Solved Moving files from C to D, still asks for free space on C?


H

HideoK

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Windows 11
Premise: this is not my issue, but of someone who asked me.

He has 2 disks: C with little free space, and D, external ssd, with 750 Gb of free space.
So, he wants to move some files from C to D, but Windows 11 doesn't allow it because "he doesn't have enough free space". Why?
He tried both copy&paste and cut&paste.
 
Windows Build/Version
11

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Windows 11
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5800x3d
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Gigabyte X570 Aorus Elite
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32Gb DDR4 Corsair
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1. Check if drive D is fat32 formatted. Fat32 drives will not accept files over 4.0 GB in size.

2.Also if there is little space on C drive, you cannot copy a lot of files, as it uses temporary free space to assist copying of files. You may have to delete some stuff first - you should never use over approx 90% of c drive to give a bit of headeroom for temporary files.
 

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Windows 11 Pro + Win11 Canary VM.
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ASUS Zenbook 14
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I9 13th gen i9-13900H 2.60 GHZ
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Yep, Laptop has one.
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16 GB soldered
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Macrium Reflect Home V8
Office 365 Family (6 users each 1TB onedrive space)
Hyper-V (a vm runs almost as fast as my older laptop)
A screenshot of disk management might throw some light on it.
 

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    Win7,Win11
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    i7-9700
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Important question here is...is Windows complaining about free space on C drive or D drive? Another question is, what file are they moving? If they're trying to move parts of the user profile directory, it is very possible there is not enough free space on the target drive (OneDrive data etc...).

We have too little context to answer the question as is.
 

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  • OS
    Win 11 Pro 25H2 26200.8457 / Linux Mint 22.3
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo A485
    CPU
    Ryzen 7 2700U Pro
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    Lenovo (WiFi/BT module upgraded to Intel Wireless-AC-9260)
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Oh, and yeah, Windows does cache the files that you try to copy before doing the actual copy. Try to move just a couple of files first so C drive gets more free space for the cache. After each round of moving files, you can then start increasing the amount of data you move at once.
 

My Computers My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Win 11 Pro 25H2 26200.8457 / Linux Mint 22.3
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo A485
    CPU
    Ryzen 7 2700U Pro
    Motherboard
    Lenovo (WiFi/BT module upgraded to Intel Wireless-AC-9260)
    Memory
    32GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    iGPU Vega 10
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    14" FHD (built-in) + 14" Lenovo Thinkvision M14t (touch+pen) + 32" Asus PB328
    Screen Resolution
    FHD + FHD + 1440p
    Hard Drives
    Intel 660p m.2 nVME PCIe3.0 x2 512GB
    PSU
    125W(Dock)/65W(Travel Adapter)
    Keyboard
    Thinkpad / Logitech MX Keys
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 2S
    Internet Speed
    1/1Gbit
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    SecureBoot: Enabled
    TPM2.0: Enabled
    AMD-V: Enabled
  • Operating System
    Win 11 Pro 25H2 26200.8521(RP)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    i7-7700k @4.8GHz
    Motherboard
    Asus PRIME Z270-A
    Memory
    32GB 2x16GB 2133MHz CL15
    Graphics card(s)
    EVGA GTX1080Ti FTW 11GB
    Sound Card
    Integrated
    Monitor(s) Displays
    32" 10-bit Asus PB328Q
    Screen Resolution
    WQHD 2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    512GB ADATA SX8000NP NVMe PCIe Gen 3 x4
    PSU
    850W
    Case
    Fractal Design Define 7
    Cooling
    Noctua NH-D15 chromax.black
    Keyboard
    Logitech MX Keys
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 2S
    Internet Speed
    1/1Gbit
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    AC WiFi Card
SlicEnDicE said:
Oh, and yeah, Windows does cache the files that you try to copy before doing the actual copy. Try to move just a couple of files first so C drive gets more free space for the cache. After each round of moving files, you can then start increasing the amount of data you move at once.
Click to expand...
Yeah - I was going to say that i.e. move a bit of data, then move a bit more as space frees up and so on.

Another way may be to use say Macrium Reflect to image backup folders (on a external usb or separate partition on D drive) and restore to D drive. Pretty sure this does not cache like File Explorer.
 

My Computer My Computer

OS
Windows 11 Pro + Win11 Canary VM.
Computer type
Laptop
Manufacturer/Model
ASUS Zenbook 14
CPU
I9 13th gen i9-13900H 2.60 GHZ
Motherboard
Yep, Laptop has one.
Memory
16 GB soldered
Graphics Card(s)
Integrated Intel Iris XE
Sound Card
Realtek built in
Monitor(s) Displays
laptop OLED screen
Screen Resolution
2880x1800 touchscreen
Hard Drives
1 TB NVME SSD (only weakness is only one slot)
PSU
Internal + 65W thunderbolt USB4 charger
Case
Yep, got one
Cooling
Stella Artois (UK pint cans - 568 ml) - extra cost.
Keyboard
Built in UK keybd
Mouse
Bluetooth , wireless dongled, wired
Internet Speed
900 mbs (ethernet), wifi 6 typical 350-450 mb/s both up and down
Browser
Edge
Antivirus
Defender
Other Info
TPM 2.0, 2xUSB4 thunderbolt, 1xUsb3 (usb a), 1xUsb-c, hdmi out, 3.5 mm audio out/in combo, ASUS backlit trackpad (inc. switchable number pad)

Macrium Reflect Home V8
Office 365 Family (6 users each 1TB onedrive space)
Hyper-V (a vm runs almost as fast as my older laptop)
Sorry for the lack of details, but as I said, it's not me, and I don't have direct access to the issued pc.
Anyway, looks like copying the single file, is doing the trick. Thanks for the replies, guys.
 

My Computer My Computer

OS
Windows 11
Computer type
PC/Desktop
CPU
5800x3d
Motherboard
Gigabyte X570 Aorus Elite
Memory
32Gb DDR4 Corsair
Graphics Card(s)
5070Ti
Screen Resolution
3840x2160
Browser
Chrome
Antivirus
Windows Defender
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