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Fail to install Windows 10 update - not enough disk space

We bought a laptop w/ 30 GB HD & Windows 10. Unable to get Windows 10 updates due to lack of storage space. Only 1.79 GB free.
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Fibertron
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Builtin Disk Cleanup utility might help.  You might also try Defraggler Free.  If these still leave you without enough space you can use TreeSizeFree to see what is consuming all the space on the drive.
When you run Disk Cleanup, also select the option to Clean Up System Files.

You need 30 GB free for the upcoming V1809 upgrade.

Remove documents you do not need or can archive to a server / USB hard drive.
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Windows 10 itself needs at least 16 GB and with even just a few apps installed you are quickly approaching the full capacity of a 30 GB HD, which is why you're getting the message you are when attempting to update.  The easiest solution would be to add another HD that is at least double the capacity of your current one, i.e. 60 GB, or if your budget allows at least 100 GB or more.  Then, move everything (apps and data) that you can over to the new HD, everything except the Win 10 OS.  Use the new HD for all future apps and data as well.  This should free up enough space to keep Windows updated.
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Is D drive a fixed drive or removable?
Plug in a USB3 based external enclosure with a SSD installed in it.

Plug that into the laptop and see if Windows finds it fast enough to use as an update cache.
Pitty. That drive would have worked nicely
The D drive is removable. Was being used as a backup on another PC. Thought maybe it could help.
You cannot use removeable drives for Windows 10 operations designed for Drive C.  So you really do need to upgrade the drive.
We bought this new at Best Buy - came with Windows 10. Seems like they sold us something that could not possibly work after a couple of months.
It's a DELL laptop. I guess Best Buy isn't really at fault - they are just selling DELLs. Planned obsolescence?
Yes,  You really need an absolute minimum of 128 GB and that does not allow for much. 256 GB is much better.
DELL support says that I just need to disable Windows updates, and they say that the PC will be secure even without Windows Security updates. They say that Windows defender is all I will ever need.

This DELL is not designed to get Windows updates.
Windows 10 does 30 GB feature updates every 6 months. That was daft and ignorant advice they gave you.
I think they are saying (I just lost the phone connection, conveniently for them) that I don't need Windows features for:
email
browsing
office 360

They said that the included free 1 year subscription to McAfee will keep my computer secure.
They came back. She  was talking to her supervisor. This is a common complaint for this PC model.
https://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/19/product-support/servicetag/c7ypcl2/diagnose

She started talking about my putting another HD into this PC, but then I lost the connection.

I have called DELL back.
How long ago did you buy this laptop? Return it for a refund or exchange it for something with at least 128 GB SSD.  You could put linux(without all the features) or Windows 7 on the 30 GB drive, but it seems like this was originally a Windows 7 model that they shoehorned Windows 10 onto.
The new Help desk guy says that if I don't get Windows 10 updates, then it is true that Windows Defender may not be able to give me a secure PC, but if I use Norton, McAfee, Kaspersty, then the PC will be secure.
Is this correct?
Windows Defender gets better with each Feature upgrade. It is already top notch.

Another AV may work but that will not help you upgrade. At some point, Windows may stop working without new updates. I neglected a V1607 machine and the message indicate that security (outside of AV) would be compromised. It is all up to date now.
I told HELP that I have purchased a number of desktops in the past, but I will never buy another DELL again.
They thanked me for calling DELL.
(They also said that had I purchased this from DELL, I could return it for a refund or exchange, since they get a ton of complaints about this PC.)
I do not buy their stuff either. People will not always agree with me, but I stick with Commercial Lenovo machines (including Servers)
John,
If I just use Windows Defender without the Windows 10 updates, will the PC be relatively secure?
I will try to find the receipt so that I can give this crap back to Best Buy. They got this around June-July time-frame.
For a while yes but not over the long haul
For standard Internet use then Windows Defender will be fine.  I use it myself.

