11.18 How much free space is needed on the hard drive in Windows 95?

From FlightSim

Q:

HOW MUCH FREE SPACE IS NEEDED ON THE HARD DRIVE IN WINDOWS 95?

A:

If you are using a single disk and partition, then you need a MINIMUM of 100 - 120 Mb free space. The Windows swap file needs basically double your physical RAM (i.e. up to 128 Mb for some people), then temporary internet files (in the browser cache) will eat up another 10 - 20 Mb, then program temp files (like Winzip, FltSim, etc.) will use up some more, then deleted files will eat up some more, then ......

It's a good idea to run some kind of disk cleanup program each night if you are short of space.

Check your available disk space on your main disk drive/partition ! I have just had a user reporting installation problems with a program which everyone else seemed to have no problems with. It turned out he had only 22mb free disk space on his drive after a fresh reboot.

As I said in a recent message here, you need AT LEAST 100 - 120 MB FREE DISK SPACE on the main windows drive when running Windows95 - to allow enough space for the windows swap file and many temporary files.

On my system (P100, 48mb, OSR2), the windows swap file often grows to 100 Mb, my temporary internet files (browser cache) often eat up another 20+ Mb, and any large downloads being unzipped can add another 5 - 10 Mb of temporary files. Add in a few more Mb for deleted files still in the Recycle Bin and even 150 Mb of free space is soon gone. FS98 also needs a few me for temp files.

If the swap file cannot expand when it needs to, the system will just FREEZE. I believe that insufficient free disk space is THE SINGLE MOST COMMON CAUSE OF PERFORMANCE PROBLEMS AND SYSTEM FREEZES with FS98 and other Windows95 programs.

Ian Donohoe