First, what do I look for in a USB? - I'm not familiar with a USB as a storage device, my only knowledge of USB is the one that I use to plug in my digital camera.

 

To try and solve the "Low Disk Space" msg, it was suggested that I copy the files/folders to CDs, inserting them one at a time, then delete everything except the recovery folder (located in the "sources" folder) where the factory restore files are.

 

I tried this, I got a msg that my CD was too small -- there was no option to copy some of the files/folders, then insert another disk to continue copying.

 

So I selected folders and files to copy, as many as would fit on each CD, totalling 4 CDs.  The only one that wouldn't fit was the dell/Image/factory.wim file, so I left it, and deleted all the rest, but was denied permission to delete most of the files in the Windows folder, even though they were certainly copies.

 

That still didn't solve the problem of the "Low Disk Space" warning, so I made sure the factory.wim file was located elsewhere, and deleted it successfully from (D:/).  My assumption was that it would be re-copied at the next backup, by which time I should have had a storage solution.

 

That finally solved this problem, then I went on to search for a solution to another problem that had arisen at the same time ("minibcont" skin fails to load), which was also the same time we had installed Verizon internet service.

 

Hours later, the computer flat out died -- it froze, wouldn't turn off, then when I finally got it to turn off, it wouldn't turn on. So it's in the shop, and this might be a waste of time, but I'm afraid these issues will just arise again and I want to be ready.

 

hmmm... so what's the solution when I'm blocked from burning the files to CDs because there's not enough space on one CD? There's no option to "insert another disk" so it can continue copying the contents.  In a fit of frustrated exhaustion, I burned individual files to CDs when it wouldn't let me burn a whole folder. In all, I made 4 CDs. The Dell/Image/factory.wim folder was too big alone to copy to a single CD, but even after deleting the other files/folders, I still got the "low disk space" msg. so I made sure the file existed elsewhere and went ahead and deleted it, counting on the next backup to re-copy it, and hopefully by then have a larger capacity CD. I did leave the source/recovery folder alone, as that's where all the "restore" files were. All I know about USB is that it lets me plug in my camera and other peripherals, I have no idea what I'd look for in that option.  Another problem: when I deleted all the folders in D:/ I was denied permission to delete most of the Windows files, even though they were certainly copies.  I suppose that's no big deal if I'm able to use some other backup option, so the D:/ partition wouldn't fill up.  In any case, the whole point might be moot, since the 3 month old computer flat out died later that night, first wouldn't shut off (even after turning off the power strip, it turned back on right away but Vista didn't load), then it wouldn't turn on.  There were other issues that had arisen at the same time, immediately after installing Verizon DSL internet service, so that complicates my problem.

Hi Kaneh

I have read your post a few times and i am not sure what you are asking  !

I see you or trying to burn all of the D:\ files on CD,s and the CD,s are to small

for that , the Dell folder will only work if it copied to a USB drive that will hold it,

because it can be over 6 gig,s that is even more than a DVD can hold !

 

Or you trying to get all of the files off of the D:\ and just have a blank space there ?

If you or all you have to do is format the D:\ Drive .

then if you do that you can not go back to the factory setting by using F8

your factory restore will be gone !

 Hi

The D:\ is only about 10 gig,s and about 6 gig,s is used by the Dell factory restore image

and the system volume uses some of that also

so you may only have a bout 2 or 3 gig,s left for you to use 

not very much space to use as a backup ! 

What i mean by USB drive is USB external hard drive that can

hold several hundred gig,s of information and any computer supply

shop can show you what you need !

My Big ext USB drive is 350 gigabits i have several computers back up to

it and i have about 150 gigs left .

I would think a computer needs more than 10 gig drive to backup because

if you back up every day or even once a week it will be gone in a short while .

The only thing you had to do was remove your backup off of the D: drive and you

would have been safe that way and

no more full hard drive messages would be seen .

I hope this answers your questions if not i will try again !!

 

Thanks for all your help!:smileyhappy: I didn't know there was another way to backup files off the computer besides CDs, or I would have done that instead. Next time I'll know better.