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Description of the Low Disk Space Notification in Windows XP

Article ID: 285107 - View products that this article applies to.

This article was previously published under Q285107

SUMMARY

When a Windows XP-based computer is running low on disk space, you receive a "Low Disk Space" message that, when clicked, starts the Disk Cleanup Wizard. This article describes the conditions in which you receive the "Low Disk Space" message.

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Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

322756

(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/322756/ )

How to back up and restore the registry in Windows

When free disk space reaches 200 megabytes (MB), you receive the following message for 10 seconds, once per session:

You are running out of disk space on [drive]. To free space on this drive by deleting old or unnecessary files, click here.

When free disk space reaches 80 MB, you receive the following message for 30 seconds, every four hours, twice per session:

You are running very low on disk space on [drive]. To free space on this drive by deleting old or unnecessary files, click here.

When free disk reaches 50 MB, you receive the following message for 30 seconds, every five minutes, until free space is above 50 MB:

You are running very low on disk space on [drive]. To free space on this drive by deleting old or unnecessary files, click here.

Note There is a registry value you can set to disable this feature. To disable low disk space checks, follow these steps, log off, and then log on again: Follow these steps, and then quit Registry Editor:

Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
Locate and then click the following key in the registry:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
Type NoLowDiskSpaceChecks, and then press ENTER.
On the Edit menu, click Modify.
Type 1, and then click OK.