Windows 7 Minimum System Requirements

podwin

New Member
Hi,

I'm confused by this, Microsoft state that Windows 7 (32bit) needs 16GB of free hard drive space?

Does this mean a 16GB drive is actually too small, because once Windows is installed there isn't 16GB of free space available?
 
No, it means it needs that much space free before the install, but after wards there will be very little left - realistically you need about 40GB to allow for the op sys, system files and a range of applications programs. If you are needing to run on a very small rive you should take care to set some other drive for storage of user data files.
 
Thanks for your reply.

I am a little annoyed at the makers of a certain tablet.

Problem is, they have specified a 16GB drive, partitioned it into two.

Installed Android on one partition, then installed Windows 7 Home Premium on the other.

This means there was never 16GB of free space after the partitioning.

I need service pack 1, so I ran Windows Update, it downloaded but failed to install due to a lack of space, and said I should free up some disk space and try again. But there is nothing to delete, the machine is new!

The manufacturers support line do not seem to understand, and state that additional storage space can be added by inserting a memory card, but all this would be is create an additional drive [D:]. Fine to install my own apps on, but it doesn't help when trying to install Windows Updates.

Therefore I feel I am stuck with something which is not fit for purpose, and shouldn't even have the Windows logo on it, if it never meet the minimum requirements from the start!

Is there any way around this?

I have looked throughout drive C: to see what I can delete, but really can't find anything!

Any advice would be much appreciated.
 
I think you have a very real point - SP1 is recommended and you cannot install due to the manufacturer's imposed limits - you are right to feel aggrieved! Unless you wish to demand a full refund on the basis of something wrongly sold there are one or two work arounds which I would try. The requirement for 16GB are only during the actual SP1 install, when complete you can run a cleanup process to reclaim most of the used space. This means that if you can temporarily free up the space use by the android partition you could install Sp1. You could do this in one of two ways - first I would expect that there is a recovery procedure with some disks supplied for the android partition, alternatively you could create your own image using one of th many partition imaging programs available, store it on an external medium and recover it after installing SP1.
 
Many thanks for your reply patcooke.

Q1. Would a readyboost USB stick help Windows with the space issue?

Q2. I can borrow an Iomega REV drive, it comes with Norton GHOST bootable CD. Will this help with backing up partitions, removing them etc?

Q3. I feel like reporting this to Microsoft, I feel Microsoft should be giving this manufacturer a kick in the *** for sticking their logo on hardware which isn't fit. Is there such a process with Microsoft though?

I did call Microsoft but they guy didn't understand what I was saying and just wanted paying before he'd answer a question.
 
I don't believe there is any way in which readyboost could help - the primary objective of readyboost is to offer solid state paging rather than paging to and from the hard drive - it is not an extension to the hard drive. Any external storage device would enable you to store an image of a partition from your system. I've not used Norton Ghost for a log time, I now use Acronis True Image which you can obtain as a fully working trial download so you could use either. It would be best to confirm that your system came with a set of recovery disks before you set off down this route - you don't want to end up with a bricked system!
 
I don't think a Readyboost device is the solution but adding some sort of memory card or device makes sense. During Windows installations and major upgrades too, a whole bunch of temporary files are created. Many are there so you can back out of the installation/upgrade should something happen. These temporary files take up a lot of space. But once the installation and upgrade are complete, the system does "housekeeping" and deletes these, or most of these temporary files.

With a memory stick installed, it may be able to use the stick for these temp files.

Was your system fully upgraded before trying to install SP1? If so, then Windows Update should only download the minimum needed to upgrade. If it was behind, you might try installing all the updates, then SP1 again. And you might run Disk Cleanup first too.

Note too that you can order the SP1 disk from Microsoft. I think they charge $7 for shipping an handling. Other countries should be something similar. Or you could download the DVD ISO and burn your own installation image.
 
Thanks for the replies chaps.

It downloaded SP1, and failed as I've said already, when I checked free space there was 12MB left :eek: I ran disk clean up and free space went up to 35MB, woopee doo!

I'm not sure if that was the case before I started the download, but where will the downloaded file be sitting so that I can delete it?

Its a good idea about the iso image for the service pack.

There are no disks with this item, but I think I can create them, which will have to be an external drive.

Thanks.
 
I took your advice and created a DVD from the iso image.

I also found the setup disk in the box for this stupid tablet.

I booted from it and it seemed to just restore the windows partition, no options for partitioning etc, whether or not to included Android etc. It just seemed to restore Windows 7 from an image.

So, with a fresh Windows 7, free space is at just over 4GB.

However running my SP1 DVD gives me the following error:

Link Removed due to 404 Error

There is a lot of stuff on the net about 0x800f0a12, so will investigate what to do next, unless any of you helpful chaps have any advice?
 
Already got around this error, by setting the Windows partition as active.

The service pack installation now gets further, but stops with the message that 6GB of free disk space is required.

I have 4.27GB, but this is a clean install, there is nothing to remove :frown:
 
It does not look like you are going to be able to "install" Windows. It just needs too much temporary expansion room during the installation process. Maybe you should contact the tablet maker and see if they have an "image" for your specific system. If so, then the properly configured image is just copied over.

Can you buy a bigger drive?

Other than that, I have rapidly run out of guesses. :(
 
Is the 4.27GB spare space with the Linux partition still on there?

And just to clarify - did you do the partitioning and Linux install or did it come like that?
 
Hi,

The tablet comes with Android and Windows 7 out of the box, I have done nothing to it, which is annoying, because SP1 simply cannot be installed.

Minimum requirements for Windows 7 is 16GB, this tablet comes with a 16GB hard drive, but the manufacturer, partitions that for Windows and Android, Windows is therefore shipped within a 12GB partition. This doesn't meet Microsoft's minimum requirements, and I'm annoyed Microsoft don't care such people are shipping their OS with their logo on the device which can't be used.

Anyway, I got it sorted, and ran the recovery disk (which just copies a Windows 7 image to the HD) to the entire drive. Android is no longer on the machine.

The SP1 DVD I created installed instantly with no problems.

The manufacturer's response to my email and telephone calls was "We are sorry you are unhappy with our product."

Let me know if I can name and shame on here.
 
and I'm annoyed Microsoft don't care such people are shipping their OS with their logo on the device which can't be used.
It is not fair to blame Microsoft. Blame the device maker. The device can be used and note the device maker is required to provide 1 year of Windows support too.
 
Anyway, I got it sorted, and ran the recovery disk (which just copies a Windows 7 image to the HD) to the entire drive. Android is no longer on the machine.
That's what I suggested and would have done myself except that I would have first made an image of the android partition to recover it after the SP1 install - not necessary of course if you have no need for android.
 
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