Configuring Windows 7

[crimson]

Is there any good instructions for configuring W7? Like getting rid of unneccessary features that run in the background such as Windows Firewall or whatever. That way, the OS can use minimum resources.

 

[xxxdannyxxx]

Hello crimson

There are tweaks and hacks available if you search for them but many here, me included would suggest Windows 7 is set up as lean and efficient as it is out of the box so to speak. There's no real need to mess around with the OS and chances are you will do more harm than good in the long term. Often disabling services etc leads to more problems down the line than it does in gaining you any performance.

Just my thoughts
Danny

 

[Roderunner]

Hi crimson, I agree with Danny. Win7 tends to run slowly after its installed, but gets faster all by its self the more its used.

 

[crimson]

Isn't it bloated? Like large on the hard drive, and use alot of resources? Ubuntu is less than 1GB I think with system requirements of 5GB. And minimum system requirements for W7 is 20GB.

Does anybody know why so much is needed for an OS? Shouldn't an OS use much less disk space, so the rest can be used for software?

 

[Roderunner]

Pass ????

 

[crimson]

Huh?

 

[logicearth]

Isn't it bloated?

No.

Like large on the hard drive

No.

and use alot of resources

No.

Ubuntu is less than 1GB

Um...Ubuntu is not less then 1 GB, where did you even get that? Windows 7 takes up less then 8 GBs of space. Harly bloated, and no Ubuntu is not 1 GB, its around the same under 8 GB.

Let me guess, you are a troll?

 

[pparks1]

Generally speaking, Windows 7 runs fast and efficient as is. turning off services, and uninstalling things can often just lead to slower overall system performance.

As far as being bloated, I don't think so. Besides, hard drive space is quite cheap. If you want to reduce the amount of disk space used, my best advice is to install 4-8GB of RAM, turn off the pagefile and eliminate the hibernate file (powercfg -h 0ff).

Linux distros are often smaller, no doubt about it. And they cost a lot less as well. If you are comfortable with branching out and trying something new, by all means give it a shot. If I recall correctly, Ubuntu takes about 4.5GB of space, while Windows is going to consume about 8GB.

 

[kado897]

Ubuntu 11.04 takes about 4GB straight out of the box. I have just installed it in VMWare Player today and that is the disk usage ATM.

 

[logicearth]

If I recall correctly, Ubuntu takes about 4.5GB of space, while Windows is going to consume about 8GB.

Well under 5 GB for Windows 7, SP1 and all current updates for the 32-bit version. The 64-bit version would be a little more, probably close to 8 GB. You would see about the same increase on the 64-bit version of Ubuntu. See screenshot. (The winsxs folder is Windows, it contains every DLL and application that is part of the installation.)

 

[Shadowjk]

Isn't it bloated?

No.

Like large on the hard drive

No.

and use alot of resources

No.

Ubuntu is less than 1GB

Um...Ubuntu is not less then 1 GB, where did you even get that? Windows 7 takes up less then 8 GBs of space. Harly bloated, and no Ubuntu is not 1 GB, its around the same under 8 GB.

Let me guess, you are a troll?

I would not make assumptions just so early.

Is the Windows 7 one Pre-installed on a laptop? Then you may get some additional software installed by the OEM Manufacturer

However if it is a Retail edition then the simple answer is No

Why is Windows 7 bigger than Linux Distros? Well Windows is quite a sophisticated OS but I can only say it is

Josh

 

[pparks1]

Well under 5 GB for Windows 7, SP1 and all current updates for the 32-bit version. The 64-bit version would be a little more, probably close to 8 GB. You would see about the same increase on the 64-bit version of Ubuntu. See screenshot.

Also, I don't just look at what the C:\Windows uses..I look at the entire amount of disk space consumed on the entire hard drive after the OS is installed. Stuff in C:\Program Files and such count as well as far as I am concerned. And I'm talking about the 64bit version as well, that's really the only version that I have used with Windows 7.

Why is Windows 7 bigger than Linux Distros? Well Windows is quite a sophisticated OS but I can only say it is

Josh

Said like that, it makes it sound like Windows is more sophisticated and thus larger in size. That's not right. There are Linux distros out there which only consume 50MB of space (Damn Small Linux). You can run an enterprise Linux distro like Red Hat Enterprise Linux/CentOS 6 with a minimal install and it takes around 850MB of disk space. It's quite functional and sophisticated, but will lack features many might want..for example...like a graphical user interface.

Windows is what it is, and it's going to take 5-15GB of hard drive space once installed. These days, that's pretty cheap....even from an SSD standpoint. I remember that first "large" capacity hard drive I personally purchased and that was a 730MB Western Digital and that was nearly $400.

 

[logicearth]

Is the Windows 7 one Pre-installed on a laptop? Then you may get some additional software installed by the OEM Manufacturer

Which is not Windows. But third-party middleware.

 

[logicearth]

Also, I don't just look at what the C:\Windows uses..I look at the entire amount of disk space consumed on the entire hard drive after the OS is installed. Stuff in C:\Program Files and such count as well as far as I am concerned. And I'm talking about the 64bit version as well, that's really the only version that I have used with Windows 7.

Almost everything in Program Files and such, are all hardlinked out of WinSxS. Very few items are not hardlinked on a fresh installation of Windows 7. To get an accurate listing you need to remove all the hardlinks except for the last reference. However, just by looking you can see everything in Program Files is pretty much hardlinked.

 

[Shadowjk]

I understand however the OP may have gotten confused with Windows 7 and the Third Party software and since it may have been there at the first start-up it could be easily seen as part of windows to people who aren't as computer literate as some others

 

[logicearth]

I understand however the OP may have gotten confused with Windows 7 and the Third Party software and since it may have been there at the first start-up it could be easily seen as part of windows to people who aren't as computer literate as some others

Oh...well I guess me accusing the OP of being a troll is worst then accusing the OP of being computer illiterate. :sarc: Just saying.

 

[pparks1]

I use Linux on a ton of machines and for a bunch of reasons, but the amount of disk space consumed after the OS is installed is NOT one of them.

 

[Shadowjk]

I didn't refer to the OP being Computer illiterate in the above post

 

[crimson]

I use 64-bit. It's not just about hard drive space. It's also use of resources. Why does it require so much space? It doesn't use alot of system resources? Then why does it have firewall/security stuff? I could get that from a third party. Shouldn't the MS security features be disabled because it's pointless to have 2 security softwares running at the same time. I'm going to keep automatic updates on. But I plan to use a firewall that will block anything from coming in as well as anything from going out.

This isn't about Windows + 3rd party software. This is about Windows 7.

Let me guess, you are a troll?

No that's what you are considering your obnoxious and inappropriate behavior.

 

[Chilidawg]

Very shortly after I got my new laptop, I made my recovery disks and began uninstalling all the bloatware that came packaged with the machine. Was careful not to touch the MS stuff, and I've been quite impressed with Windows so far. This is all the Microsoft's credit as my previous OS was/is Ubuntu.