Hard Drive space required for Windows 7

I recently upgraded an XP machine to Windows 7 Home Premium.  I was pleasantly surprised to see that the install required less than 14 gb of hard drive space.  This compares very favorably to a number of Vista installs which I have done; they seem to require an average of 30 to 40 gb.  I would appreciate posts from others on the forum regarding Windows 7 install sizes.

Thanks.

Not sure where you got that tidbit of info from but completely incorrect.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/919183

[Moderator]

The install footprint may be smaller than Vista...
However i would suggest no less than 40G.

You may be confusing HDD size and Free space.

[Moderator]

I'm not confusing anything...i wouldn't install Win 7 on anything less than a 40G partition/drive...allowing for installed apps...

I'm not confusing anything...i wouldn't install Win 7 on anything less than a 40G partition/drive...allowing for installed apps...

Here I have both Vista and Windows 7 installed
on two partitions on one 40 GB drive.

I have win 7 installed on a 40 gig part, but even then, when you end up with updates, restore points, other software, music, etc... the space doesn't last long. Bare install, security software, updates, right off probably ran me 18 gigs. I don't like Vista, never did but not once did I install it and it took 40 gigs. Vista needed extra space at the start to install, it would load drivers, etc... and build a temporary file system on the hard drive but does clean it up after leaving you with a bit more actual space than the install needed essentially.

Just to note, I was using a 40 gig drive 12 years ago with windows ME. I think with the lower cost, as with a 2 ter drive going for a bit over a hundred dollars now on a good sale, it's fairly safe to say worry about room for a basic OS for a lot of people should not exist. If using such old hardware that it can't support newer OS's, two choices, upgrade or don't install a newer OS. I have Win 3.1 through Vista on Virtual drives, if people could look back at what was and what we have now, I don't think 15-20 gigs of OS space is so outrageous. But once again, never saw Vista use 40 gigs.

...if people could look back at what was and what we have now, I don't think 15-20 gigs of OS space is so outrageous.

Pardon me. Maybe it is my age. (71 next month.)
But I do think it is outrageous. With 20 GB for an OS it should be telepathic and read our minds and prepare our meals for use  without us doing anything technical. 

my C:\windows folder is 8.65GB. I'm running Vista Ultimate x64, and it's not a fresh install by any means.

I'm not confusing anything...i wouldn't install Win 7 on anything less than a 40G partition/drive...allowing for installed apps...

Sorry that was not aimed at you Patio but the original poster.

[Moderator]

No problem Mulreay...

 

This compares very favorably to a number of Vista installs which I have done; they seem to require an average of 30 to 40 gb.

After 2 years of Vista usage, my Windows folder is about 16GB.
On my laptop (1 year with Vista) - 8GB

Windows 7 is 8GB.
See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zt01IWLAtbQ

first off, that's the beta.

Second off, not everybody is going to have the same Computer configuration.

On my laptop (1 year with Vista) - 8GB

I have to admit I find that truly amazing.  My laptop with Vista Home Premium is consuming about 24GB.  Even from the beginning, before installing programs, the amount of hard drive space consumed seemed strangely large.  I did remove some, but not all, of the software HP had installed on it from the factory.

I have Win 7 RC (which is Win 7 Ultimate) on a desktop system; it's consuming about 16GB now.  The only apps I've installed are Office 2007, Firefox, and Avast Anti-virus.   

Soybean, I'm talking about Windows folder only.

  I think where a lot of the difference is coming in here, isn't from what we've installed, for one, page file sizes are going to vary, mine at default is near 10 gig on an X64 win 7 business install. I have 6 gb DDR2 ram currently. Not to mention X64 versions will support a higher page file than 32 versions. Also, it coincides with the 1.5 X amount of ram so this is normal. I add this up, 8 gigs install + 10 page file=18 gig install. So those with a bare 8 gig install either don't have page file, or bare min, or obviously a small amount of ram.

[Moderator]

Using the above example:

8G = Windows

10G = Pagefile

2 to 6G = Restore points

Approx 20 to 26G HDD space.

Plus the recommended 15% of free drive space for normal Windows operating...you can see where it adds up quite rapidly.

Personally i don't give it a 2nd thought with the cost and sizes of drives today though...

windows folder is 8.6GB. I have 8GB of RAM, my pagefile is 8489MB.

the pagefile is stored in the root directory of the drive. NOT in the windows folder so it cannot be part of my windows folder.


the pagefile has NO BUSINESS being calculated as part of the OS install. Does MS determine the size of of the pagefile, or more precisely it's contents? No. Both are determined by RAM size, and besides, it can be changed. the 1.5x RAM thing is a misinformed guideline for the sake of a guideline; just read Windows Internals to find out why it's so misinformed.

the pagefile is stored in the root directory of the drive. NOT in the windows folder so it cannot be part of my windows folder

the pagefile has NO BUSINESS being calculated as part of the OS install.

That's not the point being made. It doesn't matter where it's stored, it's the point that it takes space on the drive and will vary per user. The page file statement was not directly aimed at actual space for Win 7, it was directed at the argument of how some have less space after the install or rather, use more hard drive space than the next person.

Does MS determine the size of of the pagefile, or more precisely it's contents? No. Both are determined by RAM size, and besides, it can be changed. the 1.5x RAM thing is a misinformed guideline for the sake of a guideline; just read Windows Internals to find out why it's so misinformed.

It may be misinformed, I agree, but for a very basic explanation, it works, no need to split the atom.  I don't understand where you say about MS determining the pagefile size, the point is the size of the pagefile will vary.

 My over all point is that the page file size, being part of the actual install or not, has an effect on the amount of space left over AFTER an install. It will affect what people see on their drive, space wise.
 

[Moderator]

The 1.5 number was from back in the days where 356Mg was alot of RAM...
Once over 1G of RAM it becomes a misnomer.