Genealogy Chat

Hi, If my recovery D drive is full (0%) and has gone red, does this mean it will need replacing and if so, how do I go about it please?

I am on vista and have been having a succession of problems, the main ones being backup failures.

Is your D drive part of the hard drive (i.e. your hard drive is partitioned in two) or do you have two hard drives?
The reason for asking is that if not, then the D Drive is likely to be the CD Drive, in which case no problems - a CD-Rom quite often will show no free space.

Hi Rob thanks for replying,
I think its just the one driver Rob, my DIL managed to gain some space on it a while back but now she has forgotten what she did.

We've been through everything time and again, off loading files, clean ups and defrags etc, but nothing has worked.

It has been suggested to me that I may have filled up my recovery drive.

Constantly getting messages telling me there is low disk space and asking what files I want to clean up.

I have a recovery drive and an OS drive.

Hi Jen,

Your D drive holds the recovery program used to revert your computer back to the factory settings.
I.E Totally clean, brand new with no programs installed except Vista.
If you plan to use the recovery program you will have save to DVD, USB Key etc. all of your photos, music Family Trees and stuff before you do it.
You will have to reinstall all your programs,updates SP1 etc. so dig out all discs and programs, even ISP installation discs...........everything!!!!!!!!!!

Your problem seems to be that HP, Compaq and Dell show the backup as going to the D drive ( recovery drive ) which fills up quickly, showing red line and low disc space.
If you click on the bar to show the alternatives.......DVD, USB Key etc. where backups should be kept. On removeable discs etc which would be stored away from the computer.
If backups are on the hard drive, they will be lost if your computer crashes.

The following URL explains your plight perfectly although fixing it is a bit more awkward!

COPY AND PASTE

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&docname=c00859515

Hello Jen,
It looks like Drive D is a partitioned drive and holds as you say the Recovery Files in case your computer malfunctions and you have to Restore it back to "as new".
How much space is left on Drive C? If most of the space is used up then you will need to delete or transfer some of your files.
Bye
Paul

Thanks so much for all the useful advice, and the url Frank, which I shall note for future reference, but just wanted to let you know I finally managed to sort the problem.

I had windows and my laptop file in with recovery.........please dont ask how I managed that!

I deleted windows but my file was not allowing access and because I was getting stressed out, I overlooked the option to delete.

Finally sussed it and got message saying 'this file has to be deleted as it is too big for waste bin'.
Did this successfully, recovery shot up to 90% free space, am now de-stressed and everythings right with the world once more.

Hello Jen,
It's a good idea to make a copy of your Drive D "Backup Programs" since if the hard disk was to crash or you were to lose access to your files due to say, virus activity, then you can Restore you laptop back to "as new".
I know a few people who have had a damaged hard disk and have been unable to Restore their Windows since they did not keep a separate copy on CD-DVD.
The information for doing this should have come with your laptop. Some PC's, laptops only allow you to copy it once so please put it somewhere safe.
Bye
Paul

Thanks for the warning Paul, I shall have to root out the instructions.....know I have some discs somewhere. Will get that done asap.