "Disk Management."
Step 2: At this point, you need to choose the target Drive volume that you want to be deleted. Right-click on the selected Drive volume and then click on "Delete Volume."
Step 3: You can get unallocated space in this step. When you confirm the volume is deleted, you should proceed to delete the free space partition.
Step 4: If you wish to extend another volume or create a new one, this unallocated space will be ideal.
If you forget to back up the important files, photos, videos, and accidentally delete all your data. Here you can use Wondershare Recoverit to restore the hard drive.
If you find that your hp recovery drive full error in Windows 7/8/10, there are six solutions that you can use. Clearing the low-space Windows warning is a simple process when you follow the given instructions.
Extending system partition turns out to be the best solution for this problem. This is because it prevents low disk space issues as it increases recovery partition size. Despite this, you need to keep one thing in mind. Deleting the volume is one thing that you must do and you will lose all the data store in it. Before you start the process, first make sure that the information stored in it is backed up.
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