Users who want to install or have already installed the Windows 7 operating system, which is the most popular among all available ones, often wonder about the use of disk space by the Windows 7 system. How much space this system takes up can be initially determined by several factors. Actually, they and some additional parameters will be discussed further.

Windows 7: how much space does the distribution take up?

As you know, the system must first be installed. But this will require an installation distribution. Typically, installation is not performed from a hard drive (the files are written to an optical or USB drive), but you still need to know the size of the installer and its accompanying components, at least to estimate the space on the removable drive.

Here we cannot do without considering some of the features of Windows 7. How much disk space the installer itself takes up directly depends on what kind of modification is intended to be installed, whether a service pack is present in the downloaded package, etc.

If you look at the same links to torrent trackers, on average the volume of the maximum version (and it is by far the most common) in the version with 64-bit architecture is about 3.03 GB, and the 32-bit version (x86) is 2. 32 GB.

The question of how much space Windows 7 Ultimate takes up after installation on a computer or laptop is ambiguous. The fact is that such contradictions are associated exclusively with the recommendations of the developers to reserve as much as 20 GB only for the installation process. But that's not all. The user will not get away with just twenty “gigabytes”, since this will clearly not be enough for normal operation of the system during operation.

How much space does Windows 7 take up after installation: general provisions

But let's return to use. After installation using a standard distribution kit, which already includes the SP1 update package (and for normal operation of the OS, its presence is necessary in any case), a stationary system for 32-bit versions takes from 5 to 8 GB, and systems with 64 bits - from 11 to 16 GB.

Apparently, this variation concerns the system versions (Home, Ultimate) and their architecture. It is easy to conclude that the greatest importance belongs to the “Maximum” version, which includes the first service pack, expanded driver support, and some additional features or components that are missing in other versions (we are not talking about pirated assemblies and repacks now ).

Issues of modifications and system capacity

So, we have an installed OS. How much space does Windows 7 Ultimate (64 bit) take up? Again, the issue is debatable. According to some estimates, with the first service pack it is about 13.6 GB (at least on an SSD hard drive).

Another point that needs to be taken into account when answering the question of how much space Windows 7 64-bit architecture takes up: with an active Internet connection, the free space in the system partition (on drive C) begins to decrease instantly. Why?

Yes, only because the “seven”, with the update service enabled by default, immediately begins searching for updates for the system itself, and even in the first phase their size is about 4.8 GB. Thus, the space occupied on the hard drive already reaches 18.4 GB.

But that's not all. After all, updates don’t go away or are deleted, and if updates are also included for other Microsoft products, it’s not hard to imagine how big this will end up being.

Cleaning the system partition

Now another look at Windows 7. How much space the system takes up along with updates is already clear. But almost all users want to clean the hard drive a little.

In the simplest case, you can use one of the most effective methods, which is to use the built-in disk cleanup tool. And no matter what anyone says, not a single optimizer program is capable of the following actions.

To begin with, you should use the usual “Explorer”, in which a context menu is called up by right-clicking on the system drive. The properties section is selected from it. The first tab by default is the General tab. In its window there is a disk cleanup button, by clicking on which you can activate the process of assessing the occupied disk space and the ability to delete unnecessary files without damaging the system. The list of results contains temporary installation files, memory dump files, etc. You need to check the boxes on all lines and remove all components.

The developers give their advice on using the system partition. Firstly, you should not install programs exclusively on drive C in the ProgramFiles folder. If it is possible to install into a virtual partition (for example, drive D), it is better to use this option.

Secondly, it should be noted that the “My Documents” directory, as well as folders for downloads, images, videos, or directories with activated sharing set by default, are located exclusively on the system partition. You can view all these elements on drive C in the Users folder. Therefore, it is recommended to save “heavy” documents in the form of films, music or projects like AutoCAD files exclusively in virtual sections (this way the documents will not be damaged, and space will be saved).

Thirdly, and most importantly, for normal PC operation it is recommended to keep about 10% of the system partition free. And it doesn’t matter how much space is allocated for it. Total 100 GB - 10 GB of free space. And going below 10 “gigs” is not recommended at all. Otherwise, some people fill out a folder of documents, as they say, to capacity, and then complain that the system is slow. But what if the space reserved for the pagefile.sys file is also not unlimited? So it turns out that the system is simply subjected to excessive load for no apparent reason.

Using optimizer programs

A decrease in free space may also be associated with Internet activity. Temporary files and cache are far from a complete list of all the garbage that remains in the system and is not removed by its own means.

This is where the use of special software packages for system care is justified. For the most part, optimizers are capable of not only removing unnecessary files, but also deleting incorrect or outdated system registry keys, files and folders remaining after uninstalling programs, cleaning RAM, and much more.

Conclusion

Above we briefly talked about the Windows 7 system. It is quite difficult to say how much space it takes up at a certain moment. As has already been described, updates alone in the form of update packages that are required for installation can take up no less (if not more) space allocated for a “clean” system. But the user must also be careful not to let his own computer or laptop become excessively cluttered.

One of the national characteristics of Runet users is the tendency to allocate a small partition for the system. Today we will talk about where this tradition came from and analyze the main mistakes of this strategy. You will also learn my approach to work on each point.

For many years now I have been reading all the forum threads that discuss the modern Microsoft operating system. And I very often see people with a small system partition. Whether it's Windows XP, Vista or 7, the same picture is observed over and over again - the system is unjustifiably squeezed into tight confines.

Why is the system placed on a separate partition?

Once upon a time, back in the days of Windows 98, one of my friends (the same one who got me hooked on Total Commander) amazed me with his layout of disk partitions. He proudly showed me how everything was clearly optimized for him - one partition for the bootloader, a second for the system, a third for the swap file, a fourth for programs, a fifth for movies, a sixth... He probably had about 10 of them, and all on one physical disk!

Let not everyone reach such insanity, but in fact it has become a rule to allocate its own section for the system. And I did this, guided by simple logic: if I have to reinstall Windows, I won’t have a headache about where to put my files and documents. At the same time, the system wanted to allocate as little space as possible so that it would not be wasted.

