How much disk space is actually needed?


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I thought I read somewhere that 7 needed 15gb of space to install but someone on the frontpage commented about how it has a small footprint of only 5gb.

I've got a 10gb partition on my lappy, is that enough space to install?

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Depends on which version your installing, the 32 bit version takes about 8 GB of space while the 64 bit version takes a few GB's more. It would probably be possible to install it but you won't have much space left over for programs. My 64-bit windows takes up 15.2 GB.

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The 32-bit version might have an initial footprint of 5GB, but it quickly grows once you start installing updates and it leaves old backups around. You also have to factor in system restore/shadow copy, hibernation file, and the page file. If you had 4GB of memory these could take up 10GB just on their own, although they can be disabled.

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My 32bit install of Windows 7 (build 7000) takes up 11.4GB, so I think it's different for different situations, really.

John, if you are using the 32bit version, I'd recommend saving at least 15GB of free space as it shouldn't take up more than that. If you have a smaller partition than that, then it may not be enough.

Edited by Calum
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The Hibernate file (hiberfil.sys) will be as big as your installed RAM I believe. So if you hve 2G, it's 2gig in size .. if you have 8G .. it will be 8gig and so on.

.. well almost anyway ..

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I have 2GB of RAM installed and I'm using Windows 7 RC 7100 (32-bit, 2048 total) but my hiberfil.sys file is 1,5 GB in size. How's that?

I always thought hiberfil.sys = amount of RAM

post-281174-1241024041_thumb.jpg

BTW My clean install took 8.5 GB

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weird.. my clean install took just under 6gb.. and always has :)

thats why i love it...

vista with service pack 1 installed and backup cleared took 11 to 12gb.. and my partition is 15gb

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here u go.. its 32bit RC...

and Ps takes like 1.5gb.. so cut that out .. with sum small softwares totalling at like 500mb

n u get the windows footprint

post-285248-1241029044_thumb.jpg

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Thanks for the responses all, when I get a bit more time to fool with it I'm gonna give it a shot. I may enlarge my partition a bit first.

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weird.. my clean install took just under 6gb.. and always has :)

thats why i love it...

vista with service pack 1 installed and backup cleared took 11 to 12gb.. and my partition is 15gb

WINDOWS 7 32Bit or 64Bit, you cannot get it under 10GB, If you are referring to Vista being 6GB then that would make sense. But if you are talking about Windows 7 then that's a load of horse manure.

If you vlite'd your Windows 7 then i would understand but standard untouched impossible to get 6GB.

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WINDOWS 7 32Bit or 64Bit, you cannot get it under 10GB, If you are referring to Vista being 6GB then that would make sense. But if you are talking about Windows 7 then that's a load of horse manure.

If you vlite'd your Windows 7 then i would understand but standard untouched impossible to get 6GB.

yes you can

mine is only 1.6gb

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WINDOWS 7 32Bit or 64Bit, you cannot get it under 10GB, If you are referring to Vista being 6GB then that would make sense. But if you are talking about Windows 7 then that's a load of horse manure.

If you vlite'd your Windows 7 then i would understand but standard untouched impossible to get 6GB.

You can remove components...

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Thanks for the responses all, when I get a bit more time to fool with it I'm gonna give it a shot. I may enlarge my partition a bit first.

Disabling hibernation saves a good amount of space, normally as much as ram is installed. To disable it, type into an admin command line:

powercfg –h off

Also, if you're running Win7 x64 and have at least 4GB of Ram, you can disable the pagefile, which again saves a lot of space. Simply go to Control Panel > System > Advanced > Performance > Advanced > Virtual Memory and select "No paging file".

Further, you can use Control Panel > Programs and Features > Turn Windows Features off to get rid of junk like Dvd maker, Media Center and Media Player, which take up lots of space as well. (Just use KM Player as replacement for the latter, works much better and is more light-weight).

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1.6GB installed without removing components or services or without using vlite or similar, impossible.

nvm was looking at the wrong partition, but my system restore is 1.6gb, now 1.7 gb for some reason

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heh... It takes around 7-8gigs for 32-bit.... So ure 10gigs should be more than enough if you are planning to install 32-bit version... 16gigs and more is like space you need to have best user exerience... So you could download stuff and so on...

Ive installed 7000 and 7057 on VBox on 10gig volume... and it didnt complain at all... :)

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I enlarged my partition to 20 gb to give myself a little room to breathe. Installation was snappy, and it runs surprisingly smooth on my Dell Mini. The total installation weighed in at 7.3 gb. Thanks again all.

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I'm running the RC (x86) on my Acer Aspire One netbook, which only has an 8GB SSD. The installer *recommends* at least 8.4GB, but despite that, the installation goes through without any problem. Disabling the hibernation file reclaims 1GB, and I'm left without roughly 1.5GB free after that.

So, 6.5GB.

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Don't forget to add the space needed for hibernation (hiberfile.sys) and the page file, both of which will be ~size of RAM. By default they are on the system partition.

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from what I've read on a variety of places on the internet, there's basically no way way to tell how much space Windows takes up because of the "hard links" in the WinSxS which are reported by explorer as being independent files but are really just links to other files. I don't really have an understanding of it though, and I could be wrong.

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dude i didnt lie..

nor did i vlite..

nor did i remove any thing..

my hibernation is set to off by default.. i dont use it either..

and my RAM is 768mb.. mayb thats why the pagefile and all is alot less.. so the total makes up under 6gb for me.. 32bit

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