Windows Server 2012 was released over a decade ago, and the hard drives used when building these servers were often not very large. Of course, many disks have been replaced by new disks. However, there is still an issue that the C drive is running out of space. Because Windows requires less than 20GB after installation, few server administrators configure the C drive to be larger than 100GB. When the C drive is running out of space in Windows Server 2012 R2, follow the 2 effective methods below to solve this problem easily.
1. Clean Up Disk When C Drive Runs Out of Space
There are many types and large amounts of unnecessary junk files in the system partition C, especially if you install all programs with their default settings. After deleting temporary, cache, log, browser-generated, Windows Update, and other types of junk files, you can reclaim the disk space occupied by them. This is especially useful if you have never freed up disk space or have not done so for a long time.
Windows Server 2012 has a native Disk Cleanup utility to help you accomplish this task. It is able to delete common types of junk files quickly, easily, and safely.
To clean up the disk when the C drive is running out of space in Windows Server 2012 R2:
- Press Windows and R on your keyboard, type cleanmgr and press Enter.
- Select the C: drive in the drop-down list and click OK.
- Check the boxes next to the files you want to remove in the next window.
- Confirm the deletion.
- Repeat to clean system files (if there is such an option).
If you receive an error stating that cleanmgr is not found, it means this utility is not enabled. Follow the steps to install or enable Disk Cleanup on Server 2012.
If you cannot get plenty of free space for the C drive by cleaning up the disk, you should add more from other partitions. Otherwise, the C drive will become full again in the near future, because new junk and unnecessary files are continuously generated.
2. Add More Free Space to C Drive from Another Partition
All hard drive partitions are already allocated, but you can change partition size with some tools. Among these software options, NIUBI Partition Editor is much safer and faster because of its innovative technologies such as:
- Hot Clone - Clone disk partitions in Windows for backup, migration, and fast disk swapping.
- Virtual Mode - All operations are listed as pending for preview, and real disk partitions won't be modified until you click "Apply" to confirm.
- Cancel-at-Will - If you applied incorrect operations, you can safely cancel the ongoing operations at any stage before completion.
- 1 Second Rollback - If any error is detected while resizing partitions, it can immediately and automatically revert the disk partitions to their previous state.
- Advanced File-Moving Algorithm: Resize and move partitions 30% to 300% faster, saving significant time, especially when handling a large number of files.
NIUBI Partition Editor can shrink another volume on the disk to generate unallocated space, and then move and add this unallocated space into the C drive. To accomplish this task, you just need to click, drag, and drop on the disk map. There will be a large amount of free space in the C drive in a short time without doing anything else. The Operating System, programs, associated settings, and everything else remain the same as before.
Download NIUBI Partition Editor and follow the steps in the video to add more space to the C drive:
The larger the C drive is configured, the less likely it is to run out of space in Windows Server 2012 again.
There is no difference if you run a physical server with an SSD, any type of HDD, a RAID array, or run a virtual machine in VMware/Hyper-V.
Copy and Migrate If the Disk Is Small
If the system disk is small and there is not enough free space in other partitions, no software can add space into the C drive from another separate disk. Instead, you can clone the system disk to a larger one. While cloning the disk, you can enlarge the C drive and other partitions with the extra disk space.
Follow the steps in the video:
After the copying process is complete, replace the original disk or change the BIOS settings to boot from the larger disk.
In Summary
When the C drive is running out of space in Windows Server 2012 R2, clean up the disk to reclaim space. Add more free space to the C drive from other partitions on the system disk. Clone this disk to a larger one if it is too small. Because new junk files are continuously generated, it is highly recommended to run the Disk Cleanup utility monthly.
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