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    Upgrade from Vista to 7.. file sizes..

    Discussion in 'Windows OS and Software' started by MatthewRuddy, Jul 11, 2009.

  1. MatthewRuddy

    MatthewRuddy Notebook Consultant

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    Hey.. Simple question.. So I know that Windows 7 takes up less hard drive space in a clean intall than Windows Vista (in particular 64-bit)..

    So lets say for examply vista takes but 15gb.. and 7 takes up 10 gb.. If I choose to upgrade.. will I gain space or will it simply add up to 25gb? Or will I gain 5 gb?

    Sorry if this is a n00b question. Thanks, Matthew.
     
  2. dbam987

    dbam987 wicked-poster

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    Thats a good question, and I think what will happen during an upgrade process is the installation will rename the existing Windows directory to something like Windows.old. This way a person can uninstall the upgrade back to Vista. In the end, you'll have the amount Vista takes up (15GB or so) plus the amount Windows 7 needs (not sure on it's size, but another 15GB seems right) for a grand total of 30 GB used. Can someone confirm this?
     
  3. Morizche

    Morizche Notebook Consultant

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    16 GB available hard disk space (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)

    Above is as per system requirements listed on Newegg for Windows 7 retail boxes.
     
  4. JohnnyFlash

    JohnnyFlash Notebook Virtuoso

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    But that's mostly because it needs the swap space for all the files. It can't delete Vista files until 7 is finished installing.
     
  5. Morizche

    Morizche Notebook Consultant

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    It's also because, as with Vista, the OS itself contains all the features, but has locks, depending on the product key for a specific version.
     
  6. MDR8850

    MDR8850 Notebook Evangelist

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    you clean up after the the upgrade
    simply "clean disk" the drive c
     
  7. qhn

    qhn Notebook User

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    ... and it will expand again as it needs ;-)

    Gaining on "minimum" disk space requirement is really an oxymoron, don't think too much about it, give the OS enough space to breath and you will be fine in the long run.

    cheers ...