Help with server

[Coral]

I have a windows 2012 server whose drive is full (388.13 GB). The sole function of this server is primary domain controller and print server.

I'm imagining this is full of Microsoft updates. Is it safe to delete them? How do I delete them? I have never done this before, as I generally rotated servers out before this happened.

[Ric]

Coral,

If you manage Windows Updates with WSUS you can use the clean up utility within WSUS.

HTHA

Ric

[Jeff Golas]

Best bet if there's any room at all, to install Windirstat and let it rip on the C drive to analyze what's all there. I'll bet its built up logs that are really filling it. Windirstat will give you an awesome visual with what's all on the drive.

Secondly...if you have zero space and need some emergency space, you can try manually setting the virtual memory setting under performance to something small, like 1 gig, that may free up some temp space.

[Mark]

Coral,

Sorry I'm just seeing this now.  The suggestion of WinDirStat is a great one.  There may be something obvious that you can delete (one large ISO image or something similar).  If this server is a VM and you have available space in your datastore, you can easily expand the hard drive.

I would probably start with CleanMgr:

Code Select Expand

%windir%\system32\cleanmgr.exe

[Coral]

Thanks. that will help.

[Jeff Zylstra]

I'm not sure you're talking enough disk space to really matter just getting rid of Windows Updates.  If you have a RAID setup, think about adding another disk to the array.  Otherwise, think about buying a larger hard drive and replacing the current drive.  If you're that tight, you probably have a lot of profile and other Windows storage that will sooner or later come back.  Could be wrong on that, but I like extra space whenever possible.

[Jim Jensen]

I'm not sure you're talking enough disk space to really matter just getting rid of Windows Updates.  If you have a RAID setup, think about adding another disk to the array.  Otherwise, think about buying a larger hard drive and replacing the current drive.  If you're that tight, you probably have a lot of profile and other Windows storage that will sooner or later come back.  Could be wrong on that, but I like extra space whenever possible.

My c: drive was getting full and I couldn't really find the culprit. I noticed I still had tons of space still left in the data partition, so the investment of Partition Assistant Server and simply reallocated unused drive space to the C: partition. In the end it was quicker and cheaper (in my time opportunity and sanity) to do that they keep trying to chase down what was eating space and the amount of data on C: has remained stable since.

[Jeff Zylstra]

I'm not sure you're talking enough disk space to really matter just getting rid of Windows Updates.  If you have a RAID setup, think about adding another disk to the array.  Otherwise, think about buying a larger hard drive and replacing the current drive.  If you're that tight, you probably have a lot of profile and other Windows storage that will sooner or later come back.  Could be wrong on that, but I like extra space whenever possible.

My c: drive was getting full and I couldn't really find the culprit. I noticed I still had tons of space still left in the data partition, so the investment of Partition Assistant Server and simply reallocated unused drive space to the C: partition. In the end it was quicker and cheaper (in my time opportunity and sanity) to do that they keep trying to chase down what was eating space and the amount of data on C: has remained stable since.

Glad you found a way.  I've used GParted for that too, but it's not always the fastest or easiest to use.  On the plus side, it's free.  Especially in comparison to some software companies that charge an arm and a leg for software that works on a server.