Smallest Windows install size

[GoSharks]

What would be the smallest installation out of my Dreamspark options?

Windows XP Pro (less inclined to run this)
Windows Vista
Windows 7 Pro
Windows 8/8.1 Pro
Windows 2008 R2 Standard
Windows 2012 R2 Standard
Windows 2012 R2 Essentials

Looking to run a VM on a laptop where drive space is limited.

 

[G73S]

dunno about the rest but for me, after disabling hibernation and page file, Windows 7 SP1 uses only 9 GB out of the box

a bit more after the updates, but that's very low for a modern OS if you ask meh

 

[denis280]

Windows XP Pro (less inclined to run this)(Going out )
Windows Vista (Crap)
Windows 7 Pro( still in till 2020)That would be a wise choice.
Windows 8/8.1 Pro (will change soon)

 

[lamedude]

XP is only couple hundred MBs. A 32bit Vista/7/8 will be a couple GBs at best and a couple more for 64bit.

 

[Matt1970]

XP is only couple hundred MBs. A 32bit Vista/7/8 will be a couple GBs at best and a couple more for 64bit.

If by a couple you mean 15-17, then ya.

 

[Chiefcrowe]

one of my old XP installs is 15.7 GB and I just looked at a new install of 7 and that is 18.5 GB.

So there probably won't be a Huge difference between most of them.

If I were you I'd go with 2012 Standard or 8.1.

 

[Ketchup]

one of my old XP installs is 15.7 GB and I just looked at a new install of 7 and that is 18.5 GB.

So there probably won't be a Huge difference between most of them.

If I were you I'd go with 2012 Standard or 8.1.

The VM I am typing on right now (XP pro) is sitting at 4 GB. Not a ton of stuff installed, but does what I need, and runs great as a VM. The newer OS's, not so much. They take a lot of memory to run well, and use at least double the space.

I have a backup of the VM on my server, so if anything goes awry, very easy to just clear it and pull up the backup.

 

[imagoon]

You can use DISM to remove packages from Windows Vista and above to shrink it even more. You can also use DISM to build a custom installer that doesn't have all the parts from the start.

Vista / Win 7 / server 2008 / 2008 r2 use the "install everything but don't enable the packages" model by default. It is the main reason you can install IIS on a windows server without the media.