How much space should I allocate?

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Level 1

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How much space should I allocate?

I plan to run bootcamp for win 7. I am tripped up on one question though. How much should I allocate to the Windows partition. I have about 200 GB free (not partitioned yet!). I don't want to grant too much to windows. Nor too little. If I go too small, I don't want to have to reformat and repartition.

My Plan with W7:

Install a few games
Update Frequently
Install Security (obviously)
Maybe create some text files or program
Install some freeware for my needs
and have some breathing room.

Please give me a good guess on how much I should give to Win7.

iMac 20 inch, Mac OS X (10.6.2), Maybe Early 2008, late 07.

Posted on Nov 14, 2009 3:17 PM

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Answer 1

Doc M

Level 3

785 points

Nov 14, 2009 7:40 PM in response to Tecwiz

Minimum 100GB. Anything less will affect how well things run. Take it from one who had installed Windows on a Mac, then found he didn't need it for work anymore and removed it and got the 100 GB back on his HD.

Be advised: Windows in any incarnation is a memory hog.

Doc

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Answer 2

Tecwiz Author

Level 1

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Nov 15, 2009 7:57 AM in response to Doc M

Hey again, I like the suggestion. I don't want to do much freeware anymore. Maybe one or two programs. I also don't think I need to dedicate more than half of my entire HD. Mac OS is primary. W7 will actually be for exploring Windows more than anything. I am not going to be working on it every single day like I understand you did. I don't plan to install Microsoft office. The program I might install is Wizard101. That is about it.

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Answer 3

jayarr

Level 1

5 points

Nov 15, 2009 8:23 AM in response to Tecwiz

If you don't plan to install many programs in Windows 7, or store many files there, 50GB is fine for the Bootcamp partition size. As stated above, memory is the most important factor. If your Mac has 2GB of memory, then Windows 7 should perform fine.

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Answer 4

Doc M

Level 3

785 points

Nov 15, 2009 8:47 AM in response to Tecwiz

Tec--

Only reason I suggested 100 GB is to make sure your game (I presume this to be a game) runs pretty smoothly. When I set mine up, I was told that much less than 100 GB could adversely impact the running of Windows.

But if you are only using one program, 50 GB should be okay.

Doc

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Answer 5

The hatter

Level 9

61,031 points

Nov 15, 2009 12:47 PM in response to Tecwiz

The only downside is the last 50GB of your hard drive is the slowest area. And the way Boot Camp forces the partition limitations.

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Answer 6

Tecwiz Author

Level 1

0 points

Nov 16, 2009 3:44 PM in response to The hatter

Thanks for the suggestions. Your answers would have solved the problem. However, to get more opinions I am keeping the question marked as unanswered.

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Answer 7

Tecwiz Author

Level 1

0 points

Nov 18, 2009 6:15 PM in response to Tecwiz

EDIT: Any suggestions need to be in by Sunday. Then this question will be marked answered on Monday afternoon.

Thanks,
Tecwiz

Message was edited by: Tecwiz

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Answer 8

daviangel

Level 1

129 points

Nov 22, 2009 7:02 AM in response to Doc M

Agreed!
It really depends on exactly what you are going to install though since Visual Studio for programming and stuff eats up like 10GB itself and windows updates can use up 10-20GB too!
Many games now eat up 20GB average and my favorite pc game, Flight Simulator X, eats up 40GB itself after all the add on's etc. I also have a ton of Steam games like HL1,HL2,etc that take up another 40GB!

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