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Terrygordon

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HP ENVY Phoenix Desktop - defaulting to wrong drive

Hi

I recently bought a new HP ENVY Phoenix Desktop - 860-078na with a 1.8TB hard drive (labelled on the system as drive D). It is running on Windows 10.

There is also a drive C, which, in my experience, should be the normal name for the main drive. This only has a capacity of 117GB.

I have been installing apps and recreating folders/files from my previous PC (also a HP Envy), but have just realised that everything, including the operating system, MS office, new apps, etc. is all on the C drive - this is where it is creating apps and storing files, etc. by default. I only noticed this today because I got a warning saying the C drive was almost full.

I have used settings to reset the default for apps, etc. to the D drive but I don't know what to do about all the stuff that's already on the C drive, particularly the apps and Windows system.

I know that on my previous PC, D was the recovery drive (and shouldn't be tampered with) and C was the main hard drive. This has been the case for every PC I have ever owned.

I don't know much about registries, configuration, etc. but I'm assuming that the whole system is set up to use the C drive and that I can't just copy everything to D.

I haven't changed anything on this system - this is what it has been doing 'out of the box'. I can only assume that somebody messed up in assigning partitions or something (but, again, I'm no expert).

Any advice on how to manage this issue would be greatly appreciated.

Regards

Terry
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John
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117 GB is more than enough to install Windows 10 and applications. All that should fit in 50 to 60 GB.

BUT, that does not include your user folder which also includes email (which can be very large).

So make folders for documents on another driver (I do not redirect - just make folders for documents.) In one of these folders, make an Outlook folder and move your email there.

So long as C: does not have data, you should be fine. Leave the paging file on C: as ALL the operating stuff fits in 50 to 60 GB with no problem and maybe less space than that.
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I would reinstall the operating system on the new machine to the C drive or take it back and get a replacement.

Scott
it seems you have a SSD as boot drive + the D: drive for data, so novbody messed up partitions

post a screenshot of diskmanager, showing the partitions - this will clear it up, or look in device manager what drives are installed
you can also use space sniffer to check what is using the space : http://www.uderzo.it/main_products/space_sniffer/

maybe you gat some leftovers or temp files that can be removed
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Terrygordon

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Hi Nobus

Attached is a screenshot of the current set up. Can I safely repartition the hard drive without affecting what's already on the C and D drives? I moved all my onedrive stuff to the D drive when the "C drive full" warning displayed, but I can easily delete and resynch this. There are currently no apps on the D drive.

If so, how do I do it?

Regards

TerryUser generated image
>>   Can I safely repartition the hard drive without affecting what's already on the C and D drives?  <<   sure you can -if you have enough free space
But WHY do you want to repartition it?

run space sniffer on the C: drive - so we see what space can be freed there
There may be a Windows.old folder that you can clean out with Disk Cleanup, Clean Up System files.

Otherwise it must be Data using up space. Windows 10 OS and Apps will easily fit on your Drive C.

Another tool to run is Tree Size Pro (Jam Software). Excellent for solving space usage issues.
yes - first we need to see what is on the drive -it should not be full, though 120 GB is not much for a boot drive
i recommend 240 GB drives nowadays - price/ performance wise
I have all my complete virtual machines plus applications in about 50 GB of space, so 117 GB should be fine given that is what is available.
Hi All

The problem is that almost everything defaulted to the C drive when I reinstalled the apps from my old PC to this one and many of these contain large folders of sound files, images, etc. required by the apps and, of course, apps like outlook, MS office, etc. use the C drive (users folders) by default to save email, documents, etc. I just assumed that by repartitioning the disk I could just make C big enough to act as the default drive and perhaps move the restore files to D (but I'm no expert).

I have attached a screenshot of the space sniffer scan of drive C - I assume this is what you need, but please let me know if it isn't?

Regards

TerryUser generated image
You have identified the data, and now you need to look at each application and point the data to another drive. This is application specific.
Sorry John - I'm not sure what you mean?
You said you have sound and other large data files. You can move these to the other drive. If an application expects to find the files on Drive C: then change the file location settings on the application .
you have 7 GB in the recycle bin - empty it to start
you have 32.1 GB steam apps - can you move these ?
the same for Driverstore, Reason, Infused apps, manufacturer libraries and record

can you move these? or reinstall them, pointing data to D: ?
if not sure, look up in the help files of the applications how to do that
Some of the apps do not allow you to specify a drive other than C. I have emailed support to see if there is a way round this.

Surely, it would be easier just to reassign the size of drives C and D. Is there any reason why this is not an option?

Regards

Terry
because they are separate drives, 1= 120 GB, the other 2 TB

what is the codemeter drive?  another one, maybe external?
You might be better off changing to a larger C: drive to make things easier for you. That is what I do
Codemeter is a USB dongle for music recording software, so not part of the main system. I suppose I will just have to move as much stuff as possible and wait for a response from the software providers about reassigning the data folders.

Presumably I could uninstall some of the apps and reinstall them on the D drive?

Also, is this a normal set up for a PC, or is it a mistake by the builders?

Regards

Terry
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John
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Thanks guys.
You are very welcome and I was happy to help.