Is it?

On my Windows 8 system the WinSxs folder is 10GB containing 53,526 Files & 14,089 Folders.

That's on a 60GB partition.

ETA The Windows folder in total uses 19.4GB with 81,926 Files & 17,973 Folders.

Edited by IanBB (Sun 07-Apr-13 22:00:13)

Yes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_8#Hardware_requ...

So you are complaining that Windows 8 is using up the space outlined in the minimum system requirements , did you expect it to use less than they told you it would?

Edited by Pipexer (Sun 07-Apr-13 22:20:14)

Who said I was complaining?

You seemed to be disputing that Windows 8 fixes the problem, you have to remember that WinSxS is not an optional part of Windows, it is part of Windows, and the space it uses up can be treated as operating system files. As you said your total Windows folder amounts just to under 20GB, which is almost exactly what Microsoft state Windows 8 will need, so you can't say anything is wrong with that.

So indeed by upgrading to Windows 8 you will fix the problem of WinSxS growing astronomically large, however that does not mean it will go away totally - it just means it will stay roughly the same (and from all the tests I have done on various systems - it is always around the same).

Edited by Pipexer (Sun 07-Apr-13 22:24:45)

Interesting to see that the HDD space requirements quoted in both the Windows 8 and Windows 7 articles is the same: 32-bit-16GB; 64-bit 20GB.

FWIW on my nearly 2-year old Windows 7 Pro system, the system partition is 200GB, the Windows folder is 22.8GB, 88,519 files, 18,730 folders. The Winsxs folder is 9.50GB, 53,306 files, 13,413 folders.

So perhaps 10% over the quoted space requirements, but the system is probably carrying a bit of overhead from add-ons I've installed. WinDirStat tells me the Installer folder is the 2nd largest after Winsxs at 4GB. I'm guessing that is for Windows updates and the like, don't know if any application stuff (whether MS or otherwise) goes in there.

Am I concerned? Certainly not. ~10% of the partition, ~2% of the actual HDD, for the system is negligible.

As a comparison, though perhaps not a very good one, how much of the volume of a car is taken up by the engine, transmission, steering and suspension, fuel tank? I suspect more than 10%.

[Edit to add age]

Edited by cheshire_man (Sun 07-Apr-13 22:46:50)

No.

I was just comparing the size of that folder to my partition size as most of the previous posters in this thread have already done (considering this thread started 2 years ago!)

Obviously I do understand that it is part of Windows, the fact it lives in the Windows directory does seem to indicate that...

Anyhow, you state that it will stay the same size. It probably will on my PC due to the fact I probably have all the software installed in my W8 partition I am likely to use in the near future.

However, will Windows/Office updates affect it's size? Who knows but I have this thread bookmarked a few days after the next 2 patch Tuesdays.

In reply to a post by Pipexer:

You seemed to be disputing that Windows 8 fixes the problem, you have to remember that WinSxS is not an optional part of Windows, it is part of Windows, and the space it uses up can be treated as operating system files.

Mis-reported disk-space not optional? What leaps and bounds Windows has come, that some users will defend such practices.

I thought we covered the whole "misreported" thing with WinSxS before, in TTTS perhaps?

Again without meaning to be cheeky you clearly have a strange obsession with this folder!

In reply to a post by Pipexer:

So indeed by upgrading to Windows 8 you will fix the problem of WinSxS growing astronomically large, however that does not mean it will go away totally - it just means it will stay roughly the same.

No, WinsXs grows over time. Every Win Update makes it bigger; you don't need to install any more programs, but it grows like topsy.

I've kept a log of its size for a couple of years and it has grown from 11GB when I started to 16GB now.

Edited by XRaySpeX (Sun 07-Apr-13 23:56:17)

Yes it grows slightly. Astronomically? No, not at all. - that is not intended behavior and never was.

Edited by Pipexer (Sun 07-Apr-13 23:56:22)