Please note that the convention is If will have to reinstall! But this does not apply to those who know how to configure the system in order to do without reinstallations. Are you afraid that Windows 7 will crash?


photo credit: Capture Queen™

Meanwhile, Microsoft, which takes into account the interests of business first and foremost, has operating systems designed for the use of one partition. This is due to the established strategy for managing user data and settings, which is to place the profile on the system partition.

This approach makes it easier to move and back up user profiles across your organization. As a consequence, many system functions are built on this foundation. Thus, backing up files in Windows 8 (and in Windows 7 too) is set up as quickly as possible when using libraries that contain documents, music and videos stored in the profile.

System requirements…

When it comes to system requirements, you need to clearly understand what they include. minimum parameters that are sufficient to install and start the system. For long-term and comfortable they are not suitable for work.

Windows XP did not make any serious demands on disk space - a modest figure of 1.5 GB was announced for “Gold”. This, of course, was not enough for normal operation, but a partition of 15–20 GB made it possible to freely accommodate the system and programs.

Over time, hard drives have become increasingly larger, and the price per gigabyte of space has continued to decline (the Thai floods are a temporary exception). Windows XP has been replaced by Windows Vista, which already needed 40 GB. Let's skip it, as many users have done, and go straight to Windows 7.

Here Microsoft made a knight's move and stated that the system needs at least 16 GB of disk space, although Windows 7 required no less space than the previous OS.

But at that time, solid-state drives (SSDs), then still small and terribly expensive, began to gain momentum. Redmond couldn't afford for the latest operating system to be incompatible with current storage technology, so it had to mislead users. You can, of course, install Windows 7 on a 16 GB partition, but this is akin to installing XP on a 1.5 GB partition.

... and user habits

And then it turned out that many users who skipped Windows Vista are trying to squeeze Windows 7 onto the same partition where XP was installed, or a similar one in size. But after installing the system, it suddenly turns out that there is very little space left on the partition!

Of course, because the size of the distribution has grown 3-4 times, from 600 MB Windows XP to 2.1 - 2.4 GB Windows 7, depending on the bit depth. But that's not so bad! The amount of RAM has grown from the “luxurious” 512 MB for XP to 2-4, or even 8 GB, which immediately affected the size of the paging files (1.5 RAM volume) and hibernation files (0.75 RAM volume).

Paging and hibernation are usually dealt with quickly, but very soon they discover that there is still not enough space.

The operating system is constantly updated, increasing in size to the point of obscene size. People's anger turns to the winsxs folder, which for particularly indignant users is punished through castration (and some of the executions occur on a system that has been cut off by someone else's hands).

But this doesn’t help either! Distributions of your favorite programs have grown fat over the years from Big Macs, and after installation they eat up precious space. Office 2003 made do with a modest 400 MB of disk space, while Office 2010 requires 3 GB for itself, brazenly storing installation files in a gigabyte MSOCACHE folder.

It would seem that in such a situation the idea arises of allocating as much space on your disk for Windows as it needs, fortunately terabyte drives allow this!

Even netbooks from one and a half to two years ago already had 320 GB disks installed. What can we say about the market of drives for desktop systems, where the “1 TB and above” segment is dominant for 7200 rpm drives (the offer of the leading American online seller newegg.com is shown)

Common mistakes and how not to make them

But for some reason, a number of users feel sorry for the space for the system, and begin to limit Windows in every possible way so that life does not seem like raspberries to it. Next I will describe typical errors that this leads to. greed or simply illiterate approach to work in Windows. You'll also learn how I prefer to use the system in each of these cases.

1. Disabling system protection

Error: Windows stability is reduced.

You know this is my favorite topic! My system is installed on an SSD with a capacity of 120 real gigabytes, and I don’t mind giving up 5% of the space to guarantee its stability and the ability to pull accidentally deleted files from shadow copies.

Reading the forum, I see many people who have deprived themselves of an alternate airfield. Don't be one of them!

2. Disable Windows Update

Error: Reduced security and reliability of Windows.

By preventing the system from updating, you can save several gigabytes of disk space. But exactly until the next reinstallation caused by the exploitation of an unpatched vulnerability.

Believe me, this is the most convenient approach I have tried. I know it's possible:

• do not update the system and it will work, but I find this unprofessional and extremely unsafe
• download updates manually from the Microsoft website or immediately in sets from folk craftsmen, but I don’t want to waste time on this or trust this intimate process to the wrong hands
• set up notifications and install updates selectively, but I don't want to mess with that because I'll select all the required updates anyway

I spare no disk space to ensure the security and reliability of my system.

Fully automatic updating saves me time and has worked flawlessly since I first installed Windows 7!

Yes, I have seen other people have problems applying updates, but it is extremely rare that the cause is way installations.

3. Disable hibernation

Mistake: Inefficient use of your time and reduced battery life.

Failure to use hibernation does not lead to tragic consequences, but it is fraught with ineffective use of Windows.

When working from the network, my home laptop goes to sleep after half an hour, and after another hour and a half it goes into hibernation. When running on battery power, these modes activate even faster.

Slower Windows speed

By enabling hibernation, you will be able to start working with the system faster compared to normal startup. I note that with a very large amount of RAM, a reboot may take less time than exiting hibernation.

However, the acceleration occurs due to the fact that hibernation allows you to immediately get the system in exactly the same form as it was at the time of termination.

This means that not only are all your programs already running, but you can also resume them immediately, for example:

• document editing
• watching a movie or listening to music
• web surfing

Reducing battery life

By using hibernation on your mobile devices, you can manage power more efficiently and thereby increase battery life.

Unlike sleep, power consumption in hibernation is minimal, and the system can remain in this state for weeks.

But it's not only that. Launching the system and programs is always accompanied by a load on the processor and hard drive, which results in the consumption of precious battery power.

4. Disabling the page file

Error: Difficulty in diagnosing during failures

With a large amount of RAM, it seems logical to completely abandon the use of a page file in favor of faster RAM. However, if your tasks require a lot of memory, it's best to let Windows breathe deeper. If necessary, the system will be able to write rarely used data to disk, freeing up memory for more important tasks.

