Windows Update woes

My Windows computer is a 5-year old Dell laptop, running Windows 7. At the time it was built the GB hard drive was partitioned into a C: and D: drive. C: is the Windows partition and has a size of 60GB.

I've noticed over the years the amount of available space on the C: drive has continuously reduced by more than I'd expect from my usage. The available space when right clicking on C: in Explorer and looking at the properties is now often lower than 5GB.

There are a few tools available that visualise and provide detailed information about drive usage. I use WinDirStat

After a recent scan I noticed the two highlighted boxes which come from C:\Windows\Installer and C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution amounted to over 35% of the files on the C: drive.

Unfortunately it's not recommended to delete these files since this belongs to the InstallerCache which is used for uninstalls, updates and repairs.

From what I've seen on forums the Microsoft response to questions about the size of this cache is quite glib:

a. Move the download folder to another drive.

b. Empty recycle bin

c. Uninstall the applications that you no more use.

d. Perform disk cleanup.

The download folder just has 500MB, so that's not going to save much and Disk cleanup doesn't reduce this folder.

But, my big problem is with the recommendation to uninstall applications. We get updates all the time through Windows update so even if my system is running with the minimal suite of applications at some point in time the cache will expand and leave me with no space. I don't want to uninstall what I've currently got. I do want to be able to use the machine in 2, 3 or more years time. Why can't I at least allow it to live on another drive? I understand the update service gets upset if a link is created for this folder. Why?

PS. The big green files are the page file and hibernate file - don't touch these!

So, resigning myself to this, I use the following strategies to minimise C: drive usage:

• OK so do uninstall unused applications. It makes for a cleaner experience anyway although I've pretty much exhausted that option now.
• Save my own documents onto the D: drive
• When installing applications and if prompted, save them onto the D: drive. (Of course if you're iTunes then when you run your own software update you reinstall back to C: </sigh>)
• Staying with iTunes, the iPhone backup file can be saved onto the D: drive by setting up a symbolic link from C:\Users\Username\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync to another one on D: . I used mklink. (dir /AL /S C: is a nice command that lists all your links)
• Regularly run the Disk Cleanup tool (including the System cleanup). Note that sometimes it doesn't automatically check everything to cleanup. For example the Service Pack Backup files checkbox was blank when I cleaned up after a failed Windows 10 install.
• Regularly clean the Chrome cache. This does seem to be greedy.

Now, onto Windows 10...

I have no intention of installing Windows 10 on this machine, in part due to the disk space issues and in part due to compatibility concerns with my existing application suite. But in any case it's just too soon.

Microsoft on the other hand have other ideas...

I've made sure I've ignored the upgrade nagware and have never tried to reserve a new copy. Here is its current state.

But when taking a look after a particular nasty slowdown I saw the hard drive had dropped to only 600MB and these two failed attempts to install Windows 10.

Very naughty.

As I'd no warning the update was about to happen I stood a very real risk of losing data that hadn't been backed up. This whole sorry episode with Windows Update has severely dented my trust in Microsoft not to force poor design decisions on users.

The failure code incidentally is 80240020. "The update did not finish downloading or installing" in this case because there was insufficient disk.