How I Got Full Windows XP Installed Under 2GB!
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From: BillW50 on 14 Jan 2010 17:25 Well it is partly true. As I moved the Program Files folder to a flash drive. I believe this is a useful tip for those with small system drives. And unlike Hitachi microdrive filter, it doesn't slow down the computer and isn't a pain in the butt to install. I came up with this because my nephew's 4GB netbook was always running out of drive space. You can't normally just install new programs on a flash drive, because about 50% of them will refuse to install on a removable drive. Nor does it help for the programs already installed. This method fixes both problems. I used BartPE to move all of the folders and files found in the Program Files folders to a flash drive. I suppose any boot disc would work as long as you can move folders with it. I tried using Windows Safe Mode, but it wouldn't move everything. If someone gets it to work, let me know. I didn't try that hard. Now the system drive must be in NTFS format, the flash drive doesn't matter. Now boot Windows in Safe Mode. If you miss the opportunity, Windows will recreate some of the Program Files once again in Normal Mode. I haven't tested what to do in this case, so you are on your own here. Now with Windows in Safe Mode, I haven't seen Windows needing anything in the Program Files folder to function, so it appears to behave. Next you need to use diskmgmt.msc to mount the flash drive in the Program Files folder. And that is it. Now reboot normally. Now all of your programs lives on the flash drive. And any programs you add to Program Files, also gets saved to the flash drive. This frees up lots of space on the system drive. Also I found no program that complains running from a flash drive yet. I only found two side effects so far. And I like to hear from others who may have found more. 1) Best to uninstall Avast if you are using it. Then reinstall it after the mounting is complete. It wasn't in the System Tray afterwords. So I don't know if it was running or not. But uninstalling before or after and reinstalling it again works great. 2) MS Works v9 breaks if you move the folder and then put it back again. I don't know why, maybe this is some sort of copy protection. And like always, make backups before you do anything. <grin> -- Bill Gateway MX6124 ('06 era) 2 of 3 - Windows XP SP3
From: flamer die.spam on 14 Jan 2010 17:52 flash drives are NOT made for this application. constant read/writing to the drive will kill it very quickly as they are limited to the number of re-write cycles and have a limited number of years data retention. Flamer.
From: Charlie Hoffpauir on 14 Jan 2010 18:33 On Thu, 14 Jan 2010 14:52:02 -0800 (PST), "flamer die.spam(a)hotmail.com" <die.spam(a)hotmail.com> wrote: >flash drives are NOT made for this application. constant read/writing >to the drive will kill it very quickly as they are limited to the >number of re-write cycles and have a limited number of years data >retention. > >Flamer. How quickly is "quickly"? A check with wikipedia says modern flash drives are rated for 1 million write/erase cycles per cell. I don't know how he uses his drive, but that far exceeds my expected remaining lifetime (I'm 70). Now data retention is a limitation, with only 10 years.... I do expect to be around for longer than that. But I doubt I'd still be using the same netbook for that long.
From: mike on 14 Jan 2010 20:08 Charlie Hoffpauir wrote: > On Thu, 14 Jan 2010 14:52:02 -0800 (PST), "flamer > die.spam(a)hotmail.com" <die.spam(a)hotmail.com> wrote: > >> flash drives are NOT made for this application. constant read/writing >> to the drive will kill it very quickly as they are limited to the >> number of re-write cycles and have a limited number of years data >> retention. >> >> Flamer. > > How quickly is "quickly"? A check with wikipedia says modern flash > drives are rated for 1 million write/erase cycles per cell. I don't > know how he uses his drive, but that far exceeds my expected remaining > lifetime (I'm 70). Now data retention is a limitation, with only 10 > years.... I do expect to be around for longer than that. But I doubt > I'd still be using the same netbook for that long. This is a very complex issue. Most of what's going on is trade secret and unknowable by mere mortals. Reading is not a problem. Writing is the problem. I thought that moving the program files folder would be ok, because it's all read stuff and the volatile stuff would be stored in the registry on the HD. But when I checked it out, I found over a hundred ..ini files that store volatile stuff like most recently used files. If it gets written once when you close the program, you're probably safe. If you're copying 10,000 files and the MRU entry gets updated for every file, you've got a problem. Some programs may also store temporary files or caches in their install directory. Depending on the wear leveling algorithm, if any, it may matter a LOT whether the flash drive is mostly empty of mostly full. You'll have to google it, but there are some tools designed for embedded windows that dramatically reduce writes to the drive. Not at all clear if they would work the way you've set up your system. There was a long thread a few months ago about longevity of SSD. Think it was in comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage. A million sounds like a big number until you start talking about how fast a computer can run through it.
From: HeyBub on 14 Jan 2010 20:49
die.spam(a)hotmail.com wrote: > flash drives are NOT made for this application. constant read/writing > to the drive will kill it very quickly as they are limited to the > number of re-write cycles and have a limited number of years data > retention. > > Flamer. Sort of. It's the writing, not the reading, that wears them out. But the entries in the Program Files folder, no matter where it's located, are written only once. |