One way or another, completely disabling the paging file makes it impossible to create a dump of memory occupied by kernel processes if a failure occurs (example | ). In other words, you will not be able to determine the driver that caused the BSOD.

Instead of disabling the page file, it is enough to reduce it, at least to the size necessary for recording dumps.

I have 8 GB of RAM, of which I rarely used more than five before. I didn’t need the 12 GB swap file recommended by the system the old fashioned way, so I set it to 200 MB for recording mini-dumps.

Now I'm already hitting the ceiling, so I created two swap files on different drives for maximum performance. Let me remind you that it makes sense to transfer AF. As for solid-state drives, if you don’t have a lot of memory, like I do in my netbook, the swap file is best placed on an SSD.

5. Transferring the Program Files folder to another partition

Error: meaningless action and reduced system security.

Let's start with the fact that moving the Program Files folder to another partition cannot be completely correct. This folder contains hard links that do not support communication between different sections. But I won't focus on this, since you are unlikely to run ancient Windows programs.

The meaninglessness of action

What's more important is that the transfer simply doesn't make sense. It is much better to keep programs on the system partition, as this simplifies system backup and restoration of a familiar environment.

When the system is fully synchronized with the installed programs, you begin full-fledged work immediately after restoring from the backup image.

I create incremental system images using Windows once a week. Since I have an established set of programs, the differences between them usually lie in the installed updates.

If there is no image, having programs on another partition means that after reinstalling the system you will have to reinstall many applications that require:

• registering libraries and components (example: Microsoft Office)
• installing drivers (example – Alcohol)
• association with file types and protocols (example - Opera browser, and no, manually will not be faster)

And don’t forget that you are separating programs not only from the system, but also from their data, which is stored in the %UserProfile%\AppData folder.

Reduced security

It would seem, what does this have to do with it? It's all about folder permissions! Only administrators can write to the Program Files and Program Files (x86) folders. Rights to a folder created on another partition are inherited from its root. At first glance, the Users group does not have write permission, but it is granted to the Authenticated Users group.

In practice, this means that normal permissions are sufficient to make changes to program files.

In other words, once a malware has entered your system, it can do whatever it wants to your applications, even without administrator rights.

For example, it can modify the code of executable files or replace dynamic libraries (DLLs), and User Account Control will not warn you about this.

By the way, this is precisely the flaw in the security model used by the Google Chrome browser, whose folder is located in the user’s profile. In this case, Google chooses, in its opinion, the lesser of two evils, since this location of the browser allows you to quietly update it without your participation and quickly close vulnerabilities.

Are you still moving the Program Files folder to another partition?

Of course, you can configure access control lists for a folder with programs located on another partition. But in reality, few people are puzzled by this. Do not bother yourself with unnecessary actions and arrange programs as standard - along with the system.

6. Inefficient use of disk capacity

Mistake: Lack of space negatively impacts productivity.

When the system is installed on hard drive (which was true for 92% of my blog readers at the time of writing), requires at least 15% free space to defragment properly. The less space you have allocated to the system partition, the more likely you are to pass this threshold, leading to ineffective defragmentation.

I worked for almost three years on a laptop with a 120 GB HDD, and it was not easy for me to keep 1/7 of the disk free. An external USB drive helped solve the problem.

As the proud owner of an SSD, you don't have to worry about fragmentation. But for solid-state drives the issue of free space is also relevant! And if you transfer personal files and documents to another disk partition, you simply slow down your work with them. After all, this way you lose the ability to quickly navigate through folders, as well as instantly find files and open documents.

All my personal files, with the exception of movies and the music library, are stored in a profile on the system SSD. After all, I bought it in order not only to speed up the operation of the system and programs, but also to increase my productivity.

Poll and discussion

You have seen typical errors that result from allocating too small a partition for the system or simply from a misunderstanding of how Windows works. To counter these mistakes, I have outlined my approach. Now you!

Since the survey (results lost) does not provide the full picture (for example, the total disk size is left out), I really hope to see it in the comments! Write how things are going for you:

• indicate the size of the partition with Windows 7 and the total volume of the disk on which the system is installed
• add a link to a full screen screenshot of the Disk Management snap-in (diskmgmt.msc)
• explain why you have this particular section breakdown
• admit which of the following mistakes you make (and if you don’t consider them mistakes, prove it!)

Tell us about other mistakes related to inefficient use of disk space, if you are aware of any. This will serve as a good precursor to the next entry and its discussion.

And I want to emphasize that the discussion will greatly benefit if we limit ourselves to the technical aspects, without diluting them with flames about increasing the prices of discs. After all, your approach and the current situation were formed earlier!

You can mark fragments of text that interest you, which will be available via a unique link in the address bar of your browser.

about the author

I still store the My Documents folder on another physical disk. This is really more reliable and also allows you to organize backup more flexibly. I back up documents every day, and the system partition once a week. If we take into account the large volume of both, we get a significant gain in the volume of the partition backup. Yes, and My documents can be painlessly transferred to another DSC using Windows itself.

Ivasilievich

on a two-year-old beech HDD 320 GB, divided into system C:\ 50 GB, everything else for other data, while the user profile folders my documents, images, music, videos, downloads, favorites, contacts, desktop are on another section (with data - D:\)

a9lex3

In the days of XP and an 80Gb HDD, I allocated 30 for the system. When Windows Vista arrived on my PC, the partition size was about 40.
Now on a PC with a 2*250Gb HDD, 150Gb is allocated for WDP, and on a laptop with a 320Gb HDD - 100Gb (also WDP).
Previously, I allocated about 50Gb on a PC running Windows 7, but at a certain point the size of free space reached ~200Mb and I had to increase it at the expense of an adjacent partition.

