Stuart bought a netbook with only 32GB of storage, and Windows 10 is already complaining that it doesn’t have enough space for updates. What can he do?

I bought a budget Acer netbook knowing I’d be forced to keep an eye on the applications I installed, and be more organised with external storage. I’m holding up my end of the bargain, but Windows 10 most certainly isn’t. Despite a relatively hassle-free installation, there has been an endless stream of prompts to free up space so it can update. I have next to nothing installed except absolute essentials such as Chrome, OpenOffice and iTunes. My iTunes library is on an external USB, and isn’t to blame. Despite this, I have less than 3GB left. There seems to be the option of using external drive space to complete the Windows 10 upgrade, but what about updates once you’re saddled with it? Stuart

I don’t know if this is a response to my little rant last week, but either way, it’s a good question. For those who missed it, I said: “I think 32GB Flash memory drives are too small for traditional laptop uses. Microsoft has reduced the size of Windows 10 ... but it’s going to get bigger with use. There will be numerous upgrades, growing log files, swap files, and large caches of temporary internet files. Looking three years or six upgrades ahead, I can’t see a 32GB drive coping without some massive clean-ups.”

PC manufacturers are fitting 32GB eMMC Flash storage chips to cut costs. High quality 64GB chips are around twice the price, and the extra, say, $12 to $15 is significant if you’re selling a system for £149.99 or $199.99. In the long term, users would be better off paying a higher price for 64GB of storage, but this is not widely understood.

Either way, you probably need a couple of accessories: an SD card, and an external USB hard drive (EHD).

Windows 10 can use extra space on the EHD to install updates even when your C: drive has run out of space. If so, this will be mentioned on the pop-up that says “Windows needs more space”. You can also use the EHD to back up your PC. I strongly recommend doing that before you try any of the tips below.

Using an SD card

Most netbooks and Windows tablets have a slot for an SD or microSD card. This is a quick way to add 32GB or 64GB or sometimes even more storage. You can create an icon for the card and keep it on the desktop for quick access.

If you have large collections of photos, music, movies etc then you can store them on SD cards. Further, you can now install programs on SD cards, too. To do this, run the Settings app (the cogwheel), select System, then Storage, and look for “Save locations”. Whenever it says “This PC (C:)”, you can change it to save to your SD card.

You can also move existing programs to your SD card. To do this, go to “Apps & features” in the Settings app, and sort them by size. Click on a large program, and Windows 10 will give you two options: Move and Uninstall. Click Move. The pop-up will say: “This app is currently installed on: This PC (C:) Select a drive to move this app to”. Again, use the drop-down menu to select your SD card.

Note: don’t move frequently used essentials such as drivers and anti-virus programs. It’s probably not worth moving anything smaller than 50MB.

Removing apps

Go back to “Apps & features” in the System section of the Settings app, and sort programs by size. There may be some that you want to uninstall, such as Candy Crush Soda Saga, and any trial version of Microsoft Office. You can also uninstall some parts of Windows 10, but most apps are not actually installed until you use them. You only have placeholders.

On my system, Windows 10’s Get Started app took up 44K. After I used it to watch several help videos, its size swelled to 42.5MB. Many Windows 10 apps only take up a couple of megabytes, and I have 15 apps that only take up 16K each (Maps, Sport, Voice Recorder, Weather etc). It’s not worth uninstalling these placeholders. The space saving is trivial and the next major Windows 10 update will just put them back. Life’s too short.

Note that Windows 10 will not uninstall some core apps – such as Mail, Photos, and Groove Music – but CCleaner Free will. Just select Tools, then Uninstall. However, as mentioned above, you won’t save much space, and at some point, Windows 10 will put them back. Just don’t uninstall the Windows Store app.

Saving storage space

The quickest way to clear space in Windows is to run Microsoft’s built-in Disk Clean-up utility, or an alternative such as CCleaner Free, as explained two weeks ago. Only do this after you have made sure you know all your log-on IDs and passwords, and you have saved your browser session, so that you don’t lose all your open tabs. By default, CCleaner will remove the history files and cookies used to store this information.

Microsoft’s Disk Clean-up utility can safely delete hidden system files. Click the button that says “Clean up system files” for the option to delete various files including “Previous Windows Installation(s)”.

Next, go back to the Storage page and click on your C: drive. Windows 10 will scan your 32GB and tell you how much space you have free. After a while, it will also tell you what’s taking up space. The entries will include System & reserved, Apps & games, Documents, Pictures, Music etc. There will also be entries for Mail, OneDrive, Temporary files and Other.

Click each entry for more information and the chance to manage it. Click “System & reserved” to see how much space Windows 10 is using for system files, virtual memory (ie the pagefile.sys file used as a scratchpad), hibernation (the hiberfil.sys file stores your PC’s state while it’s asleep, and is used by Fast Startup) and system restore (system files you would need to restore your PC to an earlier state).

These work files may well take up more space than Windows 10. There’s not much you can do about them without some expertise, the old Control Panel and a few DOS-type commands. However, you can limit how much virtual memory Windows can use – though it will work badly if it doesn’t have enough – and the space available for system restore files. You can also move the hibernation file to your SD card.

Hard drive management

Finally, and most dangerously, you can check your hard drive partitions. Windows 10 creates its own small recovery partition, WinRE, which doesn’t have a drive letter. It’s what lets you re-set your PC. I would never delete it. However, if you upgraded to Windows 10, your PC may still have an OEM recovery partition for an earlier version of Windows. You can delete this and – most importantly – reclaim the space by using a free program such as EaseUS Partition Master or AOMEI Partition Assistant.

You can also, of course, accidentally brick your PC. It’s important to create “recovery media” and a back-up before messing with this stuff.

Install Windows from USB

Microsoft is releasing two major versions of Windows 10 each year. The next one, the Creators Update, is being tested now. These updates are installed as new operating systems, in just the same way as the upgrade from Windows 7 or 8.1 to 10. This means you need space for the large download, the working operating system, and a back-up copy of the old version. This is stored in a hidden folder called “Windows.old” in case you need to roll back to it.

However, you can also download the latest version on a different PC and use Microsoft’s Media Creation Tool to create installation media on a 4GB or larger USB thumb drive or DVD. You must select the option to “Create installation media for another PC” and choose the correct version for your laptop (64-bit Windows 10 Home, or whatever). You may also need to set your laptop to boot from USB. You don’t need a product key as your Windows 10 activation is stored online against the Microsoft Account you use to log on.

You can use this approach to “Start fresh with a clean installation of Windows 10” as per Microsoft’s instructions. However, it removes all the programs that are not part of Windows 10, including your manufacturer’s apps, support apps, drivers, customised power and sleep settings, and so on. While you can opt to keep personal files, you may lose digital licenses and related content you have paid for. You must back them up.

It’s not as simple as letting Windows 10 auto-update, but at least you’ll end up with the latest version of Windows 10 and the maximum amount of free storage space.

Have you got another question for Jack? Email it to Ask.Jack@theguardian.com

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