How can Windows 10 Function With as Little as 32 GB of Disk Space? | Dramel Notes

All operating systems require a certain amount of disk space in order to run and function properly, so how are ‘economy model’ laptops able to properly function with the small drives that are built into them? Today’s SuperUser Q&A post has the answer to a curious reader’s question.

Today’s Question & Answer session comes to us courtesy of SuperUser—a subdivision of Stack Exchange, a community-driven grouping of Q&A web sites.

The Question

SuperUser reader AngryHacker wants to know how Windows 10 can function with as little as 32 GB of disk space:

There are a number of sub $200 Windows 10 laptops that only have 32 GB SSD hard drives in them (like the Lenovo 100s and HP Stream 13, for example). Given that the Windows directory itself is over 32 GB on my regular laptop, how do these laptops even function? Is there any space left over to store anything? Would I have a hard drive that ran out of space soon after starting to use it?

How can Windows 10 function with as little as 32 GB of disk space?

The Answer

SuperUser contributor magicandre1981 has the answer for us:

Windows 10 uses CompactOS, which compresses Windows files to make them smaller:

• Compact OS installs the operating system files as compressed files. Compact OS is supported on both UEFI-based and BIOS-based devices. Unlike WIMBoot (because the files are no longer combined into a single WIM file), Windows update can replace or remove individual files as needed to help maintain the drive footprint size over time.

This can be done automatically by Windows 10 setup or by manually applying an image:

• DISM.EXE /Apply-Image /ImageFile:INSTALL.WIM /Index:1 /ApplyDir:C: /Compact:ON

Or in a running Windows 10 system via this command:

• COMPACT.EXE /CompactOS:always

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How do You Return All Hyperlinks in a Microsoft Word Document Back to Their Default Blue Style? | Dramel Notes

We have all done it at one time or another and accidentally changed the style on an important element in a Microsoft Word document we are working on. It can be easy to patch up if it is something small, but what if it is not that simple? Today’s SuperUser Q&A post provides some quick and easy methods to help patch up a reader’s Microsoft Word document.

Today’s Question & Answer session comes to us courtesy of SuperUser—a subdivision of Stack Exchange, a community-driven grouping of Q&A web sites.

The Question

SuperUser reader Rox wants to know how to return all the hyperlinks in a Microsoft Word document back to their original underlined blue colored text style:

I selected all the text in a Microsoft Word document and set the font color to black (which is what I wanted to do). I did not realize until it was too late that the document had hyperlinks in it (several pages in, in a very long document).

Now I am unable to tell where the hyperlinks are, although I know they are still working. Since there are so many hyperlinks, how can I return all of them to their default underlined blue colored text style without slowly searching through the entire document and converting each one individually?

Is there an easy (and quick) way to return all the hyperlinks in a Microsoft Word document back to their original underlined blue colored text style?

The Answer

SuperUser contributors Steven and Techie007 have the answer for us. First up, Steven:

Resetting the style of all hyperlinks back to the original default requires a VBA Macro.

Code

Steps

1. Press Alt + F11 to open Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications.
2. Double-click on ThisDocument.
3. Paste the code from the block above into the editor.
4. Press F5 to run the code.
5. Delete the code from the editor window to prevent Microsoft Word from saving with macros.

Followed by the answer from Techie007:

Assuming that the links are all still styled as hyperlinks in the document (which they should be if all you did was change the font color):

1. From the Home Tab on the ribbon, choose Replace (under Editing) or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + H.
2. Click the More >> button to expand the window.
3. Click in the blank Find what field near the top of the window.
4. At the bottom, click on the Format drop-down menu and select Style…
5. Choose Hyperlink from the list in the new sub-window and press OK to close the window and return to the previous one.
6. Click in the blank Replace with field.
7. At the bottom, click on the Format drop-down menu and select Style… once again.
8. Choose Hyperlink from the list in the new sub-window once again and press OK to close the window and return to the previous one.
9. Click on the Replace All button.

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Are External USB Hard-Drives at Risk from Internal Condensation? | Dramel Notes

While most of us do not need to pack our external hard-drives with us everywhere we go, there are some people who may need to carry them wherever they travel. With that in mind, can noticeable differences in temperature have a negative impact on those hard-drives? Today’s SuperUser Q&A post has the answers to a worried reader’s questions.

Today’s Question & Answer session comes to us courtesy of SuperUser—a subdivision of Stack Exchange, a community-driven grouping of Q&A web sites.

Photo courtesy of Gillware Data Recovery (YouTube).

The Question

SuperUser reader misha256 wants to know if external USB hard-drives are at risk from internal condensation:

Apparently, you can kill a USB hard-drive by moving it from a cold temperature environment to a warm one and powering it up (the killer being internal condensation).

How real is the risk? What kind of temperatures are we talking about? I do not want to waste time acclimatizing my hard-drive every day if it is not necessary. Are there technologies or solutions available to mitigate the risk?

Surprisingly, I have found nothing useful on the Internet that provides satisfactory answers to my questions.

Are external USB hard-drives at risk from internal condensation?

The Answer

SuperUser contributor harrymc has the answer for us:

Condensation is a real danger for hard-drives. You can see in a real-life YouTube demonstration by a data-recovery specialist what a hard-drive looks like when taken out of a freezer and briefly turned on (it is full of scratches):

Such scratches could possibly damage the hard-drive to a point where even a data-recovery specialist would be unable to recover the data. A Control Data (later Seagate) factory packaging manual for hard-drives says:

• If you have just received or removed this unit from a climate with temperatures at or below 50°F (10°C), do not open this container until the following conditions are met, otherwise condensation could occur and damage to the device and/or media may result. Place this package in the operating environment for the time duration according to the following temperature chart.

It seems that dangerously low temperatures start when a computer is brought in from temperatures below 50°F (10°C) into a room-temperature area and it may need several hours for acclimatization. This long time is explained by the fact that in a mechanical hard-drive, the head is supported by airflow entering through special air-intakes. These intakes are heavily filtered against dust, but not against humidity. They are also small enough that it slows down the evaporation process of internal humidity.

You could possibly minimize the acclimatization time by wrapping the disk in watertight plastic while it is acclimatizing in order to reduce the humidity that would enter via the air-intakes. You should allow for some drying-off time after unwrapping the disk (for the humidity in the air already contained inside the disk).

This is not the only danger, as explained by data-recovery specialist ReWave Recovery:

• A hard-drive is at risk for sudden temperature changes including overheating and condensation.
• A sudden change in temperature that causes condensation inside the hard-drive can cause the material on the platter to evaporate which causes the read/write heads to stick to the platter and stop it from rotating.
• Overheating can also be an issue. Overheating can cause the platters to expand which makes the read/write heads travel farther to read the data. The expansion of platters can cause friction which can lead to a head crash.

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