posted
Okay, things seem to be running fairly smoothly on the Windoze side. (I call it that now because I dozed off twice while waiting for it to complete some installations, it's running so slow. Yeah, I know it's the emulator's fault, but still... ) I've installed the plethora of updates from Microsoft (that sure took a while, I'll tell you!), and I'm now running SP1 and all the other associated stuff. I even fiddled with the interface a bit -- I didn't download any of those programs yet, but just tweaked it using the control panel. I'd probably use the silver theme if XP were my primary system, but I'm sticking with the blue coloring because it clashes less with the Aqua styling of my beloved Mac. And by shrinking the text of the window titles just a bit, the whole thing looks quite a bit more presentable.
I've got one minor problem, though. I'm running the Windows disk off of a 6GB external hard drive... and the complete Windows XP installation has now taken up more than 3.1GB of that space! I haven't installed any programs aside from a couple of browsers (Firefox, Opera, and IE5), so they can't have bloated the installation that much. I was hoping to be able to use the drive for backup purposes as well, to store an extra copy of my personal files. Is 3.1GB actually now considered a small installation for Windows? Or can I go through and trash a bunch of files from somewhere to cut down on the amount of space required?
-------------------- “Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.” — Isaac Asimov Star Trek Minutiae | Memory Alpha
Registered: Nov 2000
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posted
Wow, installing and running Windows off an external drive? What kind of connection is it?
Anyways, if its any consolation my WINNT directory in Windows 2000 is already 1.8GB and when you add up associated directories I wouldn't be surprised if it hit 3 GB.
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
I'm running the external drive on a FireWire-to-IDE converter cable, so it's probably running at around 400 Kbps (FireWire standard). It's a bit slow, but not any worse than I'd expect considering it's running through an emulator anyway.
So, Win2K already uses up to 2 gigs. OS X uses about the same, too. Given Microsoft's reputation for bloatware, I suppose that 3 gigs isn't all that bad, but I'd sure like to be able to shave a gig or so off the top, if possible.
-------------------- “Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.” — Isaac Asimov Star Trek Minutiae | Memory Alpha
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Cartman
just made by the Presbyterian Church
Member # 256
posted
There are many (are you listening, bX?) superfluous, erhm, items you could freely dispense with, but XP's biggest diskspace usurpers are its System Restore and Hibernation features (and, technically, the pagefile, but you really don't want to disturb that), both of which you can silence from the control panel (System ==>> System Restore tab and Performance and Maintenance ==>> Power Options ==>> Hibernate tab, respectively). Just don't forget to delete the System Volume Information folder after you've deactivated SR.
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted
Okay, I did turn off the System Restore function the other day, but I didn't delete any folders. Where can I find the SVI folder to delete it?
-------------------- “Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.” — Isaac Asimov Star Trek Minutiae | Memory Alpha
Registered: Nov 2000
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posted
Turning off System Restore won' make the Windows directory any smaller, because the space reserved for System Restore is kept elsewhere.
As for the fact that it takes up so much space, I remember hearing that a lot of that is to do with the graphical and aural niceties that come with it, along with any other Windows extras like Movie Maker.
Their argument was: "Hard drives cost about 70 cents for a gigabyte. 3 gigabytes is therefore only slightly more than two dollars. Stop being a tight bastard."
(Say all that, my installation is only 1.5 gigabytes. Is yours filled with pretty pictures, or something? And if you're going to complain about the general XP look, then you should at least turn off the "go" button next to the address bar. That's just for morons and the gays.)
-------------------- Yes, you're despicable, and... and picable... and... and you're definitely, definitely despicable. How a person can get so despicable in one lifetime is beyond me. It isn't as though I haven't met a lot of people. Goodness knows it isn't that. It isn't just that... it isn't... it's... it's despicable.
Registered: Mar 1999
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Cartman
just made by the Presbyterian Church
Member # 256
posted
MinMan: in your drive's root directory, though you may have to coax WExplorer to display hidden OS files first (Tools menu ==>> Folder Options ==>> View tab) or give your user account access to it if you formatted the drive to NTFS during install.
-------------------- ".mirrorS arE morE fuN thaN televisioN" - TEH PNIK FLAMIGNO
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted
Liam: Yeah, hard drives are relatively cheap, if you're buying a new computer. But if you're just trying to run something on the side using what you've got (which, in this case, is an old drive that used to be the primary in my dad's four-year-old PowerBook), you're stuck.
Cartman: I've got WExplorer showing hidden files like you suggested, but I still can't find any folder called "System Volume Information" or any similar name. I didn't do a traditional install of Windows, though -- it was handled by Virtual PC, so I'm assuming that it just gave me whatever the vanilla defaults are.
When you say root level, I assume you mean C:\ as the location, right? (Sorry, I'm really unfamiliar with the Windows terminology! ) Even with the hidden folders turned on, I only see four folders in that directory: "Documents and Settings", "My Music", "Programs and Files", and "WINDOWS".
(Sorry if I'm being particularly dense here... I appreciate your help so far! )
-------------------- “Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.” — Isaac Asimov Star Trek Minutiae | Memory Alpha
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Cartman
just made by the Presbyterian Church
Member # 256
posted
Yes, the root level's always C:\, or D:\, or E:\, or whatever letter XP assigned to your drive.
Have you also unchecked the "Hide protected operating system files" box, BTW? That should definitely make the SVI map pop up.
And I don't mean to brag (much), but I do believe this is worthy of recognition. B)
-------------------- ".mirrorS arE morE fuN thaN televisioN" - TEH PNIK FLAMIGNO
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted
Okay, I un-hid the protected OS files, and found the folder, right where you said it would be. The only problem? It's empty. Seems like Windows actually deleted the files when I turned off System Restore -- which, as I now recall, I think it said it would do.
I guess this is one of those few cases where mine's bigger! isn't something you really want to brag about, huh?
-------------------- “Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.” — Isaac Asimov Star Trek Minutiae | Memory Alpha
Registered: Nov 2000
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posted
Not to be completely left out ... Mine. Although I have little to worry about.
-------------------- I'm slightly annoyed at Hobbes' rather rude decision to be much more attractive than me though. That's just rude. - PsyLiam, Oct 27, 2005.
Registered: May 1999
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capped
I WAS IN THE FUTURE, IT WAS TOO LATE TO RSVP
Member # 709
posted
420 folders? By God soldier, put down your grub and stand up so I can salute ya proper.
Blod Gess America Poke Smot!
-------------------- "Are you worried that your thoughts are not quite.. clear?"
Registered: Sep 2001
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posted
No no no, you got it wrong! It goes like this...
*sings* Three of these things belong together, three of these things are kind of the same. But one of these things just doesn't belong here...
Um, yeah. I forget the rest. It's been almost twenty years since I watched that show, okay?
-------------------- “Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.” — Isaac Asimov Star Trek Minutiae | Memory Alpha
Registered: Nov 2000
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![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
) I've installed the plethora of updates from Microsoft (that sure took a while, I'll tell you!), and I'm now running SP1 and all the other associated stuff. I even fiddled with the interface a bit -- I didn't download any of those programs yet, but just tweaked it using the control panel. I'd probably use the silver theme if XP were my primary system, but I'm sticking with the blue coloring because it clashes less with the Aqua styling of my beloved Mac. And by shrinking the text of the window titles just a bit, the whole thing looks ![[Wink]](wink.gif)
) Even with the hidden folders turned on, I only see four folders in that directory: "Documents and Settings", "My Music", "Programs and Files", and "WINDOWS".![[Smile]](smile.gif)
)
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