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I reinstalled Windows XP Pro SP2 today, and after rebooting and getting everything set up, I tried to use my BitTorrent client, "BitComet". The program wouldn't download anything, because there wasn't enough space on the hard drive. I have 48 gig free! lol What's going on? My newsgroup software (NewsLeecher) wouldn't download messages for the same reason. I can, however, download individual files onto the drive via my browser.

The drive is 60 gigs in size, with no partitions (I just use it for storage and downloads). I tried formatting it, but it didn't help.

Any ideas?

Cheers :)

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As discovered in the follow-up, this is a classic post-reinstall letter-mismatch problem: Windows can reassign drive letters during setup and applications that check a specific path will report "no space" if that path now points to the wrong volume or to nothing at all. Formatting the disk or the presence of free space on another volume does not fix an app that is still trying to write to a different letter.

Quick checklist to diagnose and fix:

  • Open Disk Management (Right-click My Computer -> Manage -> Disk Management). Identify the target volume by size/label.
  • If the volume letter is not what the application expects, right-click the volume -> Change Drive Letter and Paths -> Change (pick an unused letter).
  • Alternatively, change the download/save folder inside the application (BitComet, NewsLeecher) to a folder on the correct volume.
  • Restart the client after making changes so it re-reads the path and available space.

Extra tips and cautions:

  • Do not change the letter of the Windows boot/system volume (usually C:); that can break the OS. If many installed programs depend on a specific letter, restoring that letter is usually safer than updating each program.
  • If the app still complains, confirm the path actually exists and that the user account has write permission there. Check the volume health in Disk Management and run a quick chkdsk if suspicious.
  • If you cannot safely restore the original letter and reinstalling programs is impractical, consider using a folder mount or reconfiguring app paths rather than repointing system volumes.

This explains why browser downloads (which often use a different folder) worked while those clients did not.

Member Avatar for Paddy

False alarm! After reinstalling Windows my hard drive letters got rearranged, I just didn't notice hehe.

Perhaps a mod could delete this thread?

Oppsie.

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