Page 974 - Windows 10 May 2019 Update The Missing Manual: The Book That Should Have Been in the Box

UP TO SPEED THE 7 GB OF RESERVED SPACE

If you read the articles about the May 2019 Update before it

actually came out, your eyebrows might have popped right off
your forehead. Microsoft, they said, intends to set aside 7
gigabytes of disk space for its own purposes.

That’s right: Windows intends to steal 7 gigs you paid for,
making it off-limits to you. What the heck, Microsoft!?

OK. First of all, you don’t get this Reserved Storage feature
unless either (a) you buy a new PC with the May 2019 Update

already on it, or (b) you perform a clean install (“The Upgrade
to the May 2019 Update”). Otherwise, this whole business

doesn’t affect you.

Reserved Storage is intended to solve an occasional source of
headaches: trying to install a new app or Windows update

when your drive is nearly full. Every installation requires some
disk space—the installer you download, and other temporary
files, have to go somewhere. And if the disk is full, ugly,

crashy things can happen. Reserved Storage gives those
installers a little working room, no matter how full your drive
seems.

(And what if some installer needs more than 7 GB? In that

case, Windows fills up the reserved space and then uses
regular, visible disk space for the overflow. And it walks you

through the process of freeing up disk space or using a USB
flash drive as overflow storage.)

By the way: Windows doesn’t always set aside exactly 7 GB. It

may reserve more or less space, depending on your PC. For
example, if you switch among multiple languages, Windows
will reserve more space. If you uninstall features you’re not

using (in → Apps → “Apps & features” → “Manage
optional features”), it may reserve less.