What is the recommended boot partition size for Windows 7?

I started using one big partition for everything and separating data out with folders when I got my current computer years ago. I'm preparing to upgrade my system from Windows XP to Windows 7, and I thought I might go back to putting my data on a separate partition.

Most likely I'll just use the default OS install. My current Program Files tree has ~16 GB of stuff.

Thinking ahead though, I've had Windows XP installed for years. Who knows what applications I'm going to install down the line?

This, of course, begs the question: How big do I make my Windows 7 install partition?

Solution 1:

I've done half a dozen Windows 7 installs this week and the "base" install takes nearly 20 GB in my experience. I'm writing post this on my new Windows 7 Ultimate rig. I've installed literally nothing but drivers and 20 GB is used up already on my OS partition.

This is also confirmed by the Windows 7 System Requirements, which also lists that you need 20 GB at least to run Windows 7. So, I would recommend you to use at least 60 GB and to install your applications in a separate data partition.

Note that your system partition tends to grow over time due to updates, temporary files, logs and that kind of things; so, to anticipate this you would need sufficient space. If you look at other answers, you will see that some people have 40 or 50 GB so choosing 60 GB makes sure that you don't hit the border yet.

Given the hard disk sizes nowadays, 10 - 20 GB more shouldn't hurt. Unless you run a SSD...

Solution 2:

I gave Windows 7 a 100 GB partition on a 1 TB drive, and according to the Windows Experience Index (WEI) I got a 7.2 for the drive. It's substantially better than using the whole 1 TB, which was more in the 5.9-6.0 range.

I read it has to do with the efficiency of having the OS partition first (outer-most part of the platters on the HDD), and that a smaller partition is more efficient. Believe me, there was a discernable improvement.

Solution 3:

Primary partition is created on the outer track of the hard drive waffle, which makes the overall data read/write much faster then un-partitioned drive (google it). Its not about just "flexibility" or "content management", its about how fast you want your OS or Apps to load, haedrive read/write is a big bottle neck on an un-partitioned drives, and its not a marginal gain in performance, it will make the drive 3-4 times faster depending up on how small you make the partition.

ps. if you don’t know the answer don’t post garbage information like "The reasons for multiple partitions are not good enough to overcome the hassle" is misleading and absolutely not true

Solution 4:

In a related question, Windows 7's base install was reported as weighing in at about 6 GB, compared to about 1.5 GB for a Windows XP install.

I've gotten by pretty well with a 20 GB partition for Windows XP, but I've been installing the big applications (games) to a separate drive. I estimate 40 GB should be all you'd need for a Windows 7 system partition.