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    full harddrive = data loss?

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by wobble987, Oct 2, 2006.

  1. wobble987

    wobble987 Notebook Virtuoso

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    hi, i have an external harddrive that is around 99% full, only has around 300MB remaining, after transfering a big amount of file, i read somewhere that full harddrive can cause data loss, have u heard about this? or is is just applied to the main drive (the one where the operating system boot on) or is it none at all; coz the file i transfer is kind of important, incl most 70% of the stuff inside my external harddrive. can anyone help clarify the matter?

    edit: i have a 80GB external HD with NTFS format
     
    wobble987, Oct 2, 2006
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  2. ttupa

    ttupa Tech Elitist NBR Reviewer

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    I doubt that is true. But, if you have a full volume that you're moving lots of data on, you can get in trouble. If you don't have enough room to move data it can screw up the files you are moving. The OS won't let you defrag without having a certain amt of freespace. If it's a storage volume I'm pretty sure you'll be fine.
     
    ttupa, Oct 2, 2006
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  3. Pitabred

    Pitabred Linux geek con rat flail!

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    A full hard drive on Windows can be a very bad thing. Temporary files aren't able to be created, etc. You especially don't want to fill your root drive (usually C: ). I'd still stay away from stuffing any drive more than 80% full. You won't be able to defrag very well, etc.
     
    Pitabred, Oct 2, 2006
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  4. drumfu

    drumfu super modfu

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    yeah, i'd go so far as to say even 80% is on the upper end of acceptable with 75% being the sweet spot
     
    drumfu, Oct 2, 2006
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  5. wobble987

    wobble987 Notebook Virtuoso

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    this is an external drive. i use it as a storage medium.
     
    wobble987, Oct 2, 2006
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  6. wobble987

    wobble987 Notebook Virtuoso

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    i just notice that it says that there is 3.99GB reserved for recycle bin... but i once only got 300MB free space!!! should i worried about losing data? HELP!!!
     
    wobble987, Oct 2, 2006
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  7. Jalf

    Jalf Comrade Santa

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    You won't lose random data, no. No need to worry about that. What you might lose is the data you're working on (because there might not be enough space to store the file.

    If you have a big file open, you edit it, make it bigger, and try to save it, there might not be room for the new file size. Then one of two things might happen. The app might crash, and take the file with it, or it might tell you there's not enough disk space and ask you for a different path to save it to.

    Also, you can change how much space it reserves for the recycle bin.
     
    Jalf, Oct 2, 2006
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  8. wobble987

    wobble987 Notebook Virtuoso

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    thanks!!! yeah, i tried experimenting again; by recording all the folder, # of folder, size of folder, etc. and fill it to the max, yeah, seems nothing are missing. thanks again, that makes me feels much better :)
     
    wobble987, Oct 3, 2006
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  9. Blake

    Blake NBR Reviewer NBR Reviewer

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    May I recommend getting another external drive :p
     
    Blake, Oct 3, 2006
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