freetushkan

I have WDP now, Windows along with all the files are always located on one partition. Auto-update is disabled, I regularly launch it manually, I always avoid installing anti-malware tools, because why - I don’t allow malware? I back up files only when reinstalling (if there is a stable system, then this process occurs no more than once every two years; reinstallation is often carried out by me in order to get rid of a cloud of junk - too radical and unprofessional, I know, but I’m a pathological lazy person). I don't touch hibernation with paging. Sometimes I disable UAC, at times it gets in the way terribly.. Windows lacks such a feature as in Linux, with directories placed on different partitions (there is, of course, the ability to connect a volume as an ntfs directory, but this is a crutch and is fraught..).

maxx

System partition 100GB, disk 1TB, when reinstalling Windows 7 I stupidly delete the partition and create it again, all the data is on drive D. Example - Steam, after reinstalling the system and installing Steam in the old place on drive D: it automatically picks up all the old settings and gets rid of from a lot of trouble.
The only mistake I made was disabling the swap, I lost a little, to be honest, because in those bsods that occurred, I still could not overcome the reason. By the way, some very smart programs require a swap, no less than a gig, which is very annoying (if memory serves, the game Warhammer dawn of war 2 is an example).

Sergey

Vadim, hello.
From your article, I didn’t quite understand whether it is necessary to place the system on a separate disk partition?
And if it’s not necessary, then if I store the system image on the main disk partition, then how can I restore the system if it crashes?

Andrey

I knew people who once created a small system partition because they installed a pirated system, which crashed with enviable frequency or simply began to glitch and slow down to such an extent that it was impossible to work. For them, reinstalling the system was a mandatory ritual several times a year, without even delving into what was wrong and whether it could somehow be fixed without reinstalling. I think there were a lot of such people at one time, so this universal tradition began of making a small system partition and storing everything else on a separate partition.

DreDa

The system is on a separate 120 GB SSD, everything else is on 2 HDDs.

Vladimir

I have a 7x86 - a working one, on which programs and other things are installed, 70GB are allocated for everything. also 7x64 - gaming, only what is needed for games is installed, located in the root of the 300GB partition for games. only 1TB screw.

Alexander

There are not so many professional users, more and more systems with store installation on the entire disk. I allocate an average of 50-60 GB to the system. This is enough for me + I don’t have a licensed Windows 7 x64 Professional, I don’t need most of the updates, and I download drivers from the manufacturers’ websites, since the seven still partially has the Vista disease,

the system has determined that driver updates are not required

since drivers from Microsoft are installed, which is not good. I never I don’t put toys in the system partition. Well, I don’t think it’s wise to store music, photos and videos in documents; after completely installing the system, drivers and programs, I still have about 50% of the hard drive space free for temporary files, and the music I listen to in FLAC format takes up about 40 GB. And for drawing in Photoshop, I allocated space in another section, since processing a drawing with a resolution of 30000x40000 pixels also takes up a good chunk of the section.

Thanks everyone for the answers. I will comment on some of them. So far, no one has really admitted to making mistakes - apparently, everything is done according to science :)

Nikitin Lev, and what is the more flexible organization of backup when storing documents outside the system drive?

maxx, so you still have to rearrange Steam. Isn't it easier to keep it together with the system and make a backup image?

Sergey, and the article was not intended to answer the question of whether the system needs to be placed on a separate partition. It was about its size being too small.

We'll talk about this in future posts, but in general it's obvious that your system backup will be smaller if you don't include video and music. And backup is a must.

Andrey, that's right, this is convenient for those who regularly reinstall the system. But among my readers such people are in the minority :)

Sphinx114, my posts spark discussion, and my polls help me understand how my readers are doing.

Sphinx114(deleted comment): I voted 8 (or more) times for the option “I don’t have Windows 7,” and then I ran out of IPs: (Apparently now you need to use a proxy...

Your manipulations with the survey distort its results, thereby depriving me of a valuable opportunity to see the situation in my audience and prepare materials that interest them.

Thus, your actions, unfortunately, indicate insufficient intellectual development. I think you don’t need to read my blog, much less comment on it.

Nikitin Lev

Vadim Sterkin
The fact is that you don’t need to back up My documents twice (I have quite a lot of them). Perhaps I didn't express myself very clearly.
I use Acronis for backup. I backup the system partition exactly as a partition - once a week. Incremental backup of My Documents at the end of each working day. If you do not move My Documents to another partition, they will be backed up along with the backup copy of the system partition.
Another argument in favor of storing My documents on a different partition - I have it located on another physical disk of increased reliability (WD HDD RE series).
And finally, my system partition is located on a 120 GB SSD. It is not possible to place my documents there, and the reliability of the SSD is not yet at its best.
In general, I agree with your recommendations, except that for the reasons listed above, I think that storing documents on a separate partition on another physical disk is not a mistake at all. This solution has a number of advantages (the ability to place the system on a fast SSD, not to increase the volume and time of backup, not to put all your eggs in one basket by placing the system and documents on different physical devices).
Moreover, the OS allows you to transfer My Documents to another partition using its own means while preserving all system links.

Nikitin Lev

Vadim Sterkin

But in general, you write everything correctly, I fully support it.
I don’t understand those “gurus” who advised me at one time to “be sure to split” a physical disk into several logical ones: “for the system, for games and for distributions.”
With the advent of NTFS, I completely abandoned the idea of ​​​​creating more than 1 logical disk on 1 physical disk. If a physical disk dies, it doesn’t matter how many logical disks were on it. And in order for the section itself to die, it is necessary to do a series of strange experiments that I, for example, do not conduct on combat vehicles...
And I also don’t see any point in leaving less than 100-120 GB for the system.

Alexander

The laptop has a 320 GB hard drive, a 50 GB system partition, purely for the system and programs, all personal data (music, photos, videos) are stored on an external hard drive. Now I generally plan to allocate the entire hard drive on the laptop for the system, and store everything else on an external hard drive.

Anton

I initially made a mistake with the space, when I took the B7, the specifications said that 16 GB would be enough. I allocated 25 GB for the system and made 40 GB for backup.
Now out of 25 GB there are 6 GB of free space left. For six months I have not noticed a single jamb (well, except that the task scheduler service does not start) backups are made every week.
Now I am more careful about updates, Vin XP was enough for me when I installed all the updates automatically, and one fine day I came across an update from a craftsman, after the reboot the OS did not recover, only backup saved me.
I’ve been thinking about rebuilding the disk for a long time, but I don’t want to bother with copying again.

