What will happen if I delete a 2GB file entitled 'rootfs'?

[KingNiall]

I wasn't sure which category it went under, so I put it here.

My notebook is brand new, I've had it for 4 days, and I just got this message telling me that I was running out of space on Drive E:, I deleted my backup and the message went away. I then realised that I will need this backup if anything ever goes wrong, so I searched for what may be the actual cause of the problem, and came across a file called 'rootfs', it is in the folder 'Hewlett-Packard' and then under another folder called 'QuickWeb' and it is 2.17GB in size. I don't know whether I should delete this file or whether deletion will cause my notebook to mess up. I have not saved anything into this drive, only into DDrive C

I am running Windows 7 64Bit.

My notebook is a Pavilion g6.

Thanks in advance!

- KingNiall

[Danjen]

HP splits your drive into partitions for the HP utilities and for the system recovery.  These partitions are not meant for backup.  They are meant for support and nothing else.  Buy an external USB hard drive for backup and backup to that.  Do not try to back up to the HP partitions that have little or no room for a backup.  Do not delete those files!

[RLP84]

I was not able to find a resolution with your response. I have the same exact problem as the orignal poster of the question. Can you tell me what these files are (especially the rootfs file), where they came from, how it got so full so fast, and why I should keep them? Im so confused by the whole thing. I don't think that any of the info stored on this drive is anything I need, and would like to delete it if possible. I really appreciate all of your help! Thank you!

[biancawhately]

I have the exact problem as he/she has and I understand your message but I need a solution. This 'no space' message appears all the time and I don't know what to do. I didn't delete any files from this partition because I know they are important for my computer but what can I do to fix this? There are 2 GB or more of this rootfs thing. I don't know what are they, what they mean, what they do and if they can be made smaller or if I can transfer some GBs from C: to E: to relieve the problem. How can I fix this, please?

[Huffer]

Don't worry about it. They are files that would be used to make a recovery disk if you want to do that. That partition is designed to be full since you will not be adding to it. No harm is coming to your laptop in any way. You can just turn off the drive space warning.

http://www.thewindowsclub.com/faq-low-disk-space-notification-or-warning-in-windows-7-how-to-disable...

[biancawhately]

thank you so much!

[BJEvS]

Hi Huffer

I  would like to know if you can compress the partition folders/files on HP_TOOLS (psuedo drive 'F' in my case). If it is a truly static drive for just recovery, then what's the harm?

HOWEVER.. I believe it is the pagefile.sys file for RAM that is giving me the "Low disk space" message [NOTE: this is a hidden system file, so to see it, you must change folder options - Tools > Folder options... > View > select -  Show hidden files, folders, and drives].

I tried moving it from HP_RECOVERY (E) to HP_TOOLS (F). But now I'm getting the "Low disk space" message on (F). Don't know why the pagefile.sys was created on (E) originally. I read it is not good to put the paging file on an USB attached hard drive. And don't want the paging file on my primary (C) drive/partition. So to solve the "Low disk space", need a location to move the pagefile.sys.

Why did HP (I presume) put the RAM paging file pagefile.sys on a drive/partition that is already used almost to the max? I looked at some searchs for where to put the pagefile.sys. But most are very old (2009 to 12) and say but it physically at the middle of the physical hard drive. Got to be an easier solution for an HDD hard drive (make a 5th partition located in the physical middle - moot point if you have a SSD drive).  Don't want to turn-off all "Low disk space" warnings as I believe your link to change the registry does.

Thank you for all feedback - BJEvS