Reporting an Incorrect Amount of Free Space Available

Scenario # 1: 

You receive an error message from Backup for Workgroups reporting that the storage device you are using is either low or out of available disk space.  However, when you view the storage drive through Windows Explorer, you see there is plenty of room available.

This error message is usually because of a drive formatting issue.  If your storage drive is formatted FAT32 and you are trying to store backup data that contains files larger than 4 GB in size, the FAT32 format will not be able to store the file, which prevents the backup from either completing or starting in the first place.

Windows comes with a utility that will convert a FAT32 drive to an NTFS drive without requiring you to reformat the drive first, so you do not lose any of your data that you may have stored on this drive.

To convert a drive from FAT32 to NTFS:

1. Start this process at a convenient time when you can re-boot your computer and have it off-line for up to an hour.
2. Open a command prompt (a DOS shell).
3. Type the following, where X corresponds to the FAT32 drive identifier:
   
   CONVERT X: /FS:NTFS

When you initiate the CONVERT program, it is typical for Windows to delay the conversion process until the next time you re-boot the computer. At that time, the conversion will occur, which will delay the boot process while the conversion process is running. During this time, your computer will be off-line.

Scenario # 2:  You are running an older 1.x or 2.x version of Backup for Workgroups and the Status panel is reporting that the Backup Storage location was running low on disk space.  However, when you view the storage drive though Windows Explorer, there is more free disk space available than what Backup for Workgroups is reporting.

In the older 1.x and 2.x versions, Backup for Workgroups would inadvertently report that it was running low on disk space at times when the storage device was offline or had gone offline in the recent past.  The error message was incorrect and has since been corrected.  When the storage location goes offline, it is reported as "Offline."

To fix this issue, all you need to do is download the current version of Backup for Workgroups and update your installation.