Windows 7 Pro space usage

I'm new to the forum so thanks in advance for any advice....I'm building a new PC with a Corsair Nova 2 SSD ATA 30GB (boot drive) and MSi Z77MA-G45 motherboard. Have just successfully put everything together and installed Windows 7 Professional - 64 bit. Have also downloaded and installed current motherboard drivers for: chipset, network interface card, USB 3.0 and built in audio from MSi website. After both installs (Windows and drivers) there is only 945MB free on the SSD which doesn't seem enough to account for future Windows updates.
used = 26.9GB
free = 945MB
TOTAL = 27.8GB

I calculate:
Windows 7 64-bit = 20GB
Drivers:
chipset = 2.69MB
NIC = 5.63MB
USB 3.0 = 13.7MB
audio = 125.39MB

Per another post I checked System Protection - Restore Settings, and it is set at the minimum = 106MB. The total SSD usage should be at most 21-22GB. Also, how come it shows only 27.8GB as total capacity when the advertised capacity is 30GB? Where is the difference of 2.2GB? Overall, there ought to be about 8GB available. Thanks!

What is displayed is the megabytes rounded off to 30 something. They advertise it that way to make the buyer think he`s getting more.

Example 160 GB hard drive is actually 149 GBs
Example 250 GB hard drive is actually 232 GBs
Example 1000 GB ( 1 Terabyte ) is actually 931 GBs

It`s a bit difficult to explain.

Why did you install the factory chipset? Were drivers missing or performance problem(s) which required different drivers than what Win7 delivers during install and optional Updates? This is not XP. Win7 decides what drivers it wants.

The chipset often has bloatware packages that are best uninstalled unless research shows they are vital to the safe functioning of the board. Same with the display driver software. This might save significant space. Then clean up using CCleaner Disk and Registry tab.

There might even be space to install your most important programs so that they benefit from the faster speeds. All data can be linked from another HD to the relate Library - Include a Folder - Windows 7 Forums

Thank you all for your responses. I ran disk cleanup and only gained 3MB.

We bought this system from Newegg, and I installed the MSi chipsets as per the instructions on Newegg's Youtube video, "How To Build a Computer - Part 3 - Installing Windows & Finishing Touches." But if these chipsets really aren't needed, unless anyone has any other ideas, this morning I will wipe the drive and start over with only Windows 7.

Thanks again!

It depends upon how much bloatware the chipset installed in your Control Panel>Programs and features. You can probably uninstall it from there to save the trouble of reinstalling and still regain the space. If a driver is uninstalled with the software, Win7 should either auto-install it at reboot or deliver it under optional Updates. Then gauge performance to see if you lose any functionality.

If you choose to reinstall use the same Best Practices as in Clean Reinstall OEM

I successfully uninstalled the chipset programs from Control Panel/Uninstall Programs and only gained 18MB. I have not yet reinstalled Windows and am not sure if it would accomplish anything.

Should Windows 7 Pro 64bit really consume 26GB when it's touted to use only 20MB, or is something wrong with the way I installed it? If perhaps I did something wrong during install I could reinstall to double check. However, if it is truly using 26GB, should I be concerned that I'll eventually run out of space on the SSD with only ~1GB free for Windows updates, or should I just link the other HDD as you suggested earlier, forget about it and move on?

Thank you.

What was installed for chipset was apparently only the drivers and no accompanying bloatware. The drivers likely remain installed until a reinstall is done to put back the drivers given by Win7 installer.

If I had such a small margin I would reinstall closely following the Best Practices (for drivers, cleanup, defrag) in Clean Reinstall OEM to see if I can whittle it down closer to 20gb since you'll have Updates and may want to try to squeeze in your most used programs if possible - although they can be uninstalled and reinstalled to the data HD if you get a low disk warning.

Make sure you use the latest official installer with SP1 from the tutorial. After install and setup run CCleaner and the Puran boot time defrag with full disk check to elminate empty spaces and perfectly order the SSD.

AddRAM said:

What is displayed is the megabytes rounded off to 30 something. They advertise it that way to make the buyer think he`s getting more.

Example 160 GB hard drive is actually 149 GBs
Example 250 GB hard drive is actually 232 GBs
Example 1000 GB ( 1 Terabyte ) is actually 931 GBs

It`s a bit difficult to explain.

It's pretty easy to explain. In Windows, a gigabyte is 2^30 bytes (1.0737E09). The disk manufacturers use the decimal version (1E9).

If you feel cheated that your 1TB drive doesn't actually hold 1.0737 TB, that's sad.