Windows NTFS Compression and Native Boot VHD/ VHDX? Issues or Conflict

[crashnburn4u]

Windows NTFS Compression and Native Boot VHD/ VHDX? Issues or Conflicts? 

 

I am currently cleaning out my Windows 7 x64 Ultimate SP1 for a 2 step upgrade > Win 8 > Win 8.1 and then will convert it to VHD. 

 

I have this \Windows\Installer folder that is taking a lot of space and seems to be unused mostly. 

 

Eventually, I wish to clean it out/ delete it or major stuff inside it. 

 

But, till then I was considering "compressing" option it as suggested here instead of delete/ remap right now. 

http://superuser.com/questions/23479/is-it-safe-to-delete-from-c-windows-installer

http://superuser.com/questions/707767/how-can-i-to-free-up-drive-space-from-the-windows-installer-folder-without-killi

 

If I do this right now (during Win 7 > 8 > 8.1) I am wondering this will cause any issues creatingin or running the VHD? 

 

I googled around for VHD and NTFS compression and did not find anything good or bad either way (with exception that Windows XP and VHD had some issues)

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/virtual_pc_guy/archive/2007/05/24/be-careful-with-vhds-and-windows-xp-compressed-folders.aspx

[submix8c]

Be forwarned that I haven't used any of these and therefore do *not* endorse their usage. It's up tp you.

https://www.raymond.cc/blog/safely-delete-unused-msi-and-mst-files-from-windows-installer-folder/

 

There also appears to be a Win7 Update that will CleanUp unused stuff. I haven't fully updated any Win7 OS as-of-yet, so...

http://lifehacker.com/recover-tons-of-wasted-disk-space-with-the-new-windows-1442937625

Links to this -

http://blogs.technet.com/b/askpfeplat/archive/2013/10/07/breaking-news-reduce-the-size-of-the-winsxs-directory-and-free-up-disk-space-with-a-new-update-for-windows-7-sp1-clients.aspx

 

Also, backup, backup, backup in case something flubs you up.

 

As for your initial Q about "compressing" I'm not really sure what that will do for you since mostly that Folder contains MSI/MSP files anyway. You *may* gain somewhat but I'm really unsure how much. I'd recommended downloading 7-Zip and (using it) create a ".ZIP" file (not a ".7z" file) of the folder to see if there's any gain to be had (ZIP file size vs Folder size). If not, then it would be pointless anyway. See comments here (even one about Installer folder) -

http://dandar3.blogspot.com/2013/01/how-to-ntfs-compress-windows-winsxs.html

 

After all, a Compressed Folder is just a ".ZIP" file anyway. Whether the OS would "recognize" it for any future Installs and use that instead of the "actual" (physical) Folder I have no clue.

 

HTH

 

edit - Most references are about an SSD. Can I assume that's your case?

Edited June 30, 2015 by submix8c

[crashnburn4u]

Thanks for the insights. I am gonna read through this.. Yes its an SSD Slowly gradually moving it towards Win 8/ 8.1 without losing existing Apps/ Settings etc. 

 

http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/174052-boot-win-7-paritition-copied-to-empty-space-after-win-xp-on-old-hdd/ 

[NoelC]

Just a "think outside the box" kind of comment...

 

SSDs aren't terribly expensive any more.  In fact, there are several VERY good models from a few years back that can be found on e.g., eBay for even less than new ones, and they're usually not used to even a small fraction of their expected life.  OCZ Vertex 3 models of various sizes come to mind.  I recently picked up three of them at the 120 GB size for under $50 each.  These are still good drives, even by today's standards.  I have a total of six 480 GB Vertex 3 models and three 120 GB models myself, with zero problems.

 

At those kinds of prices you could consider making more space available by improving your hardware rather than by compressing existing files and potentially letting yourself in for future headaches.  In my experience NTFS compression is pretty slow when it comes to actually accessing the files.

 

This is not a strong recommendation - just a thought.

 

-Noel

[dencorso]

+1

Used OCZ Vertex3 do rock, all right!

I've got two used 120 GB OCZ Vertex3 in use in my machines!

[NoelC]

A reasonable rule of thumb to gauge SSD wearout is to multiply drive capacity by 1000.  Worry about wearout when about that much data has been written to the drive.

 

Then you can use a tool to read the raw SMART data - such as the OCZ Toolbox - to read the lifetime write count, divide it into the number above, and determine how far along toward wearout a drive is.

 

The most used of them I found was about 2% of the way toward wearout, meaning it had 98% of its life left.

 

-Noel

[crashnburn4u]

Thanks for the tip.. It would've be easy to do that if this was not a Laptop  

 

Either way, I upgraded to Win 7 > 8 > 8.1 and the new Disk Cleanup with System Files Cleaning is "nice" So, I might not have to go with this. Lets see until I come to this bridge again. It was a question I was curious about as I saw it suggested online.