Windows 11, version 25H2 update and lack of storage space

Question

I have a HP Stream laptop which requires this update however it does not have enough disk space. It has asked for an external drive which I can use but also needs an extra 8GB ish of disk space on the device. I have tried deleting many things to increase the free space however I have got to a point where there is pretty much nothing left on it and there is still not enough space. It is a device which has a limited amount of storage to start with. I'm not really sure where to go from this as it seems impossible to do the update. Any help would be apprecaiated.

Answer 1

A HP Stream laptop usually has a 32GB or 64GB eMMC chip on the motherboard, not an actual drive for storage, is that the type of storage you have?

If so, I do not know why laptop manufacturers do that, Windows 11 requires at least a 128GB drive, because big updates like the 24H2 or 25H2 feature updates actually need a minimum of 40GB of free space on the C drive to install, because the old Windows folder is moved into a Windows.old folder on the C drive, then you need 8GB for the download and also space for temporary files during the update.

There may be another quick option to install the 25H2 upgrade, depending on your current version of Windows 11.

Click your Start Button, type winver and hit Enter

Please provide a screenshot of the resulting dialog.

Answer 2

Windows 11 feature updates like 25H2 need free space both on the internal drive and, if used, on external storage. Even when using an external USB drive, Windows still requires several GB of free space on the system drive to download, stage, and apply the update, and to keep temporary files so the update can be rolled back.

For devices with very small internal storage (like many HP Stream models), there is a hard limit: if the internal drive cannot provide the minimum required free space, the update cannot complete, even with an external drive.

Key points from the update requirements:

• When there isn’t enough free space, Windows shows a notification and a Fix issues option in Settings > Windows Update. This wizard lets the update use an external drive, but:
  • Feature updates typically still need 6–11 GB or more of free space on the internal drive, even when using external storage.
  • Windows may also temporarily disable large system files (like hiberfile.sys and pagefile.sys) to squeeze out more space, but this only helps if there is enough capacity to begin with.
• The exact space required varies by device, installed features, languages, and update path, so some low‑storage devices simply cannot meet the requirement.

On a small‑storage HP Stream where almost everything is already removed and there is still not enough free space, this effectively means:

• The device’s internal storage capacity is below what Windows 11 25H2 needs to update safely.
• External storage alone cannot bypass this limit; it only reduces, not eliminates, the internal free‑space requirement.

Realistically, the options are:

1. Use Storage > Cleanup recommendations to reclaim any remaining temporary/update files:
   • Go to Start > Settings > System > Storage > Cleanup recommendations.
   • Select any suggested items (temporary files, previous Windows installation, etc.) and choose Clean up.
   • Then retry Settings > Windows Update > Fix issues with the external drive attached.
2. If, after cleanup, Windows Update still reports that additional internal free space is required and there is nothing left to delete, the device does not have sufficient storage for this feature update. In that case, the only practical paths are:
   • Continue using the current Windows version as long as it is supported, or
   • Move to a device with larger and/or faster storage (SSD/eMMC) that meets Windows 11 storage expectations.

There is no supported way to force the update to install with less internal free space than Windows requires.

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References:

• Free up space for Windows updates
• Windows Update: FAQ