Admin Tips
- Windows Server 2008/2003/2000/XP/NT Administrator Knowledge Base
  - Windows 2000
    - Admin Tips
      - TroubleShooting
        Disk Quota "Gotchas"

Section(s): TroubleShooting, File Systems
Published on Mar 08, 2005.
Last Modified on Mar 08, 2005.
Last Modified by Mitch Tulloch.
Rating: Not Rated

Some things to watch out for when configuring disk quotas on Windows servers.

Services like IIS can fail if they have no room for writing their log files. Printing can also fail since the print spooler folders reside on the system volume. Even administrative tools like Computer Management may not start if the TEMP folder has no room to grow. Worst case, the operating system could grind to a halt if there is no room for the pagefile to grow. So be careful when setting disk quotas on volumes used by these services. Also, don't set hard quotas on the system or boot volume or some applications may fail, particularly if you install them using an account that doesn't have administrative privileges. And don't modify the default quota entry setting of No Limit for special identifies like NT_AUTHORITY\SYSTEM, otherwise you may not be able to log on afterwards.

About Mitch Tulloch

Mitch Tulloch is a widely recognized expert on Windows administration, networking, and security. He has been repeatedly awarded Most Valuable Professional (MVP) status by Microsoft for his outstanding contributions in supporting users who deploy and use Microsoft platforms, products and solutions. Mitch has published over two hundred articles on different IT websites and magazines, and he has written or contributed to almost two dozen books and is lead author for the Windows 7 Resource Kit from Microsoft Press. For more information, see www.mtit.com .