What is the smallest hard drive i can install XP on?

[imported_Pablo]

What's the smallest XP install you've ever heard of? I'm sure there is a "smallest possible" as well as a "smallest useable" size, but I was just wondering. Saw one of those IDE to CF adapters and it got my brain working...

 

[Sunbird]

EEEEK!!!!

Well once tried to run XP on a 2 gig drive when my busted 80 gig was in mail back to supplier. I remember it took up about 1.5 quite easily, think i added office 2000 pro and it was almost full.

Was usable but barely and remember to disable system restore.

Don't know anything of CF things, what are they and what sizes do they come in?

 

[sharkeeper]

Smallest possible would be 512MB and that would really be pushing it!

Be aware this may drastically reduce the life of the FMD! XP has a rather high queue depth and this type of activity makes the life of said devices very short.

Cheers!

 

[Paperlantern]

he sright, just about a 2gb is all your gonna be able to use to have any headroom for the system swap file and useablility. If you need a portable operating system go grab a copy of the newest knoppix distribution of linux, it is slicker than snot on a doorknob, and its a full 2GB install of linux with every single bell and whistle you can imagine, supports 99% of all hardware in most current pc's today, runs real fast on alot of newer pcs and all form a bootable cd, no hard drive required. Should be able to get it at www.linuxiso.org

hope this helps =)

 

[imported_Pablo]

Thanks for the quick replies, guys!

 

[CraigRT]

useable smallest is around 4GB.. I know cause I've done it.. although as the others have said... smallest that will actually work is around 2 gig somewhere (with the default XP installed options at least)

 

[jhu]

why do you need to run xp off a cf card?

also, i have linux running off my floppy drive. now that's intensity.

 

[Carbonadium4]

solid state vs motor.. i rather do solid state.. like that ram drive.. but still.. too small.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: shuttleteam
Smallest possible would be 512MB and that would really be pushing it!

Be aware this may drastically reduce the life of the FMD! XP has a rather high queue depth and this type of activity makes the life of said devices very short.

Yes. Imagine what the background idle-time defrag features of XP would do to the lifetime of an FMD.

I installed W2K SP2 once onto an 812MB HD, it left basically nearly nothing free. XP takes (IIRC) around 1.3GB for a base install, and then the swapfile on top of that, so you are looking at about 1.5GB.

I am curious if you've ever actually seen XP installed in 512MB, that seems difficult to me. Maybe XPLite can do it?

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: shuttleteam
Smallest possible would be 512MB and that would really be pushing it!

Be aware this may drastically reduce the life of the FMD! XP has a rather high queue depth and this type of activity makes the life of said devices very short.

Cheers!

That's why most people set CF cards that boot OSes to be read only.

 

[FishTankX]

The most logical choice for a 'Small system' would probably be the Hitachi 20GB 1.8" drive. Cheap, as it runs $100. But it's small enough to fit into the Rio karma with ease.

It's closer to your traditional laptop technology, too.

Link

Comparitive picture

 

[sharkeeper]

I am curious if you've ever actually seen XP installed in 512MB, that seems difficult to me. Maybe XPLite can do it?

It will only install if there is another drive in the system to copy temporary files to when installing. Also, any changes to the system will require access to these files. (or the installation CD)

Then there is the issue of speed itself.

Cheers!

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: n0cmonkey
That's why most people set CF cards that boot OSes to be read only.

You know what would be neat? One of those USB flash-memory drives, that supports two partitions, and making one of them read-only, while allowing to write to the other. Basically, ensure that the apps/bootloader/OS were virus/malware-free, put those on the read-only bootable primary partition, and then put your re-writable, non-infectable, data files on the second partition. Then you could just go up to any PC, and re-boot it into your "portable mini OS", without having to worry about getting an infection from some other system. (Or, instead of a bootable OS, maybe just an auto-play shell application - but the read-only constraints would still apply, to prevent getting infected by an infected host machine. I'm thinking of something like an auto-play bootable version of Mozilla or something similar here.)

I know that some of them support multiple partitions, some of them support a write-protect switch (usually a manual mechanical one), and some of them support booting, but I have yet to find one that supports all of these features together in a way that would allow this effective use of them.

 

[ScrapSilicon]

Originally posted by: FishTankX
The most logical choice for a 'Small system' would probably be the Hitachi 20GB 1.8" drive. Cheap, as it runs $100. But it's small enough to fit into the Rio karma with ease.

It's closer to your traditional laptop technology, too.

Link

Comparitive picture

don't be linking to the openbox one..only a few $ more for the new one ...thank you ..might be getting one..still looking for 14w Geode ..

 

[Mday]

too bad compact flash is as slow as a dog.

 

[redgtxdi]

I'm gonna be lazy & just ask..........

Do you need a special interface cable to go from that ATA-5 to regular IDE?? Or plugs right in to 40/80pin IDE?? That drive is just beggin' to be put into a mini-itx competition setup!!!!!!!! (c=

 

[ScrapSilicon]

Originally posted by: redgtxdi
I'm gonna be lazy & just ask..........

Do you need a special interface cable to go from that ATA-5 to regular IDE?? Or plugs right in to 40/80pin IDE?? That drive is just beggin' to be put into a mini-itx competition setup!!!!!!!! (c=

that Hitachi notebook drive..? if so its 44 pin and there are mini-itx mobos setup for it and on the ATA-5 to IDE..ATA-5= IDE ..pretty much the same ..

 

[Wahsapa]

http://mini-itx.com/store/default.asp?c=16#p2602 that site has a lot of stuff u should check it out

 

[redgtxdi]

Yes, I'm a bit of an ITX junky! My favorites............

http://www.mini-itx.com/projects/biscuittinpc/?page=2

http://www.mini-itx.com/projects/psu-pc/?page=3

http://www.mini-itx.com/projects/windowsxpbox/?page=4

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: VirtualLarry

Originally posted by: n0cmonkey
That's why most people set CF cards that boot OSes to be read only.

You know what would be neat? One of those USB flash-memory drives, that supports two partitions, and making one of them read-only, while allowing to write to the other. Basically, ensure that the apps/bootloader/OS were virus/malware-free, put those on the read-only bootable primary partition, and then put your re-writable, non-infectable, data files on the second partition. Then you could just go up to any PC, and re-boot it into your "portable mini OS", without having to worry about getting an infection from some other system. (Or, instead of a bootable OS, maybe just an auto-play shell application - but the read-only constraints would still apply, to prevent getting infected by an infected host machine. I'm thinking of something like an auto-play bootable version of Mozilla or something similar here.)

I know that some of them support multiple partitions, some of them support a write-protect switch (usually a manual mechanical one), and some of them support booting, but I have yet to find one that supports all of these features together in a way that would allow this effective use of them.

You could put the OS on a CF disk (set to ro), and use a USB memory stick if you want somewhere to put stuff.