HP Stream, not enough disk space for ANYTHING, please help

Hi ,Salena you would be amazed how many users with 32GB of internal storage ask the exact same question here every day . . .

Honestly, there is only one answer, backup your data and perform a clean install of the 32Bit version of Windows 10 - that will give you more internal storage space - I know this is not the answer you are looking for, but it is the only and best Answer. You will then have enough space for the next year of Windows 10 updates and your system will be faster . ..

Any device with a 32 GB SSD is not good enough to run Windows 10, regardless of the system specs put out by Microsoft.

I honestly don't know why the manufacturers produced these devices.

The Windows 10 folder with a couple of updates will very quickly eat up 20 - 25GB of your hard drive, mine is currently 23GB

You can reinstall Windows 10 at any time and it will not cost you anything, however you will not have enough space to create the bootable Windows 10 media, you will need to do that on another working PC

Since you previously had Windows 10 installed and activated on that PC during the installation process skip the steps which ask for a product key and select the option 'I am Reinstalling Windows 10 on this PC', and activation will not be an issue, your PC will have a digital entitlement stored on the Microsoft Activation Servers

Make sure you install the same Edition of Windows 10 (Home, Pro . . . etc.) you previously had installed to avoid Activation issues

Click this link:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-downlo...

to download the Media Creation Tool (Click on Download Tool Now), with that you can download the latest Windows 10 ISO (Select Create Installation Media for Another PC), you can create a bootable USB flash drive (min 8GB) using that tool

Then, Boot your PC from the Installation Media you just created (change Boot Order in your BIOS) to begin installing Windows 10

If you have problems booting from a boot disc, you may have UEFI BIOS:

Insert the Bootable Installation Media, then go into your BIOS and make the following changes:

1. Disable Secure Boot
2. Enable Legacy Boot
3. If Available enable CSM
4. If Required enable USB Boot
5. Move the device with the bootable disc to the top of the boot order
6. Save BIOS changes, restart your System and it should boot from the Installation Media

32GB DEVICES ARE TOO SMALL …

If you have a 32GB drive, you have my condolences (I just barely dodged that particular bullet myself).

MS says that Windows 10 only needs 20GB to install, making a 32GB drive appear adequate.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardwa...

But, in the “real world” that is not the case. MS and computer builders like to add “free sample” software (aka "crapware"). Over time, add some Windows updates, and system checkpoints and oops, you very quickly no longer have the 6-8GB of space required to do the major spring/fall updates.

Go to this Feedback and upvote it and do ADD your comments:

https://aka.ms/Vgqfjb

MS has marked it “We’ve got it”, but that is not enough. They need to be “encouraged” to produce a publicly documented fix for the problem they have created. One option is to recreate a "small drive" version of the Win 10 install that installs core features then prompts you for additional requirements specific to your machine and usage.

Why did MS do this? Don't forget that Windows 10 has been in development for several years prior to it's release in 2015. So back then, 32GB of SSD was still very expensive. AND, the initial versions of Win 10 were able to get by on 32GB for the first year or slightly more. But now, due to "feature creep" it simply is not enough

The wiki / article (next link) includes many tips and techniques you can use to free up space on your drive.

Or, you can bite the bullet and do a clean install the current Windows Versions. In the long run, even with re-installing lost applications it may be faster that fritzing around trying to free up enough space.

If you have this problem, please vote on this feedback to MS: https://aka.ms/Ilgpij I am asking that they make repeat update failures a more urgent warning message.

What can you do about this problem? Several things

#1 Use an external disk (SD) to do the upgrade from

2017 10 22 HOW TO UPGRADE TO THE LATEST WINDOWS 10 FEATURE UPDATE ON A DRIVE WITH LIMITED SPACE – EXTERNAL DRIVE

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/for...

This article explains how to tell Windows Install/Update to use an external HD for temporary storage.

#2 move as many apps as you can to an external drive

2017 03 06- HOW TO INSTALL (STORE & TRADITIONAL) APPS ON A SEPARATE DRIVE ON WINDOWS 10 – EXTERNAL DRIVE (TO FREE UP SPACE)

https://www.windowscentral.com/how-install-apps...

By Mauro Huculak

When your PC has limited storage space, or you simply want to keep things separate, use this guide to install or move apps to a different drive on Windows 10.

#3 Move as many data files as possible to external drives or the "cloud", ie OneDrive"

#4 After you get the new version installed work through the tips in the next Wiki to do an "extreme" cleanup to free up space. The problem with this is that it is temporary. If you delete system elements, Windows will tend to replace them in subsequent updates.

HD CLEAN UP / DISK CLEAN / (WIKI IN DEVEL)

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/for...

#5 I've am just learning about the "CompactOS" feature. It is a feature that allows you to install Windows in a compressed format. Depending on the specifics of your installation this can save up to 5GB of space.

2017 05 01- COMPACTOS, SINGLE-INSTANCING, AND IMAGE OPTIMIZATION

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardwa...

<snip>

You can now compress the files for the entire operating system, including your preloaded desktop applications. Compact OS lets you run the operating system from compressed files (similar to WIMBoot in Windows 8.1 Update 1), and single-instancing helps you run your pre-loaded Windows desktop applications in compressed files. The new processes helps maintain a small footprint over time by using individual files, rather than combining them in a WIM file.

Here's some ways to shrink the image, optimize the image, and some considerations when deploying to low-cost devices.

To deploy Compact OS with a USB bootable drive

</snip>

Using CompactOS can save UP TO 5GB on Windows, depending on the specifics of your installation.

Thank you so much, I am trying this now. Hopefully this works.

If not, I will just reinstall my antivirus and have to go on with a laptop that has virtually no useful apps/programs to make my school life easier this Fall. If this is the issue, I will definitely be using a chunk of my financial aid to get a laptop with much more space.

They build these machines and fill up most of the space with programs/functions that cannot be deleted. I think they should allow EACH of the measly 32 gb to be used BY THE USER instead of being taken up by their programming. If they do allow this, then I apologize, as I am not as tech savvy as I'd like to be, but it sure does seem like most of the space is not used by me, considering nothing on the damn thing was downloaded by me and I still have little space left!

Anyway, I will let you know if re-downloading Windows 10 works for my device.