What are the standard install sizes for different versions of win 7

[moose016]

I am wondering if the install size of win 7 on a new build varies greatly based on what version you use? For instance (without any tweaking of modification) Is the install of Professional a lot larger than home premium and enterprise a lot larger than professional? Does anyone know the baseline install sizes for the different versions. I'm mainly wondering about Home Premium, Professional, Enterprise and Ultimate and the space requirement variations between each.

Thanks for the assistance

 

[dingo07]

i don't think it's that much of a difference - I have pro 64 and it was about 28+GB after all updates were installed

 

[photonboy]

How much RAM you have between systems affects the install size more (with HIBERNATION enabled).

The programs you install really affects the size as well. Additionally, you can allocate a different size for RESTORE POINTS which will consume space as time goes on.

For example:
1) a fresh install on an 8GB system might use under 20GB
2) a MONTH later that might be 35GB
3) several programs, Restore Points etc and at SIX MONTHS you might be at 50GB
4) at this point with no more programs it tends to STABILIZE at this size

*My guess is you are curious about SSD size?

120GB is my standard answer. 60GB is too small (after several months it fills up). You also don't want to go above 80% usage and some 60GB drives have as little as 52GB usable.

BACKUP:
You should also be investigating BACKUP solutions like Acronis True Image. A 60GB install might compress to 30GB or less (depends on how much RAM and type of data used).

I have an Automated backup setup (Acronis True Image). I keep the Original backup (never to be touched), and have things set so a backup is made every week and OLDER ones are deleted. I always keep the latest two CHAINS of backups (FULL + three Incremental backups).

 

[moose016]

Thanks a lot. I was asking because I just built a new PC and installed windows 7 ultimate on a 240GB SSD. After only installing the motherboard drivers it was at 153 GB, this is without ever installing anything else. I've got some things I'm going to do to try and reduce that, but if I can install pro for example and start off with a lot less than that I'd like to do it (I have access to any version of Win 7). I would just run home premium, but I have 32GB RAM.

 

[dingo07]

Thanks a lot. I was asking because I just built a new PC and installed windows 7 ultimate on a 240GB SSD. After only installing the motherboard drivers it was at 153 GB, this is without ever installing anything else. I've got some things I'm going to do to try and reduce that, but if I can install pro for example and start off with a lot less than that I'd like to do it (I have access to any version of Win 7). I would just run home premium, but I have 32GB RAM.

Did I read that right - your fresh install of win 7 ultimate was 153GB?!?!?!?
You MUST have tons of things configured, like hibernation, and the biggest culprit - a page file.

You might want to read through this - http://www.computing.net/howtos/show/solid-state-drive-ssd-tweaks-for-windows-7/552.html

 

[moose016]

Yes it was. I'm going to do some things to try and reduce that, such as the page file as you mentioned. After all of that if it still seems too bloated I might re-install and use a different version to see if that has any effect. I actually use hibernation quite a bit on my current system, so I'd like to keep that if possible.

 

[octoberhungry]

Did I read that right - your fresh install of win 7 ultimate was 153GB?!?!?!?
You MUST have tons of things configured, like hibernation, and the biggest culprit - a page file.

You might want to read through this - http://www.computing.net/howtos/show/solid-state-drive-ssd-tweaks-for-windows-7/552.html

I currently have a 15GB page file. I was thinking about removing it since I could do with the space. (I only have 30GB free on my SSD, mostly due to games)..Do you think there's any harm? (if i follow the steps in the link above reg page file)..I have enough RAM. Thanks.

 

[rgd1101]

if you have 16GB ram, remove it or set it to the minimum size. Or move it to the Harddrive.

 

[djscribbles]

Move Pagefile to HDD (some programs complain if it's disabled) or put it on a ramdisk if you are feeling fancy. Disable Hibernate (unless you really really need it, but it is taking 32GB of SSD space). Disable System Restore. Details: http://thessdreview.com/ssd-guides/optimization-guides/the-ssd-optimization-guide-2/

Moving your temp folder will help prevent clutter.

You can move Windows 7 "Libraries" (My Documents/Downloads/etc) to another location by going to the default folder's properties.

There are also ways to move your Users and ProgramData folders, but they can be rather complex to implement, not for the faint of heart (the setup is the hard part, makes things rather easy to work with once it's done, I can give you details if you feel up to it).

I use Mklink (cmd line util in windows) to shuffle applications/games and such around, it's a bit of upkeep, but works well once you learn how to use it.

These steps put my Win7 64bit ultimate install at about 20GB or so, I have plenty of room on my 60GB SSD for a handful of games.


edit: Just to clearly state it, the version of Win7 doesn't significantly contribute to the install size. The hibernate and pagefile are going to be the big culprits for you right now; the users, temp, program data, and system restore can drag your space down over time if you don't address them.