"You are out of disk space" when installing an Autodesk product on Non-C drive

Autodesk Support

Jan 13, 2025

Products and versions covered

Issue:

During the installation of the Autodesk product, an attempt to install on another disk drive or partition is met with a warning. "You are out of disk space on your system drive" (that is, C:\) even though installation is being performed in another drive.

 

Out of Disk Space Error window

Environment:

  • Windows 10
  • Windows 11

Causes:

  • The Autodesk installer, though installing the program to another drive as specified by the user, still needs to use the Windows temporary file locations during installation. 
  • This includes your Windows profile %TEMP% location and any additional Temporary Internet Files that need to be downloaded (that is, Content Files) to complete installation. 
  • Also, some files will typically need to exist on the system drive. These will be Desktop shortcuts, Start Menu icons, and other Windows Profile settings for individual user preferences in the software. 

Solution:

Note:  Some of these procedures require having local Administrator privileges on the machine. Contact the system administrator to perform these steps.

To get around the space limitation on the system drive to complete the Autodesk installation, there is a need to clear space on that drive.  This can be accomplished by changing multiple system settings and moving the locations of temporary folders. We recommend using one or all the following procedures to help with freeing space in the system drive. 

 

Running Disk Cleanup

Windows has a built-in Disk Cleanup utility that can be used. Run the Disk Cleanup tool from Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Cleanup.

Disk Cleanup Drive Selection window

 

Delete Temporary Files

The most effective way to clear space is to delete all temporary files not being used by Windows. You may have multiple gigabytes of unnecessary data taking up space in your Windows system and User profile. 

The locations of temporary files vary for each computer.  But typically, you can safely delete all the files in the following locations (if they exist):

  • %TEMP% (that is, C:\Users\username\Appdata\Local\Temp)
  • %WINDIR%\TEMP (that is, C:\Windows\Temp)
  • %WINDIR%\PREFETCH (that is, C:\Windows\Prefetch)

Note: Some of these folders may be hidden by default.  You can toggle hidden files and folders in Windows Explorer (WIN+E) from Tools > Folder Options > View (Tab)

You can open these folder locations directly from Windows Explorer. 

Run system window for opening program or location

In each of these locations, you can safely delete the entire contents of the folders.  The most effective way to delete the entire contents is with a select all (Ctrl+a) and a permanent delete (SHIFT+DEL).  This will prevent the files from going into your Recycle Bin. 

Note: Any files "in-use" by the system or programs will not be able to be deleted and you will be prompted accordingly.

 

Delete and Change of Temporary Internet Files

Internet Explorer has a large default setting for temporary Internet files.  It is desirable that this is manually changed to the recommended minimum value to save space on the system drive.  Typically, this value is 50 MB.  Your default value could be taking up multiple gigabytes of space. Modify this value and periodically clear the cache:

  1. You can do this in Internet Explorer from Tools > Internet Options.
  2. On the General tab, locate the Browsing History section and click Settings. 
  3. In this dialog box, you can reduce the amount of space taken up by your Temporary Internet Files. 

 

Temporary Internet Files and History Settings window

Note: If you use a 3rd party browser such as Chrome or Firefox, you should locate the instructions to duplicate this process for all browsers you actively use. 

 

Move your Temporary Files Folder (%TEMP%)

In addition to moving your Temporary Internet Files, you should also consider moving the location of the %TEMP% folder in your User Profile that you cleared earlier.  This is an effective way to keep all temporary installation files from using the space on your system drive or taking up unnecessary space altogether. 

Moving your %TEMP% file location requires you to change the User Environment Variable that defines it.  This is done from System Properties. You can access System Properties by right-clicking My Computer and selecting Properties.  This can be done from the Desktop icon or the Start Menu icon.  You can also use the shortcut (Win+Pause/Break) to do the same. 

 

To locate the User Environment Variables:

  1. Go to System Properties > Advanced System Settings > Advanced (Tab).
  2. "Click Environment Variables..."  At the bottom. 

 

System Properties Window

 

3. Locate the User Environment Variables in the top section and click Edit next to the TEMP variable.
4. You can change the Variable Value to a folder you create on another hard drive or partition (that is, D:\TEMP). 
 

Environment Variables window

 

Note: If you have a TMP user environment variable, you can change it as well. 

 

Move your Windows Virtual Memory Swap File

One of the largest blocks of space taken up on your hard drive will be the Windows Virtual Memory swap file.  This is the file that Windows uses to page available RAM.  This file can be 1x - 3x the size of the RAM installed on your system.  For best performance, it is often recommended that this file is placed on a separate hard drive (not partition) from your system drive.  In fact, if you have multiple drives, split the file between multiple drives.

 

To move the Windows swap file:

  1. Go to System Properties > Advanced System Settings > Advanced (Tab).
  2. Choose the Settings... button under the Performance section at top.

 

System Properties Window

 

3. On the Performance Options dialog box, click the Advanced (Tab) and then click Change.... 

 

Performance Options Window

 

4. On the Virtual Memory dialog box, deselect the box to Automatically manage paging file size for all drives.  
5. Then select the C: drive and choose the last radio button for No paging file and click Set. 
6. If Windows warns, click OK. 
7. Choose another available hard drive (that is, D:\) and then choose the first radio button for Custom size: And input the Recommended paging size in both the Initial size (MB): And Maximum size (MB): Boxes and then click Set. 

 

Virtual Memory Window

 

8. If you wish to split the page file among multiple drives as in the preceding image, then do so following the same steps.
9. Click OK to all windows. 

 

Note: It is best practice to keep both the minimum and maximum boxes the same value to prevent the fragmentation of your page file.  You should not put less than the recommended value, nor less than the amount of physical RAM (in Megabytes) on your computer.  It is recommended that you have at least 1.5x the physical RAM, up to 3x. If your computer is 32-bit Windows, then your maximum virtual memory page file is capped at 4096 MB. 

 

Disable Hibernation Mode

Hibernation is a feature most often used by mobile workstations however, it takes up considerable space of your hard drive. This is especially discouraging if you do not use hibernation because it is enabled by default. Hibernation can take up as much space on your hard disk as the amount of RAM you have installed. 

Note: To disable hibernation, you need to have administrative access to the Command prompt. 

 

  1. Click Start > All Programs > Accessories
  2. Locate the icon for Command prompt and Right-click it. 
  3. On the resulting context menu, choose Run as Administrator.
  4. At the Command prompt window, type the following command powercfg -h off

 

 Windows Command Prompt

 

This will take effect immediately and remove the hibernation file, freeing up multiple Gigabytes of space. 

Note: Depending on your version of Windows, you might have to use the following command at the prompt powercfg.exe /hibernate off

 

More Notes: 

  • After running all or some of these steps, you may be required to reboot to put them into effect. After reboot, attempt your Autodesk installation again. 
  • Some Autodesk suites (that is, Revit) require other downloads during installation for added content. There should be enough space for other downloads, including service packs.

Products:

All Desktop Products;

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