System Drive Space Issue

[Guest Redleg6]

I administer a Windows 2003 domain. All servers have some flavor of Win2003

server. Two of my older servers have very limited space on the disk that has

the system drive (C:\). When the unused space falls below 10% of the drive's

total space we start having problems especially on the server that has

Exchange 2003.

 

I have moved everything I can from the system drives and compressed what I

cannot move but the space problem remains. What I need to do is to replace

these old small drives with a larger drive.

 

Is there a reference that addresses this issue and shows me a reliable

procedure for replacing a system drive. All my data is backed up.

[Guest Jabez Gan [MVP]]

Re: System Drive Space Issue

 

Hey,

 

Simple: Use NTBackup and backup the entire C: drive. Then, replace the HDD

with a bigger size and restore from the backup file.

 

Best regards,

Jabez Gan

Microsoft MVP - Windows Server

 

"Redleg6" <redleg6@community.nospam> wrote in message

news:eFQnWaqIJHA.4600@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...

> I administer a Windows 2003 domain. All servers have some flavor of

> Win2003 server. Two of my older servers have very limited space on the

> disk that has the system drive (C:\). When the unused space falls below

> 10% of the drive's total space we start having problems especially on the

> server that has Exchange 2003.

>

> I have moved everything I can from the system drives and compressed what I

> cannot move but the space problem remains. What I need to do is to replace

> these old small drives with a larger drive.

>

> Is there a reference that addresses this issue and shows me a reliable

> procedure for replacing a system drive. All my data is backed up.

>

[Guest George Yin]

RE: System Drive Space Issue

 

Hello,

 

Do you mean that you want to replace the disk or, just want to 'extend' the

C: drive if the disk has more space which might have been assigned to other

drive (e.g. D: drive)?

 

In the latter situation, you can just add the new disk into the computer,

move all files from D: drive to the new disk and then extend the C: drive

to the whole disk.

 

If you want to replace the disk, it may be a little complicated.

 

Firstly, you should check how the current server was installed. If it was

installed by OEM, I would suggest that you contact OEM vendor companies and

work with them to replace the disk. These disks may contain some important

files to boot your system.

 

If not, you can try the following three methods:

 

Third-party disk cloning tools:

=====================

 

Most of these tools may work well. However, as I have little knowledge on

these different tools, and we cannot guarantee whether these tools can

work, I would not suggest that you try this unless you are familiar with it.

 

Backup and restore:

===============

 

Usually this will work well and you don't need to reactive the system. The

steps are as Jabez mentioned.

 

However, we also have seen some problems relating to this. You may even not

boot the system, due to the different device drivers. This method will

consume the reactive count, which means that you can replace fewer devices

before reactivating the system.

 

Call Microsoft Customer Service and Support:

===================================

 

I would highly suggest that you call our Microsoft Customer Service and

Support (CSS), for information about replacement manuals, disks, drivers

and service packs, product orders, policies related to copying software on

additional computers, licensing, and product registration.

 

You can speak directly with a Microsoft Support Professional. For a

complete list of Microsoft Product Support Services phone numbers and

information about support costs, please go to the following address on the

World Wide Web:

 

http://support.microsoft.com/directory/overview.asp

 

Sincerely,

George Yin

Microsoft Online Support

Microsoft Global Technical Support Center

 

Get Secure! - http://www.microsoft.com/security

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[Guest George Yin]

RE: System Drive Space Issue

 

Hello,

 

I am just writing to see how everything is going. If you have any updates

or need any further assistance on this issue, please feel free to let me

know. I am glad to be of assistance.

 

Sincerely,

George Yin

Microsoft Online Support

Microsoft Global Technical Support Center

 

Get Secure! - http://www.microsoft.com/security

=====================================================

When responding to posts, please "Reply to Group" via your newsreader so

that others may learn and benefit from your issue.

=====================================================

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.