Which isn't much of a stretch at all.
my very basic and rarely used hp laptop (its the cheapest available) has recently stated it requires a windows 10 update. "Cool, please go ahead and update yourself" i say. It came back and announced it was capable of taking the update but was lacking some of the disk space required for the update (8GB)
hmm interesting. Given that i've not stored much of anything, nor installed anything extra above what it came with, im wondering how it is that its lacking the space for a required update.
I've now deleted everything that i don't require, and a few non essential things it came with like games etc, and its still short a gig and a half of the required space for the update.
is there some sort of secret handshake im missing? Or have i got exactly what i paid for? Essentially i bought it solely to do a bit of paperwork and watch youtube.
Whats left on there is less than what it started with...
Could be old windows versions kept after big updates. Run Disk Cleanup (type disk clean in search bar from Windows 10 start screen will bring it up). Make sure to select the Windows update cleanup. Also, under more options there is also an option to delete old restore points that will save some space.
Select to expand quoteRich118 said..
Could be old windows versions kept after big updates. Run Disk Cleanup (type disk clean in search bar from Windows 10 start screen will bring it up). Make sure to select the Windows update cleanup. Also, under more options there is also an option to delete old restore points that will save some space.
Did the windows update cleanup thing already, I'll have a look at deleting old restore points now.
thanks for the tips 
Select to expand quoteRazzonater said..
This should help
Haven't quite reached that point yet...
Free up space to install the latest Windows 10 features update
support.microsoft.com/en-au/help/4013876/windows-10-free-up-space-to-install-latest-feature-update
Loads of low end PCs got stuck with this issue...
Windows Update will happily download itself taking any/all available space and then give you a stupid message that you're out of space... that the update was aware of... so it filled it anyway... and then cant update... slow clap for the testing done there.
There was a similar thing when MS decided the Atom processors weren't being supported, it would download the update and then tell you your PC wasn't up to spec... rinse repeat.
Select to expand quoteSubsonic said..Rich118 said..
Could be old windows versions kept after big updates. Run Disk Cleanup (type disk clean in search bar from Windows 10 start screen will bring it up). Make sure to select the Windows update cleanup. Also, under more options there is also an option to delete old restore points that will save some space.
Did the windows update cleanup thing already, I'll have a look at deleting old restore points now.
thanks for the tips
Make sure you got them all. There should be no windows.old folders in the C drive. Sometimes you have to run disk clean as administrator to work. (right click and sun as administrator).
Have you tried emptying the trash bin. If you have recently deleted files it still seats in the bin and uses storage space.
Thanks for all the advice fellas, soon as there was room it started to download the update.
Sent me into a panic initially, it didn't mention it was doing it, it just started filling the space up. Did a scan, all good then realized what was going on.
Gonna go through and do a clean up anyway.
I updated to 10 on a spare computer to find several programs no longer work.
Stayed with old windows on other computers and no issues now for years.
Advice proceed with caution but first ask do I need to update and if so why, is my current Windows doing all I need??
Select to expand quoteSubsonic said..
Thanks for all the advice fellas, soon as there was room it started to download the update.
Sent me into a panic initially, it didn't mention it was doing it, it just started filling the space up. Did a scan, all good then realized what was going on.
Gonna go through and do a clean up anyway.
If your PC is not behind a WSUS server... forced OS updates every 6 months for you from now on...
Gee, Thanks Microsoft, you always know what's best for me. 
Im really not a fan of this "everything online through us" ethos that microsoft have more and more of now.
But hey, the laptop was cheap, and its the future right?
Select to expand quotewarwickl said..
I updated to 10 on a spare computer to find several programs no longer work.
Stayed with old windows on other computers and no issues now for years.
Advice proceed with caution but first ask do I need to update and if so why, is my current Windows doing all I need??
I actually bought this laptop because my old one having spanned 10 good years of service, reached the point in its life where it would no longer accept updates. Full stop, no returns. And as a result ceased to be able to function in a useful way online.
It seems to me theyve managed to successfully put us under some degree of control.
Where's Mr conspiracy theory when you need him? Pete???
You said youtube "right"? and windows 10?
Video , particularly true HD has a huge footprint and the windows internet system uses a special internet - networking RAM disk like (often ambiguated) system called a 'page file" (i've had this problem before).
The page file is a bit weird,, it does not simply delete because you disconnect or clear IE, it can remain with various data and instruction information such as streamed video for quite some time and can get quite some size !
www.softperfect.com/board/read.php?16,25079
www.ricksdailytips.com/move-page-file-to-ramdisk/
..."I'd say records show you go into that site a lot more often than you are saying"...