DreDa, I have the same thing, only one HDD - the laptop can only accommodate two disks :)

Alexander, you are wrong to think that Microsoft drivers are bad :)

In fact, the device drivers provided through WU are created by the hardware manufacturer, not Microsoft. They undergo additional compatibility tests, so they are the most reliable.

And those versions that, say, AMD rolls out on the website are often experimental and not so stable.

Nikitin Lev, your approach is clear, thank you for the detailed description of your strategy.

Nikitin Lev: I think that storing documents on a separate partition on another physical disk is not a mistake at all. This solution has a number of advantages (the ability to place the system on a fast SSD, not to increase the volume and time of backup, not to put all your eggs in one basket by placing the system and documents on different physical devices).

Technically, this is not an error, of course. But as I said in the article, access to your work files should be as fast as possible. I do not advocate storing gigabyte archives of music and films with the system. But I will keep all mine documentation and frequently used files on the SSD, along with the system.

My philosophy is that the speed of work consists not only of fast hardware, but also of the productive actions of the user.

You have the same layout as me (SSD 120 Gb + HDD). This allows me to easily keep the system and basic personal data together, which I access at the highest possible speed.

Arinoki

I have a 320GB HDD. Section one. Even if the system crashes - there is only the system and software on the disk - it is more efficient to reinstall it.

Transferring program files (and program files (x86) in the case of a 64-bit axis) really doesn’t make sense even with several hdds - I didn’t notice an increase in speed.
Oh, and I also transferred my account folder to the third screw - also no use.

system - seven.

Why I tried to transfer it - I thought that such a unix-way separation would have a significant advantage.
There were no problems with the software - I made all the links through WinPE.

Nikitin Lev

Vadim Sterkin:
My philosophy is that the speed of work consists not only of fast hardware, but also of the productive actions of the user.

Where is the loss in speed? Perhaps you have a different work scenario. I primarily work in Office, Project and Visio. Files of these formats can be opened almost instantly from the HDD (5400). I never even thought about buying a faster hard drive. The opening time is subjectively close to zero.
But, probably, you just have different working files, and they open noticeably slower from the HDD.

Hector

System partition - 50 Gb, total size 320 Gb

regarding the schedule:
WITH— system (after all, I keep the system on another partition)
D- documents and personal files
E- toys
F- video
G— before I learned about the existence of virtual machines, I periodically installed different Linux distributions on this partition

I seem to have avoided the mistakes listed here (or I didn’t read them carefully)

Vladimir, 70 GB is enough for the OS and programs, but you need to take into account the number and size of the installed software.

But it's not just the size of the distributions. I remember I was freeing up space on a friend’s partition, and some Nokia software was taking up 200 MB in the program folder and another > 1 GB in AppData.

Alexander, offhand, I would say that the 320 GB disk does not need to be divided. Here, Arinoki I did so. But this is a topic for another conversation :)

Anton, 25 GB is not enough for Windows 7, there are no options.

Nikitin Lev, logical drives are not needed at all, I think (but I will justify it more fundamentally in a blog post :)

Loss of speed - in navigating through folders and finding the necessary files/documents (I actively use saved searches).

Since I have a 5400 rpm HDD installed along with the SSD, I can see the difference in speed with the naked eye.

boris

I currently have two hard drives in my system: 500GB and 1TB. I put the system on a 500GB disk, and the programs, naturally, go there too. I store all documents, music, films, distributions, etc. on a 1TB disk. Then in Win7 I change the location of the standard folders music, videos, downloads, etc. to my own folders on the second hard drive.

Horuss

For example, I have Windows 7 on a 16GB partition, but there are no programs installed that take up a lot of space, such as Office or Photoshop. Hibernation is disabled because I consider it useless on a regular computer (if I had a laptop or no beech, I would think about using it). Backup is disabled because there is no particularly important data or settings. I download updates about once a month. With all this, 4.5-4GB of free space remains on the disk at all times.

Arinoki

Vadim Sterkin,

Yes, even in comparison with the Velociraptor series hdd (I think I wrote it correctly) there will be a difference in comparison with the ssd.

I'm just disappointed that the 256GB options are still very expensive.

Salen

I have Mac OS X Lion and FS ext journaled. I'm very glad that I left Microsoft :)

But this is my main workstation. As for the portable one, I’m completely happy with my HP laptop on Windows; I don’t need a MacBook yet (although I’m waiting for 2012 and the mega line update), and it runs win7. I allocated 50 GB to the disk - quite enough, even 13-15 free.

I store all the files on D, with features like My Documents - I don’t use them accordingly. ;)

By the way, the Mac already comes with a pre-installed system, and therefore /home was not allocated to a separate logical drive (analogue - D:\), this is strange for me because I've been on Windows all my life and min. 2 log. disk - this is the rule. But no matter how much I load the poppy, I cannot kill it. Even the light blinked once - he calmly rebooted himself and, as if nothing had happened, restored all the processes that had been in the same places where he left off. And Windows would be buggy for about 5 minutes until it came to its senses :(

Just like that. The article is practical. When I read about the update, I remembered a joke:

I bought a poppy. I bought a PS laptop.
Mac - customization, updating, minor embellishments - hell of a time.
Windows - settings - hell of a time; update-reboot-update-reboot-update-reboot-update-reboot…(185 more)… — scored.

