System partition size

Robert Murphy · External Since: Mar 22, 2007 Posts: 3

Hi all,

This has probably been mulled over a hundred times, and everyone will have a
different idea, but what is a realistic System partition size for Vista
Ultimate ? This is asssuming that I don't let other stuff install itself
there, but including the swap file on a (32 bit) system with 2G of RAM.

Thanks
Rob

Adam Albright · External Since: Feb 03, 2007 Posts: 2515

On Thu, 22 Mar 2007 14:16:23 +1000, "Robert Murphy"
<okami1,westnet,com,au> wrote:

>Hi all,
>
>This has probably been mulled over a hundred times, and everyone will have a
>different idea, but what is a realistic System partition size for Vista
>Ultimate ? This is asssuming that I don't let other stuff install itself
>there, but including the swap file on a (32 bit) system with 2G of RAM.
>
>Thanks
>Rob
>
A typical Vista install once done uncompressing files and getting rid
of all the extra files it makes during install ends up between 8-10 GB
for most. By default Vista will take 1.5 times your ram for a paging
file, so about 12 GB give or take. Even if you store all your
installed programs on another partition leave room for shadow files
patches, updates, etc.. So I would at minimum say 20-25 GB is a rough
estimate. You don't want to max out a drive or partition if your
splitting the drive up. A "full" drive always should have a handful of
GB's for wiggle room.

John Inzer · External Since: Sep 09, 2006 Posts: 419

Robert Murphy wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> This has probably been mulled over a hundred times, and everyone will
> have a different idea, but what is a realistic System partition size
> for Vista Ultimate ? This is asssuming that I don't let other stuff
> install itself there, but including the swap file on a (32 bit)
> system with 2G of RAM.
> Thanks
> Rob
========================
According to the MS website...
Vista Ultimate minimum requirements
are: 20 GB hard drive with at least
15 GB of available space

--
John Inzer
MS Picture It! -
Digital Image MVP

Digital Image
Highlights and FAQs
http://tinyurl.com/aczzp

Notice
This is not tech support
I am a volunteer

Solutions that work for
me may not work for you

Proceed at your own risk

Kerry Brown · External Since: Jun 12, 2006 Posts: 1626

During the beta testing of Vista I played with partitions of varying sizes.
I found the minimum to be 20 GB with a few programs like Office installed.
Given that many programs install stuff to the system folders no matter what
you do and Windows updates will cause the system to grow over time the
minimum I'd recommend is 30 GB.

--
Kerry Brown
Microsoft MVP - Shell/User
http://www.vistahelp.ca

"Robert Murphy" <okami1,westnet,com,au> wrote in message

> Hi all,
>
> This has probably been mulled over a hundred times, and everyone will have
> a different idea, but what is a realistic System partition size for Vista
> Ultimate ? This is asssuming that I don't let other stuff install itself
> there, but including the swap file on a (32 bit) system with 2G of RAM.
>
> Thanks
> Rob
>

Robert Murphy · External Since: Mar 22, 2007 Posts: 3

Thanks to all repliers

I was guessing at maybe 35G, given that XP can survive in 10 but really
wants 20G. I'd like to err on the side of giving Vista too much* It's not
going to affect storage space for other stuff whether it be 5 or 50 G, but
I don't want to go silly.

OK, 40G it is. I sure don't want to have to muck around too much when extra
System-partition-only features are added.

Rob

* I'm really lazy and hate having to set up new installs

"Kerry Brown" wrote in message

> During the beta testing of Vista I played with partitions of varying
> sizes. I found the minimum to be 20 GB with a few programs like Office
> installed. Given that many programs install stuff to the system folders no
> matter what you do and Windows updates will cause the system to grow over
> time the minimum I'd recommend is 30 GB.
>
> --
> Kerry Brown
> Microsoft MVP - Shell/User
> http://www.vistahelp.ca
>
>
> "Robert Murphy" <okami1,westnet,com,au> wrote in message
>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> This has probably been mulled over a hundred times, and everyone will
>> have a different idea, but what is a realistic System partition size for
>> Vista Ultimate ? This is asssuming that I don't let other stuff install
>> itself there, but including the swap file on a (32 bit) system with 2G of
>> RAM.
>>
>> Thanks
>> Rob
>>
>

Robert Murphy · External Since: Mar 22, 2007 Posts: 3

I've never used Vista, let alone installed it, hence the entry level
question(s). Having gone through the Tower of Hanoi problem once or twice,
trying to make room to make room I'm trying to look forward and plan things.
OK, stop laughing.

Given that storage is cheap, how does 40-50G sound ?

Rob

"Adam Albright" wrote in message

> On Thu, 22 Mar 2007 14:16:23 +1000, "Robert Murphy"
> <okami1,westnet,com,au> wrote:
>
>>Hi all,
>>
>>This has probably been mulled over a hundred times, and everyone will have
>>a
>>different idea, but what is a realistic System partition size for Vista
>>Ultimate ? This is asssuming that I don't let other stuff install itself
>>there, but including the swap file on a (32 bit) system with 2G of RAM.
>>
>>Thanks
>>Rob
>>
> A typical Vista install once done uncompressing files and getting rid
> of all the extra files it makes during install ends up between 8-10 GB
> for most. By default Vista will take 1.5 times your ram for a paging
> file, so about 12 GB give or take. Even if you store all your
> installed programs on another partition leave room for shadow files
> patches, updates, etc.. So I would at minimum say 20-25 GB is a rough
> estimate. You don't want to max out a drive or partition if your
> splitting the drive up. A "full" drive always should have a handful of
> GB's for wiggle room.
>
>

Adam Albright · External Since: Feb 03, 2007 Posts: 2515

On Fri, 23 Mar 2007 02:30:35 +1000, "Robert Murphy"
<okami1,westnet,com,au> wrote:

>I've never used Vista, let alone installed it, hence the entry level
>question(s). Having gone through the Tower of Hanoi problem once or twice,
>trying to make room to make room I'm trying to look forward and plan things.
>OK, stop laughing.
>
>Given that storage is cheap, how does 40-50G sound ?

Works for me. Wink