Microsoft broke my computer.

[LouAvul]

They put a bug on my computer that has a 500GB appetite for free space. My computer is 469GB. By the time I was made aware of what's happening my free space was down to ~5GB.

MS released a patch, but it requires ~6GB to install and run. By the time I was made aware of the patch, my free space was down to ~2GB. I tried to download the patch several times but it aborted each time for lack of space.

I deleted programs and files but as soon as I did, the bug ate the free space.

Now, I can't even reformat and restore because that process also requires 6GB to run. It aborts and tells me to erase enough programs to let it run.

It's an old computer so it's not worth much, but it ran ok till now. There is a program I bought in digital form and have no cd backup.

W/win 11, can a bible study program be transferred from this computer to a new computer? AI says no. It can't even be transferred to an external drive.

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TOPICS: Chit/Chat; Computers/Internet
KEYWORDS: fillupmyharddrive; microsoft; spyware; stupidvanity; windows; windows11; windowspinglist

[wastedyears]

Microslop has been spyware for a long time.

[Still a Patriot]

you still might be able to find it.... try here... https://web.archive.org/

[ConservativeMind]

Lou, this is how to clear the problem to download the fix:

From AI:

How can the update be installed if the drive is now full?

You cannot install the update while the drive is completely full because Windows requires free space to unpack and apply the patch. You must manually free up space by deleting the bloated file before the update can run.
Since the file is locked during normal operation, you must delete it via Safe Mode or the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE).

Method 1: Using Safe Mode (Recommended)

This method allows you to boot into a minimal Windows environment where the offending service is not running.

Enter Safe Mode:

Go to Settings > System > Recovery.
Click Restart now next to Advanced startup.
Once the PC restarts to the blue menu, select Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Startup Settings > Restart.
Press 4 or F4 to enable Safe Mode.

Delete the File:

Once in Safe Mode, open Command Prompt as Administrator (search “cmd” in the Start menu, right-click > Run as administrator).

Run the following commands one by one to stop the service and delete the file:

net stop camsvc
del “C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\CapabilityAccessManager\CapabilityAccessManager.db-wal”

Note: If del fails due to permissions, you may need to take ownership first:

takeown /f “C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\CapabilityAccessManager\CapabilityAccessManager.db-wal”
icacls “C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\CapabilityAccessManager\CapabilityAccessManager.db-wal” /grant administrators:F
del “C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\CapabilityAccessManager\CapabilityAccessManager.db-wal”

Restart: Reboot your PC normally. You should now have gigabytes of free space.

Method 2: Using Windows Recovery Environment (If Safe Mode Fails)

If you cannot boot into Safe Mode due to the lack of space:

Force the Recovery Environment by interrupting the boot process three times (hold the power button as Windows starts to load, repeat until “Preparing Automatic Repair” appears).

Navigate to Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Command Prompt.

Identify your system drive letter (it may appear as D: or E: in this environment instead of C:).

Run the delete command (adjusting the drive letter if necessary):

del “D:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\CapabilityAccessManager\CapabilityAccessManager.db-wal”

(You may need to use takeown and icacls commands here as well if access is denied).

Next Steps

Once the file is deleted and you have reclaimed space:

Boot into Windows normally.

Immediately run Windows Update to install the July 14, 2026 Patch Tuesday update (KB5101650). This update contains the permanent fix to prevent the file from growing again.

Do not delay this step, as the file will begin growing rapidly again if the bug is not patched.