:D and this dude had no place to throw away his money (he bought himself a professional x64 distribution)

I hope I didn’t offend anyone, sorry for the grammar and meaning, Monday is a harsh day :(

Novel

I have a 50GB Win7 partition on a 500GB HDD. I have a second 320GB HDD, but I have it disabled in Winows - I gave it to Linux. I connect only if I need to backup data from someone else’s PC.
Link to a full-screen screenshot of the Disk Management snap-in.
Tradition probably can’t really explain why exactly this situation is happening :) And I’ve never experienced problems with free space and defragmentation on the system disk and I don’t plan to change its size yet. On another partition I have everything that can be connected via Win7 libraries, I also install games there and save all the garbage from the Internet. Programs and the swap file are located with the OS.
Of the listed errors, I didn’t find a single one (I was already happy for myself :)). A long time ago I strictly set the size of the paging file (but not less than 1.5 RAM) and disabled hibernation, or as it is correctly called in WinXP, I have already forgotten. Now I don’t suffer from this and I don’t recommend it to anyone.
But I especially often see people disabling system protection and updates. If I can still understand disabling the update (pirate OS are used), then disabling protection/recovery sometimes just kills...

Hector, thanks for the picture and schedule. I think I will use this point in future articles. 5 partitions for 320GB? Nu-nu :))

boris, storing the system and data on different physical disks is a good idea, but it doesn't eliminate the need to make backups. I would keep the OS and data together, and the second disk would be a backup.

Arinoki 256GB SSD is tempting, but I don't see the need. Depending on your needs, 90-160 GB may be enough for the OS and basic personal files. 120-odd is enough for me.

Salen, after installing Windows 7 SP1, all updates rolled out with one reboot. The joke is outdated :)

Horuss, i.e. I haven't convinced you of anything? :)

Novel, thanks for the screenshot, I'm glad that everything is error-free for you :)

microamper

System partition 80 GB, HDD 320 GB. When choosing the size of the system partition, I was guided by recommendations from various forums. At the moment, out of 80 GB, 36 are free (with games and other useless applications, not clogging the system). I update the system manually, selectively. I hardly use folders (My Documents).

baw17

Wester Digital Caviar Black 2×640GB
C: ~50GB – Raid 0
D: ~1150 — Raid 0
Caviar Green
E: ~2TB
Default paging file. memory 8GB

Anton Pleskanovsky

Good afternoon to all blog readers!
Let me start by describing the characteristics of the system:

a) System partition size: 42.6 GB. Formatted storage capacity 111 GB (Configuration: 5-year-old laptop)
b) http://s011.radikal.ru/i317/1112/c3/3255d3036a20.jpg

c) I believe that the OS, figuratively speaking, “should live its own life” and, at least, Photo and Video files should be saved on their own partition and backed up into a separate image. This is probably how it happened historically: when a 40 GB hard drive was a luxury item, and the user cluttered the system partition with games and, as a result, the system had to be reinstalled due to the fact that the space on the partition simply ran out. Since then, this stereotype has been fixed in the mind :)
And also, purely subjectively, sometimes it just infuriates me if the “service men” beat the partition like this: 40 GB for the system, 460 GB for a large dump, which a beginner can do within 3 months. Dividing into several logical drives is very often a kind of crutch, necessary at first to accustom the user to order on the hard drive :)
Although it will be very interesting to read how data should be organized so as not to create logical partitions at all.

I'll go through the mistakes:

1.Disable system protection
Previously (the year was 2004), on XP, I turned it off immediately. In the treasured “RegTweaks” folder there was a mega-tweak for “improvement”; probably everyone had such a collection at one time... I didn’t make backups regularly, sometimes with Acronis - immediately after setting up the system, and “optional” once every six months. Yes, such a strategy is fraught with a sudden and very offensive collapse, but, fortunately, nothing bad happened - I didn’t cut into the living system with a scalpel, I tried to test everything on a virtual machine first.
I only started turning it on on W7, having heard a lot about how successful and dexterous it is (yes, outsidethebox also made a significant contribution). Liked. I recommend it.

2.Disable Windows Update
On XP, I immediately cut off the pirate one, using the same famous megatweak. Because it's a license. It was updated, however, regularly, downloading updates from the network and packaging them in SFX. Then, in 2006, I started updating directly from the site, bypassing the activation check. It was inconvenient and inefficient, since you had to do a couple of manipulations with your hands, and only then go to the site.
Now it's always on.

3.Disable hibernation
I just haven't used it before. I just turned off the computer. In addition, the power supply was strange, having experimented with hibernation a couple of times on XP, I got either a BSOD or a session loss. I abandoned it before the seven appeared on my car (2010). I consider it an extremely convenient thing - I even taught my parents how to use hibernation, now they don’t turn off their computer, but simply “hibernate” it.

4.Disable the swap file
I've never done that before. Because I remembered the rule about 1.5*RAM - and always adhered to it. True, now that the machine has 8 GB, I think it’s possible to make 2-3 GB, no more, 12 GB is a bit much for the swap file...
Addition: I also don’t see the point with one hard drive to split the disk into two or three... ten partitions, and put a swap file on any other one except the system one. I always tried to share the hard drive with the system and the swap file.

5.Moving the Program Files folder to another partition
I've never done that either. Let the system and programs work together.

6.Inefficient use of disk capabilities
I can’t say anything about SSD, I haven’t used it.
And I always remembered about the lack of space; XP needed at least 12.5% ​​of free disk space, and I always tried to keep the degree of “clutter” no higher than 80 percent. Situations where there is 100 KB of free space on the hard drive have never applied to my machines.

I didn’t understand from the comments: “and one fine day I came across an update from a craftsman, after a reboot the OS did not recover, only backup saved me.” - was it right on Windows Update?..

Nikitin Lev

Anton Pleskanovsky, thanks for the schedule and pictures. With such a small drive, do you create three partitions and justify this as separating the system from personal data?

Why did you decide that documents should live their own lives? We made one backup of our 120 GB to an external drive and that’s it. You don’t need to back up anything separately, but if you want, you can, Windows 7 backup allows you to archive files.

Nikitin Lev, well, that’s because you have two physical disks :) And if there was one, you would split it into two. After all, you keep documents separate from the OS.

Nikitin Lev

Vadim Sterkin: Well, that’s because you have two physical disks :) And if there was one, you would split it into two. After all, you keep documents separate from the OS.

No, I wouldn't do that today. I have one 128 GB SSD in my laptop. I don't break it, because... I don't see the point. Anyway, there is only one physical disk, and there are not many documents. Here I simply back up documents once a day to the cloud, and once every couple of weeks I back up the entire partition to an external drive.

