Help slim down Windows 7 install for an SSD

[thatsright]

Hi Guys,

I will soon install Windows 7 Enterprise 64-Bit on a Intel X25-M 80GB HD. I know, I know...in two or three years it will sound stupid/insane for using such a combo. Anyway, I need to trim down as much of the O/S as I can to save space. To wit:

1. About how big is the 'usual' install for Win7 E 64-Bit? I heard it was 16GB.
2. I would really like to install the Win XP Mode feature. How much additional space does this tack on.
3. Is it possible to install XPMode onto another HD/partition?
4. Will I save a lot of space by installing MS Office 2007 on a separate HD? A certain amount of required files for O2K7 will be installed on C: regardless (registry files, etc).
5. Can anyone think of options to consider disabling/removing during Win 7 setup that just ad bloat or optional functionality?

The only apps I know I will install on 'C' will be Photoshop/Bridge CS4 (with scratch file on C drive); Firefox; drivers etc. I'll put the O/S page file on a PATA 200GB drive that is about 4 years old..

 

[n0cmonkey]

It should fit on an 80GB drive just fine. You'll even have room to spare. Why bother?

 

[thatsright]

It should fit on an 80GB drive just fine. You'll even have room to spare. Why bother?

The Intel 80GB drive is not just for the O/S. I want to install apps as well. Then I will regularly dumping my photo files onto the drive while I work on them. I will run out of space within a month, for sure.

 

[Thor86]

I would reserve the SSD space for os/crucial applications only, and the rest should be on a regular spindle disk, but of course you can get more SSDs or get the 160GB one.

 

[bigboxes]

Get the 160gb model instead.

 

[JackMDS]

Win XP Mode in Win 7 /E/P/U takes about 3GB after installation.

Win 7 E + XP Mode + Office 2007 = about 20GB

Win 7 automatically allocate space on the HD for Hibernation and Pagefile. Each one the size of the Physical RAM.

If you do not use Hibernation you issue from the Command Propt, powercfg -hibernate off

You can set manually a smaller Pagefile. However depending on the way you use the computer smaller Pagefile can affect performance.

Otherwise there s nothing that you can do because the real big files that can save significant space are system files.

 

[thatsright]

I thought (like XP) I could manually set the location of the Win 7 swap file at least? If so I would put it on the much slower PATA drive I have. I would make it smallish, as I have enough ram and would like Win7 to use it Can I move the hibernation file to another drive as well, or no? I will definitely use the Hibernation feature.

So how big is a 'usual' install of Win 7 Enterprise if I select the XPMode?

(BTW, spending nearly $600 for the 160GB SSD is just not an option. I know buying the 80GB SSD of a non-mature technology will look just stupid in about two years.)

 

[JackMDS]

If you are going to use additional regular Drive as an all time active Drive whats the importance of using SSD to begin with?

 

[thatsright]

If you are going to use additional regular Drive as an all time active Drive whats the importance of using SSD to begin with?

Educate him boys!!

SSD is faster by multiples than a regular mechanical HD. In terms of bandwidth and access times. Its a lot off hassle/aggravation to install he O/S on such a small drive, but I think the performance improvement (and I'm coming from a P4 single core system with PATA drives) will be more than worth the extra work.

 

[JackMDS]

It is Not a matter of education, it is a matter of functionality.

There are a lot of general Myth about how the Computer of the common Yeti works.

In some rare instances it might be worth while, in most it does not.

I do a lot of computing with fully loaded computers, and I have Not even one computer with a PSU (as an example) that is rated more than 500 Watts.

No SSD, and No PSU over 500 Watts for Jack? Something must be wrong with this Guy.

 

[Nothinman]

1. About how big is the 'usual' install for Win7 E 64-Bit? I heard it was 16GB.

I can't speak much to the size of the base install since mine was installed back in July. Currently my system drive has ~40G used but that is with SQL, 2 versions of Visual Studio and a handful of Cisco stuff. And apparently ~6G of that is my Downloads directory so you can take it down to ~35G.

4. Will I save a lot of space by installing MS Office 2007 on a separate HD? A certain amount of required files for O2K7 will be installed on C: regardless (registry files, etc).

My C:\Program Files\Office directory <1G.

5. Can anyone think of options to consider disabling/removing during Win 7 setup that just ad bloat or optional functionality?

Not really, you can poke around in the Programs and Features control panel, but I doubt it'll make a noticable difference. Moving the pagefile and disabling the hibernation file will probably be the biggest wins.

It is Not a matter of education, it is a matter of functionality.

There are a lot of general Myth about how the Computer of the common Yeti works.

In some rare instances it might be worth while, in most it does not.

I do a lot of computing with fully loaded computers, and I have Not even one computer with a PSU (as an example) that is rated more than 500 Watts.

