When logging on my wifes computer we are getting a dialog box which says low memory warning on drive D. The hard disc is partitioned and I presume that the operating system and restore stuff is on the partitioned bit. (As you can see I am not a techie) This only started after I bought an external hard drive and I started to back up all the files on the laptop. The C drive bit has loads of memory left in it as it is only used for household stuff and some photos. Apart from the warning the laptop is working fine. What can I do to address this small problem. I am a novice at problem solving so easy to follow instructions would be most helpful. Thank you in advance for your advice.
Tibs 47

Post a screen shot of Disk Management please. Make the Disk Management full screen before capturing the image.

To open Disk Management, press Winkkey (next to left Ctrl key) +r, type diskmgmt.msc and press Enter or click GO.

Vista and Windows 7: How to Use the Snipping Tool in Vista - Vista Forums (says it's for Vista but also works with Win 7).

Use the Go Advanced button to post a reply here, then use the paper clip icon next to the smiley face to upload it and insert it into a your reply.

My suspicion is the D: drive is the Recovery Partition and all you need to do is remove it from Virtual Memory use and the problem will go away. If it is the Recovery Partition then it should never be there anyway.

To remove from Virtual Memory, right click on My Computer and select Properties.
Click on Advanced System Settings then the Advanced tab.
Click on the Settings button under Performance then the Advanced tab.
Click the Change button under Virtual memory.
Click on the D: drive then select No paging file.
Click OK, Apply, OK.

That should do it.

Thank you for your very prompt reply. I have looked again and the 'D' portion of the disc is the 'Recovery' bit. I will do the fix that you suggested. If it doesn't have any effect I will be back, but I have every confidence that it will work. Thanks again for your time.
Regards,
Tibs47

Please let me know either way. Could be of help to someone else later on, thanks.

I have just (9.30 am UK time) carried out the fix you suggested, although I think that the 'No paging file' was already highlighted. I am sure it is now. I also deleted all, except the last, restore points (should I have done this?). The software suggested I could do this also. On restart I did not get the our usual 'low memory' message so I may have fixed it one way or another. I will keep my eye on things for the next few days and see what happens. Everything is backed up on an external hard drive, including all the program files, so if a disaster happens I am prepared.
Thanks again.
Tibs47

I am afraid that that fix did not work. Is there anyway I can increase the size of partition on the hard drive. At the moment only about 20% of this drive is being used and that amount of use will not increase much in the future. Any more ideas please.

Post a screen shot of Disk Management as I asked for in my first post. That will help to see if/how to expand the partition.

Dear Ztrucker,
I cannot find the snipping tool on my wifes laptop in accesories but I have on my tower set up. She only has vista home basic so it may not be on that, so I have reproduced the disc management page as best I can below:
Layout Type File System Status Capacity Free Space Fault Tolerence Overhead
C: Simple Basic NTFS Healthy 138.98GB 52.92GB 38% No 0%
D: Simple Basic NTFS Healthy 10.07GB 110mb 1% No 0%
In two boxes below is the following:
Disc Basic 149.05GB online.
C: 138.98 GB NTFS Healthy (System Boot, Page File, Active Crash Dump, Primary Partition).
Recovery D: 10.07 GB NTFS Healthy (Primary Partition)
CD Rom DVD
D: No Media
I hope that this is enough. I really appreciate your help. I look forwards to your reply. This is a very steep learning curve for me as I have already been to places on my computer that I have never been to before.
Regards,
Tibs 47 (Dorset UK)

You could install GreenShot to capture a picture of the Disk Management window.

Try turning off System Restore for the Recovery Partition:

Open System by clicking the Start button Picture of the Start button, clicking Control Panel, clicking System and Maintenance, and then clicking System.

In the left pane, click System Protection. Administrator permission required If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

To turn on System Protection for a hard disk, select the check box next to the disk, and then click OK.
– or –
To turn off System Protection for a hard disk, clear the check box next to the disk, and then click OK.

Like Virtual Memory, the Recovery Partition should not have System Restore storing anything there. This is a problem many of the OEMs had in not setting up their system correctly. Same problem still exists in Windows 7.

Dear Ztrucker,
I have solved my problem. Your last posting prompted me to look to see if anything else was stored on my 'D' drive. I noticed that my 'D' drive had somehow been loaded with exact copies of files already held on my 'C' drive. I have spent lots of time checking them to make sure that this is so. I have deleated the duplicated files from my 'D' Drive. All my recovery files are still all intact. Problem solved. No warning notices any more. The computer is still functioning on all cylinders. Thanks for your help.
Regards,
Tibs47.