I keep documents on my home computer separate from the OS because: 1) this way they end up on different physical disks (it’s less risky, a little faster) and 2) all the accumulated documents do not fit on the disk with the system. That is, it’s all about the volume of these documents and the presence of a separate physical disk. If there are few documents and you don’t care about a separate physical disk, why not keep them together with the system? Here I completely agree with you.
But if there are a lot of documents and it is possible to place them on a separate physical disk, it is correct to place them there.

Nikitin Lev

It seems to me that the discussion somehow from the initial question “should the system be kept separate from everything on the smallest possible partition” (my answer is no) was divided into several side ones:
1. Is it necessary to keep documents and the system on different partitions (my answer is if these partitions are on the same physical disk, then no).
2. Is it necessary to split one physical disk into several partitions (my answer is no).
3. Is it necessary to split one physical disk into several partitions separately for the system and documents (my answer is no).

Disabling system protection
I turn it off because I don’t think it’s perfect. There were situations when the protection did not help, although this was still in XP, since then, I’m sure it has been improved, but I never saw the functionality I needed (.
The protection cannot be finely tuned - specifying the folders, files, registry keys that need to be monitored and which not. That is, the system can perform a bunch of unnecessary actions and not do what was needed. If you are going to allocate space for backup, you need to be sure that every part of the system will be fully operational after restoration, otherwise there is no point in such “protection”. In addition, protection will not get rid of garbage introduced by different programs, so from time to time I make backup copies manually.

Swap file

...allow Windows to breathe more deeply. If necessary, the system will be able to write rarely used data to disk, freeing up memory for more important tasks...

You need exactly as much memory as you need, and if there is more of it than needed, I doubt that the system will be in a good mood and it will work faster), but in general the situation is similar with Protection. There is no way to set what can and should be kept in swap and what cannot, to determine these “more important tasks”. As a result, after exiting the game, for example, the system turns into a brake until everything it thought it needed is unloaded from the swap; nothing can be done before that, and for the screw with the swap file, difficult times come for a long random access). Another example is an opera minimized to tray with a certain lesson + 3dsmax photoshop or another program that requires a lot of resources, which also uses the screw itself often + torrent and player = a huge number of calls to the slowest device in the system, the result is corresponding, everything becomes slower that uses the screw at the same time. Therefore, I would advise turning on the swap file only if there is not enough RAM and there is no way to increase its volume.
bsod is not a normal and rare phenomenon, and if it appears systematically, then turn on the swap file for analysis, otherwise it’s like running around the room with a basin, waiting for the neighbors to flood, IMHO).

Dividing into disks and transferring system folders
I only keep the desktop folder in another place, since it contains half of the documents I work with, and nothing is stored there that would affect the operation of programs and the system. The screw is divided into 2 disks, system and everything else. The size of the system partition on a laptop is 30, on a desktop 40, this is enough for the necessary programs + a small reserve for defragmentation, etc. I put games in the second section because they weigh a lot, and you don’t need to back them up.

ki1dio

Anton Pleskanovsky

Vadim Sterkin

Why did you decide that documents should live their own lives?

The documents are located on the same partition with the system, because there are not many of them, as I already said here Nikitin Lev

We made one backup of our 120 GB to an external drive and that’s it. There is no need to backup anything separately

I agree, it’s logical and rational, I just don’t get around to buying a usb hdd, and since no critical data is saved on my laptop, I prefer a file-by-file backup. Just understand that I have never used any file catalogers on the hard drive, but used partitioning for this purpose, i.e. this is nothing more than a user experience habit act.

Vitaly I often “work” by temporarily saving a large number of large files on the desktop (more convenient/faster).
The second terabyte and the external interface are partially duplicated (the main part of the information is programs (distributions), backups, (except for video, music... well, why bother storing it “in crowds”)

Human nature is such that each of us often wants to have something the best, the newest - for example, an operating system. XP, of course, is far from the newest, but for the vast majority of really old computers this is almost the only chance to get a more or less modern look. It is quite possible that your old computer is capable of running XP, but you are overcome by doubts of a different kind - will it take up too much space on your hard drive? Back then they were somewhat smaller than they are now.

Windows XP volume

You must understand that the operating system does not have a constant size - it is the “brain” of the computer, it is constantly changing, “breathing”. And sometimes add-ons are released to operating systems, which do not always replace something - sometimes they simply complement what is already available. In addition, over the years of the existence of this operating system, dozens of different versions and repacks have been released, which can “weigh” significantly differently. The most “modest” users say that 2 Gigabytes is enough, but in order to avoid unforeseen unpleasant situations, it is better to listen to those who say that more space is needed - they call the volume both 3 and 4 Gigabytes.

“Seven” has rightfully earned the greatest popularity among users all over the world. Therefore, before purchasing a new PC or hardware for it, for example, a solid-state hard drive, the first question that arises is: “How much does Windows 7 weigh and how much disk space does it require for optimal functioning?”

Windows 7 distribution size

Basically, Windows 7 is installed from a DVD or flash drive. The weight of the operating system depends on its version, as well as on the presence of various packages in the distribution, for example, a service pack. The volume of the maximum modification of a 64-bit OS usually only slightly exceeds 3 Gb, and a 32-bit (x86) on average no more than 2.5 Gb.

Therefore, users, focusing on such small values, often prefer to buy expensive but fast solid-state SSD drives for use as a system drive, and in order to save their financial resources, they purchase small-capacity drives. Below are the real results of the experiment on installing Windows 7 “Ultimate” and the subsequent installation of all important updates.

After a clean installation

The figure shows how much space on the new disk was occupied by “Seven” with the first service pack immediately after the installation procedure was completed.

It’s easy to calculate that 64-bit Windows 7 took up almost 14 Gb of space.

After system updates

The weight of the OS is now only slightly short of 19 Gb, that is, it has increased by almost 5 Gb. This suggests that even if the user purchases a 32 GB disk, the system will be able to function, but only if a regular hard drive is additionally installed in the computer to save user files and install applications on it.

