Arc Graphics Driver update "not enough space"

[Thomas19]

Hello!

What are the hard disk space requirements for installing the Arc Graphics driver? In this case " Intel® Graphics Driver 32.0.101.6078/32.0.101.5736 (WHQL Certified) for Intel® Arc™ A-Series Graphics"

I'm trying to update my Arc graphics control driver from the driver page[1]. Initially I have 7.6 GB free on my C: . I've downloaded the driver file, let the extraction run and I get the "begin installation screen" with 2.6 GB free left. When I try to install it however, it quickly extracts a lot of data to my hard drive and then runs out of space. How much space does it need at peak extraction? Is there a way to extract to another drive? Does it matter if it's an HDD or SSD?

When I reached out to support about this, they said there are no hard drive space requirements beyond the driver [2].  This is incorrect or at least incomplete, since the driver is only about 1.4 GB < 7.6 GB. I was able to get an initial update by disabling hibernate on my PC to free up disk space but now the driver needs even more space.

[1]

Intel® Driver & Support Assistant

[2]

See Solved: Arc software requirements - Intel Community

I also had an email thread to the same effect.

[JedG_Intel]

Hello Thomas19,

Thank you for posting at Intel Community Forums

For me to properly address your concern, I will be needing some information.

1. Are you extracting the files on the drive wherein there is an available 7.6 GB?

Additionally, to have a better understanding of your system configuration and components please generate System Support Utility (SSU) report. Please follow instructions here and send the report - How to get the Intel® System Support Utility Logs on Windows*

I look forward to your response!

Best regards,

Jed G.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Thomas19]

Hi JedG!

Thanks for reaching out.

Yes, the drive I'm extracting to had 7.6 GB available initially when I ran the .exe to update the driver. I've attached the SSU report. 

[Jashraf]

@Thomas19 

It seems like the driver extraction process is consuming more space than expected. Since 7.6 GB wasn’t enough, you might want to try freeing up additional space by clearing temporary files or moving non-essential data to another drive. You could also check if the installation allows extraction to a different drive.

Have you tried using an external or secondary drive for the extraction? That might help bypass the space limitations on your C: drive.

[Thomas19]

Hi Jashraf!

Thanks for your response. Unfortunately, the drive is piddly small at 110 (it's from an earlier wave of SSDs) so most of what's left on it are OS or programs files that either can't or shouldn't moved. 

I don't know of any way to change the drive that the driver extracts too. When I click on the .exe update to run, it skips straight to extracting on the C: drive without offering a prompt to choose the folder it extracts too, even if the .exe itself is on a different drive. If there's a registry key or something to change the destination, I don't know of it. 

[JedG_Intel]

Hi Thomas19,

Thank you for sharing the SSU report. We'll be checking this internally and as soon as I have an update, I'll let you know.

Have a good one!

Best regards,

Jed G.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[JedG_Intel]

Hello Thomas19,

After reviewing the SSU logs, I can see that you have multiple drives. It also appears that the file is being extracted and saved to drive C, which is likely the OS driver. Also based on the SSU logs, the available space on the drive C (Samsung SSD 840 Series) is 4.47 GB out of 11.79 GB. Given that the graphics driver is 6.38 GB, you might encounter issues during the installation due to insufficient space.

Please make sure that there is enough space on the drive for the installation process. Alternatively, you could move the installer to a different drive since you have a few available.

Additionally, could you let me know where is the OS installed, specifically which drive? Furthermore, when extracting an installer, it often defaults to the system drive (usually drive C) because that's where most programs are typically installed. This ensures all necessary system files and dependencies are placed in the correct locations.

I hope that you find this information helpful.

Best regards,

Jed G.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Thomas19]

Hi Jed! 

Thanks for getting back to me on that. That 6.38 GB seems like it's probably the number I'm looking for, or part of it anyway. Is that 6.4 in addition to the ~1.4 GB that the driver update download itself so the total is about 8 GB? Also, do you know how much variance there is in that amount between driver updates (are some just 1 and some 10GB or is it more like 6-8 for the foreseeable future)?

To affirm your earlier hypothesis, yes, the C: drive is the OS drive. I've tried moving the installer but it still seems to extract to the C driver no matter what. Unfortunately the drive is quite small (it's an SSD from 2013) and Windows is quite greedy with space these days, so there are precious few files that can be moved without causing issues. That said, if I know what amount to shoot for, like 6-8 GBs, I can work with that and hunt around.

Thanks again!

[JedG_Intel]

Hi Thomas19,

To answer your question about the size of the driver update, the 6.38GB is the total amount of space needed to install the driver without issues. As a safety measure, you may want to free up at least 8GB.

With regards to the variance in the amount between the driver updates, I don't have the answers right now but I'll be checking this internally so that I can provide you with the information you require.

Thank you for choosing Intel.

Best regards,

Jed G.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[JedG_Intel · Accepted solution]

Hi Thomas19,

After checking internally about the driver sizes in the future, I'd like you to know that the driver size will vary depending on the driver version so I cannot provide an exact number.

Let's use WHQL driver 32.0.101.6129 for reference. * As noted in the Release Notes the increase in file size is because it is also packing drivers for Gfx in new Core Ultra Series 2 Processors.

1. Download size is 1.4 GB (this can be downloaded to any drive) and after extraction it is 5.10 GB (the compression tool will extract contents to C:\ drive and this cannot be modified).

2. The driver contents that are actually installed are sized at 2.24 GB for Intel Arc GPUs.

3. Other elements installed such as Intel Arc Control (851 MB) + Intel Driver & Support Assistant (50.9 MB)

Considering the extracted 5.1 GB of installation files + 2.24 GB that actually installs then we are talking about a minimum space in C:\ drive needed of 8.5 GB (after rounding up) for the driver installation.

In the near future (no ETA though) we'll unify the drivers needed for the new products and the resulting driver file should be smaller size along with extracted installation files. For reference old driver 31.0.101.6077 = download file 885 MB, after extraction 2.55 GB + the 2.14 GB of actual driver files installed = 4.69 GB needed in C:\ drive.

I hope this information addresses your concern and clarify things up. If you require further assistance, please let me know so I can address it.

Best regards,

Jed G.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[JedG_Intel]

Hello Thomas19,

I wanted to check if you had the chance to see the information that I shared. Please let me know at your earliest convenience so that we can determine the best course of action to resolve this matter.

Best regards,

Jed G.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[JedG_Intel]

Hello Thomas19,

I have not heard back from you so I will close this inquiry now. If you need further assistance, please submit a new question as this thread will no longer be monitored.

Best regards,

Jed G.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[Thomas19]

This helped! Thanks Jed!