No SSD, and No PSU over 500 Watts for Jack? Something must be wrong with this Guy.

You can't make a decision about whether it's worth it for him or not. In general the hard disk is the slowest part of any computer by a huge magnitude. Any chance to alleviate that bottleneck is a good thing.

 

[thatsright]

I will use the hibernation feature and will move the page file to another, slower drive.

Is it possible to opt put of installing XP Mode during initial Win 7 install and then install XPM later on if I want? If So, I'll prob do this and save huge amount of space.

 

[JackMDS]

You can't make a decision about whether it's worth it for him or not. In general the hard disk is the slowest part of any computer by a huge magnitude. Any chance to alleviate that bottleneck is a good thing.

You are absolutely right.

If you follow my style, I do not make decision for others. (See my first post in this thread).

I am just trying some times to make people aware that the decision that they make should be out of their own individual technological needs, and Not due to social desirability factors enforced by peer pressure. :thumbsdown:

Unfortunately the latter is too prevalent.

 

[Nothinman]

I will use the hibernation feature and will move the page file to another, slower drive.

Is it possible to opt put of installing XP Mode during initial Win 7 install and then install XPM later on if I want? If So, I'll prob do this and save huge amount of space.

I don't think you can install XP Mode during installation, it's something you have to download from MS.

 

[thatsright]

I don't think you can install XP Mode during installation, it's something you have to download from MS.

Really? Maybe so, but I have the Enterprise edition, so I'd be surprised if I have to download 16GB. But perhaps...

 

[thatsright]

You are absolutely right.

If you follow my style, I do not make decision for others.

I am just trying to make people aware that the decision that they make should be out of their own individual technological needs, and Not due to social desirability factors enforced by peer pressure. :thumbsdown:

Unfortunately the latter is too prevalent.

Geeze guys... I'm getting the Intel SSD drive as its far and above the biggest difference I can make with my new system-compared to me just getting a 'regular' spindle based SATA disk. Is it an obscene amount to spend for so little size-OF COURSE!!

With a SSD, the only bottleneck (and I'm being very relative about this) I will have is the data I create or working with. If I get a SATA spindle drive, IT will be the bottleneck.

Of course in 2-4 years when I buy a SSD with a 500GB size for $100 and better performance than what I buy now, I'll want to shoot myself. But ahh, till then....

 

[JackMDS]

https://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/download.aspx


.

 

[thatsright]

Thanks Jack!! Its nice to know I don't have to blow through 16GB of HD space right away. I'm sure I'll install it eventually. And of course I'm suspecting it must be installed on the same drive as the O/S.

 

[thatsright]

Besides not installing XP mode and moving the swap file to another drive, is there any other option I can de-select at install to slim things down?

 

[SimMike2]

80GB should be plenty big enough. I installed Win7 home premium on a 100GB partition and it only takes 40GB, even with all my programs installed. I think you are worrying about something before you even know it might be a problem.

 

[Rucker61]

My Win7 64 Ultimate takes up 12.2GB on my notebook

 

[Griswold]

Holy cow, have mercy on yourself! I have win7 + pagefile + 54 programs (worth 5 GB) + XP mode (it does not eat 16GB) on a 60GB partition of my 160GB SSD and still see 40GB of free space.

You will only fill that thing if you store your images on it and are a habitual software installer who installs everything he comes across. Which of course would be a mistake. But if you insist, get a 160GB drive.

 

[Ken g6]

So you say you want your executables (.exe, .dll, etc.) to be smaller? Try UPX.

(Not guaranteed to work, use at your own risk, etc.)

 

[ZetaEpyon]

I'm curious why you would be dumping the photo files to the SSD while you work on them. I can't imagine that's going to provide any benefit other than slightly shortening the time it takes to open the file in Photoshop or whatever. After that, they should be in memory while you're working on them, anyway.

 

[pcslookout]

Everyone here is forgetting one important thing. The more you fill up a SSD the slower it gets

The 80 GB Intel G2 is more like 60 GB if you want to keep the speed. Yes I know even the slowest SSD is fast but this is why I refuse to buy another SSD. Once SSDs become 200 to 500 GB and affordable then it will be worth it for me to get another one. Then I won't have to worry about leaving some free space on the SSD.

If you all don't believe me just head on over to the Memory and Storage forums. Watch people's SSDs slow down a lot once they fill them up. Yes I know the same thing happens to hard drives but not as dramatic. I paid for 80 GB god dawn it I want to be able to use all 80 GB of the space or at least close (70 to 75GB). Without my SSD slowing down a lot. If they can't fix this problem then the next SSD I buy will have 20 GB of space over then what I really need so if I need 200 GB I will make sure the SSD is 220 or 250 GB.