If going back to Best Buy check the cost of upgrading the hard disk in this laptop.  A 256 Gb as suggested above is what you should put in it.
Thanks and I was happy to help
John pretty much said it was hopeless and that I was screwed. Others gave me hope, but it required my purchasing and installing stuff. After calling DELL (twice), I found out that DELL gets a huge amount of complaint about this particular model, and they often replace it with a model having more disk space (for an extra price, of course). I find this DELL practice to be pretty crappy - a form of bait and switch converted to Buy And Switch. So, DELL either gave me misinformation that John straightened out, or they told me to disconnect the PC from the internet and my problems would go away! HAHAHAHA - I like that one.
You bought some junk from Worst Buy, not Dell.  Don't go there for laptops, as they sell junk consumer models, not business models.

The only Dell laptops worth buying are the Latitudes, basically their business pro models.  The Inspiron is consumer level.

The only Lenovo models worth buying are Thinkpads.  The rest of their line is consumer junk.  Back when IBM had the Thinkpads, you wanted the T series.  The R series was not good.

You need to know what model to get for business.  You do pay a little bit more, but it's worthwhile.  The reason Apple does so well, is that they're really competing with the business lines, but in the Pro Consumer space, so regular consumers think they're better than the standard consumer junk.  They're not comparing Apple with the business pro models.

Good computers still cost some money.  Any laptop costing $600 or less is underpowered junk, that you'll need to replace in a year or two, unless you don't actually take it with you and just use it as a desktop replacement, or you don't actually do anything with it.  Might as well spend $1000- $1500 for a decent model that will last 3-5 years, depending on what you do.  It's cheaper per year to own, and you can take it place to place without it falling apart.

If you store things in the cloud, you can get away with 64 GB SSD.  Windows 10 will easily reach 40 GB without much software installed.  Most of it will be from patches that get saved.  You really need 80 GB if you actually install software.  You'll need at least 128GB that if you save files locally.  If you do video editing, you'll likely want 500 GB, at the very minimum, plus at least 8 TB on an external disk for archives.
>>> "We bought a laptop w/ 30 GB HD & Windows 10. Unable to get Windows 10 updates due to lack of storage space. Only 1.79 GB free." <<<

>>> "We bought this new at Best Buy - came with Windows 10. Seems like they sold us something that could not possibly work after a couple of months." <<<

If you really wanted to fight this out with Best Buy there are a few essential aspects you would need to prove before you would be able to use the "unfit for purpose" or "misadvertised" angle to do so.

When did you buy it?
If you leave it any longer than a month or two at the most your chances of a refund or free upgrade are slim.

Online or In-store purchase?  How was it advertised?
Did you receive advice from a member of their staff regarding your intended use of the laptop?
Was it advertised as being able to do things that would require installing additional software?
What I am suggesting here is that if the laptop came with a version of "Office" preinstalled and had an application available for each and all of the functions that it was advertised to be capable of, then the ONLY issue you can argue is that it does not have the capacity for essential Windows updates.  If, however, they advertised it as being perfectly suited for word processing, etc BUT it did not come preinstalled with software to enable that, then you have the ADDITIONAL argument that it would not have had the capacity to install the necessary software to do so.

Windows Updates are an essential part of the operating system that runs your computer.  If the laptop does not have the capacity to allow Windows Updates to be installed, then it is NOT FIT FOR PURPOSE.  That should be the core basis of your argument with Best Buy.  This is not Dell's issue because you did not buy it from them, you bought it from Best Buy and it should work as intended.  I am not saying that they need to offer any guarantee that it is future-proofed, just that the operating system should be able to update itself for a "reasonable" length of time following purchase.

If you want analogies, then the scenario is like you having bought a car that came with a full tank of gas but you then discover it has a sealed tank that cannot be refilled and has to be replaced with another tank when empty or, if that sounds too ridiculous, a sealed windshield washer bottle that needs to be "upgraded" when empty.

It might be argued that you should have known how much spare hard drive space is needed by Windows 10 to keep working and updating itself, but normal people should be able to trust that a laptop being sold as new should be capable of working properly for some time to come - and that means the ability to be regularly updated.