According to OS developers, it is recommended to provide at least 20 GB of free space for the Windows 7 installation procedure.

However, in practice, this volume is clearly not enough, because if the computer has access to the global network, then the remaining unallocated space of the system volume rapidly decreases over time.

Updates take up more and more space over time, and if you upgrade other numerous applications from Microsoft, the small system partition will fill up very quickly, and the OS will begin to work with slowdowns.

Conclusion

If a desktop computer is equipped with a system disk, for example, 64 GB, then it is recommended to additionally connect a hard disk with a larger capacity.

However, if you plan to use solid-state media on a laptop, then it is recommended to opt for a disk with a capacity of at least 120 GB.

You've probably noticed that after a certain amount of time, Windows starts loading slower and slower. The reason for this is often a large number of automatically launched resident programs and utilities, i.e., applications that start along with the operating system. Moreover, this number can reach up to 10 or more resource-intensive applications. The result is not only slow OS loading, but also cluttered RAM. Naturally, you need to get rid of unnecessary startup objects. Some of these items are present in the Start menu, while others are hidden in the Windows registry. However, tampering with the registry is not the most convenient option, especially since Windows includes a more convenient utility for managing startup. It's called "Msconfig".

1. Open the Quick Launch Programs window by executing the sequence of commands Start Run (or Win+R). Enter the command "msconfig" in the "Open" field. The “System Settings” program window will appear on the screen;
2. Go to the Startup tab. If there is a checkbox next to the name in the list of programs, it means that the program starts with the OS. You can disable it by unchecking the box. By the way, very often various viruses and spyware programs “like” to be added to the download list. In any case, by disabling an unknown program, you most often will not lose anything;
3. After the changes you have made, apply the settings with the “OK” button and agree to reboot the system.

Reducing Windows XP Disk Space

How much space does XP take up on your hard drive? If it’s one and a half to two gigabytes, it means that not everything is as rosy as it could be. In our opinion, the optimal OS size is 800 – 1100 MB. And although even when freshly installed, XP weighs even more, there is a way to improve the situation. Many files on the system disk are completely unnecessary and must be deleted. There are many examples, but we will indicate only three sources.

1. Go to the Windows \Driver Cache\1386\ folder. Drivers for devices included with Windows are stored here. The directory size can be 100 MB or more. If you have installed all the necessary drivers, feel free to delete its contents.
2. Some elements are hidden, so in Explorer properties, first enable the display of hidden files (Tools Folder Options, “View” tab, “Show hidden files and folders” option);
3. Please note that after uninstallation you will need to have on hand an installation disk with Windows and a set of drivers that are not included in the distribution package;
4. The Windows \System32\dllcache folder contains a cache of system libraries, designed to automatically restore the OS in the event of damage or deletion of system files. The folder size ranges from zero to 400 MB. The recovery function, on the one hand, is very important, but, on the other hand, not everyone wants to sacrifice half a gigabyte of space. It is recommended to reduce the maximum size of the dllcache folder to, say, 50 MB. To do this, open the “Run a program” window (Start Run) and enter the command “sfc /cachesize=X” in it, where X is the maximum allowable size of the system cache in megabytes from 0 to 400;
5. A value of 0, as you understand, can negatively affect the performance of Windows XP;
6. If Windows Help seems unnecessary or hopeless to you, you can delete it too. The files related to it occupy approximately 60 MB and are located in Windows\Help. There is nothing here that affects the operation of the OS, with the exception of the files bnts.dll, sniffpol.dll, sstub.dll and tshoot.dll. It is not advisable to remove them.

Changing the login window

If you remember, in earlier issues of Tips and Secrets we addressed the theme of the classic Windows XP design. So, another step in this direction is to change the appearance of the welcome window. If by default you see a blue screen with the words “Welcome” and then a list of users in the form of icons, then in the classic display a window appears asking for a name and password. Some users like this mode for its brevity and “rigor”.

1. Open Control Panel (Start Control Panel).
2. Go to User Accounts Change user logins;
3. Deactivate the “Use Welcome Page” option and click the “Apply Settings” button.

There is one drawback: if the “Use Welcome Page” feature is disabled, you will not be able to use the ability to quickly change sessions while maintaining all open applications.

Login as administrator

When Windows installation is complete, you are prompted to provide an administrator password. You may be surprised and ask: why, because the administrator account is not used anywhere. In fact, this account is hidden from prying eyes and is available in safe-mode. If you want to use login as administrator in normal mode, you only need to do two steps:

1. Switch to classic login mode. How to do this is described in the previous tip;
2. When logging into a session, enter the word “Administrator” in the “User” field of the window.

Changing the priority of the program

The distribution of processor power among different applications is uneven. It may happen that while you are checking your email, the email client will automatically be set to high priority, and the movie encoded in the background will be given low priority. Even if this situation is somewhat far-fetched, but, indeed, setting a higher/lower priority to some resource-intensive application is sometimes useful and necessary: ​​accordingly, the performance of the program with the changed priority increases or decreases.

1. Open “Windows Task Manager” (Ctrl+Alt+Delete) and select the “Processes” tab;
2. Right-click on the process whose priority you want to change. In the menu that appears there is a “Priority” item. Once deployed, you can choose from low to real-time priorities.

Activating DMA mode for disk drives

Your hard drive or drive can work noticeably faster if it (or they, if there are several of them) supports the DMA protocol (Direct Memory Access), but for some reason is disabled in Windows - this happens occasionally, but it happens by some mistake. However, even if your system does not support DMA mode, it is better to enable it. Of course, this will not increase the data exchange speed, but it will still free the processor from unnecessary tasks.

1. Go to Device Manager (My Computer Properties, or Win+Pause Break, Hardware tab Device Manager). Expand the “IDE ATA / ATAPI controllers” branch and in the properties of the Primary channel (in the context menu) select “Properties”;
2. Open the "Advanced Options" tab. Opposite each of the transfer modes in the menu, select “DMA, if available”;
3. Repeat this step for the remaining primary/secondary channels.

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