Windows 8 install size

[Scoob]

Hi all,

I just installed Windows 8 Pro 64bit on an old 34.4gb (formatted) Raptor I have as a test. Reading elsewhere most people are stating that a vanilla W8 takes a little over 8gb. Imagine my surprise when MY install is currently taking up 32gb!

Now, I've literally just installed Win 8 this afternoon. The swap file is on another drive (actually a partition of my 1tb drive that hold W7 and my games) and I've installed ONE app, CCleaner, to do a tidy up.

So, how come my W8 install is FOUR TIMES the size of some others? Really, I've just installed W8, CCleaner and that's it! I really thought this little Raptor drive would make a good W8 test but it's near full already.

Note: the Raptor was EMPTY, formatted as NTFS with 4k blocks as default...maybe it doesn't like that?

Edit: Note that the Windows Folder is reported as 15.1gb with "size on disk" as 15.3gb. Progam Files is 771/774mb, Program Files (x86) is 100/101mb, Program Data 12.3/12.7mb and Users is 138/139mb. So things don't add up. I'm going to doung check for some hidden gargantuan file, though my swap file was, and always has been (windows put it there during install) on a separate drive.

Edit 2: A bloody 20 gig hiberfil.sys - REALLY? FFS! Lol. Rookie mistake lol.

Edit 3: Ok, maybe NOT a rookie mistake. My swap file is on another drive, yet there is STILL a swapfile.sys on c: I cannot delete (256mb) as well as a Hiberfil.sys of near 20gb despite ALL hibernation and sleep options being disabled. Equally, neither of these files can be deleted as they are "in use" despite a reboot after confirming all settings. Odd.

Edit 4: I edit a lot. Looks like I have to go to a command promt and type "powercfg -h off" before it actually works. This is despite the GUI showing it all as fully disabled. A bit rubbish really.

Any responses welcome!

Cheers,

Scoob.

 

[dugdiamond]

i am currently writing an overclockers survival guide to windows8.

i hope it will answer all your questions

 

[RossM236]

Yeah, first thing I ALWAYS do with any install of 7 or 8 is disable Hibernate mode to get rid of that pesky file, especially since I am running an SSD on my desktop.
Go download this free app: http://www.uderzo.it/main_products/space_sniffer/
It will show you what size all folders are and the largest files on the hard drive etc.

My laptop is running fully updated Windows 8 right now and the Windows directory currently is: 15GB exactly.
And then the built in programs and apps would probably add about 3-5GB more. (guess)
So I would say a clean install would be around the 18-20GB mark. The recommended space for 32bit is 16GB and 64bit is 20GB - so wherever you read 8GB is slightly off XD

 

[Scoob]

Hi mate,

Cool, I think it'd be of great use.

I'm learning plenty as I play mind you.

I actually quite like the new start screen stuff, though I feel W8 is currently ideally suited to Media PC's and the like rather than a hard-core gamer. It does feel more responsive than W7 did, and I thought that was just fine. I run Spinners so that is quite impressive.

I'd be interested to hear of your experience with networking. I run TWO NIC's thus two separate network connections, I've had some oddities to say the least with connections disappearing, thought the NIC remains just fine in Device Manager. Some driver issue I assume.

Cheers & good luck with the guide.

Scoob.

 

[dugdiamond]

this thread may help you: http://forum.overclock3d.net/showthread.php?t=33669

it is based on win7/vista/xp, but all can be similarly done in win8

 

[Scoob]

Yeah, first thing I ALWAYS do with any install of 7 or 8 is disable Hibernate mode to get rid of that pesky file, especially since I am running an SSD on my desktop.
Go download this free app: http://www.uderzo.it/main_products/space_sniffer/
It will show you what size all folders are and the largest files on the hard drive etc.

My laptop is running fully updated Windows 8 right now and the Windows directory currently is: 15GB exactly.
And then the built in programs and apps would probably add about 3-5GB more. (guess)
So I would say a clean install would be around the 18-20GB mark. The recommended space for 32bit is 16GB and 64bit is 20GB - so wherever you read 8GB is slightly off XD

Hi Ross,

Posts crossed there.

Yep, the first thing I do as well - and the first thing I did this time. However that pesky file stuck around until I did the command line stuff. Maybe I had to do it in W7 too - it was a while ago as that build has been stable for an age.

Needless to say I am now at a reported 14.9gb used for the install, which leaves plenty of space on the Raptor.

Yeah, that 8gb quoted size was in several threads - guys were posting up proof their builds were of that size too, which makes things even more unusual.

I'm certainly happier now than I was, well, less confused at least lol. Just testing out some games...Skyrim plays lovely in W8 - no difference from W7 - and I'm just using the default (so, current WHQL) NV drivers.

Cheers,

Scoob.

 

[Scoob]

this thread may help you: http://forum.overclock3d.net/showthread.php?t=33669

it is based on win7/vista/xp, but all can be similarly done in win8

Hi Dug,

Thanks for that. I usually do much of that stuff as standard. XP used to need it, Vista was happier with it, but, since W7, I've not disabled anywhere near as much stuff because it simply seemed less intrusive than with prior OS's. I have a fairly good machine, however I have also installed W7 on an old 2.6 P4 with 1gb ram, as well as on my old Pentium M 1.6ghz laptop. For both of these I've left the installs largely un-tweaked and yet it still runs very well indeed. I will say that those two machine would likely benefit from a little tweaking though...

Scoob.

 

[RossM236]

Yeah, main reason I put 8 on my laptop is because I wasn't sure what to make of it, it runs lovely with a bit of tweaking. I never put it on my desktop as I literally reinstalled 7 on my PC since I buggered my Photoshop install XD and I needed to clear it out.
So I stuck the 8 installer on my pen drive and carted that with me to my dads and reinstalled it there while I stayed. It is really nice but the built in security features are really annoying, too much things even after disabling Smartscreena and UAC. But none-the-less I will defo put 8 in my desktop as well at some point next year

 

[Scoob]

Actually, I think W8 really shines when using it on a touch-screen device. The interface feels a lot more intuitive then. However, you still need a Keyboard and Mouse ideally for other things, especially when setting it up.

I'm actually forcing myself to use the new Start Menu features, rather than just ignoring it, flipping to the desktop, and doing things the old way. It's not too bad, though we need MUCH better customisation options of the start menu I think.

Scoob.

 

[Omarion223]

Yeah the main issue which i have also seen that the windows 8 is required more than space of your hard drive and also required for the heavy specifications of your computer to install because this is latest windows and have all latest heavy files and features so that's why this windows required large disc space in your computer for installation ..........

 

[Scoob]

My Windows 8 Install was about 14mb, that's fully updated with a few utils installed. I had however removed my hyberfil.sys which was HUGE due to me having 24gb of ram.

Scoob.