Windows 7 - Disk Quota - Set Space Limits for Users

   Information

This will allow you to enable or disable space usage quota limits on NTFS hard disks for each user in Windows 7 or Vista, so a single user cannot fill the entire disk.

By default disk quota limits are disabled.

For more detailed information about disk quota limits, see Managing Disk Quotas (Windows).

   Note

Administrators can optionally configure the system to log an event in Event Viewer (eventvwr.msc) when users are near their quota (step 8 in Option Two below). You can view these logs under Windows Logs and System in Event Viewer with Ntfs as the Source.

Here is an example of a quota limit event log in Event Viewer:

   Warning

You must be logged in as an administrator to be able to disable or enable and set disk quota limits for users.

   Note

This will disable disk space quota usage limits on the selected NTFS hard disk for all users.

If you want to not limit disk space usage on the selected hard disk for individual users instead of all users, then see step 9 in OPTION TWO below.

1. Open the Computer (Start Menu) window, then right click on the NTFS formatted hard disk (ex: my F drive) that you want to disable all quota limits on for all users and click on Properties. (see screenshot below)

2. Click on the Quota tab, and click on the Show Quota Settings button. (see screenshot below)

3. If prompted by UAC, click on Yes.

4. Uncheck the Enable quota management box, and click on OK. (see screenshot below)

5. Click on OK. (see screenshot below)

6. Click on OK. (see screenshot below step 2)

7. When finished, close the Computer window.

1. Open the Computer (Start Menu) window, then right click on the NTFS formatted hard disk (ex: my F drive) that you want to disable all quota limits on for all users and click on Properties. (see screenshot below)

2. Click on the Quota tab, and click on the Show Quota Settings button. (see screenshot below)

3. If prompted by UAC, click on Yes.

4. Check the Enable quota management box, and click on Apply. (see screenshot below)

5. Click on OK. (see sceenshot below)

6. If you would like to Deny disk space to users exceeding quota limit, then check this box. (see screenshot below step 4)
NOTE: Checking this box will prevent a user from being able to save anything to the selected hard disk (step 1) when they exceed their quota limit (step 7B or step 9D) for that hard disk.

7. To Set the Default Disk Quota Limit for New Users
NOTE: This does not affect existing user accounts. When a new user account is created after this has been set, they will automatically have this disk quota limit set for them. You can see the limits in step below.

A) For No Limits -

• Select (dot) Do not limit disk usage, and click on Apply. Go to step 8. (see screenshot below)

B) To Limit Disk Space -

• Select (dot) Limit disk space to, and set how much disk space a new user is allowed to use on the selected disk (step 1). (see screenshot below)
• Set warning level to how much disk space a new user is to use before a warning is given to that new user about their disk quota limit. You can leave this blank if you do not wish to have a warning given to new users. (see screenshot below)
• Click on Apply. (see screenshot below)

8. To Select Quota Logging Options

A) Check the boxes that you want to have an Event Viewer log for, and click on Apply. (see screenshot below step 4)
NOTE: See the NOTE box at the top of the tutorial for more about how to find and read these logs.

9. To Set Disk Quota Limits for Existing Users

A) Click on the Quota Entries button. (see screenshot below)

B) Double click on the listed user name that you want to set a disk space quota limit on the selected hard disk (step 1). (see screenshot below)
NOTE: It may take a moment to retrieve the user names if this is the first time that you are setting a disk quota.

C) For No Limits

• Select (dot) Do not limit disk usage, and click on OK. Go to step 9E. (see screenshots below)

D) To Limit Disk Space

• Select (dot) Limit disk space to, and set how much disk space this user is allowed to use on the selected disk (step 1). (see screenshots below)
• Set warning level to how much disk space this user is to use before a warning is given to the user about their disk quota limit. You can leave this blank if you do not wish to have a warning given. (see screenshots below)
• Click on OK. (see screenshots below)

E) Close the Quota Entries window. (see screenshot below)
NOTE: You can see the changes you made here for the selected user's quota limit settings.

10. Click on OK. (see screenshot below step 9A)

11. Click on OK. (see screenshot below step 2)

12. When finished, close the Computer window.