32GB mSata as OS drive?

I've been thinking about getting either the 32 or 64 mydigitalssd msata for my t420.

I have minimal requirements in terms of applications, i don't need office, or photoshop, and i don't play games.

I'm just wondering if 32 will be big enough to install the OS etc via the lenovo recovery disc, or if i'd need to do a 'clean install' for it to fit. How much extra space can i save with a clean install compared to a recovery disc install?

 

not via the recovery disks. my 30gb SSDs would not work, and in other recovery installs, the consumed space was much larger.

but a fresh win7 install likely would

mind you, there won't be any space left for programs

I would wait until there are a few more options on the market, or buy the intel 80gb (known to be the most reliable, good for a boot drive)

 

thanks. would a 'fresh win7 install' be the same as a 'clean install' mentioned in the mSata thread?

i've seen multiple people saying that their windows install ended up at around 15GB

 

yes fresh install is clean install

I run a tight ship but with the programs I need for work, the lenovo utilities, and three games, (and the windows updates which begin to bloat right off the bat) I'm at a little less than 60GB

the price difference is $120 and (in my opinion) is well worth it, considering the grief you'll have to go through every time you want to install a program.

 

I say go for the 64GB. My clean install, which is pretty light, is around 17GB. If you do get the 32GB, you'd have no room for expansion in the future. If I were buying a mSATA, I'd get this. Kingston has been around a lot longer.

 

Well, the 64 was out of stock for the foreseeable future, and i'm satisfied with the price/reputation of MyDigitalSSD, so i purchased the 32GB model the other day since i'd like to set this up over xmas.

I'll obviously be doing a clean install of win 7, but is there another guide for removing any bloatware from the windows 7 OS itself? or will i have to manually uninstall things from within the OS once it's up and running - and if so, any tips for unnecessary apps etc? like i said, i don't use or need office or any trial software like that.

 

My suggestions if you need to save space:

1. turn off hibernate
2. turn off restore points / shadow copy
3. reduce the size of your virtual memory page file

 

control panel - programs and features - turn windows features on or off

although the defaults are pretty lean there, too

 

@ ymi

Move your user directories to the HDD. RapidDrive does that for you automatically but you may prefer to have more control and change the settings manually. There are other posts on how to do that.

 

that's the plan. i'll have a look for that information. If rapiddrive is additional proprietary software that requires an extra driver, and i can do something similar in win7 manually, can i just choose to not install rapiddrive at all?

 

RapidDrive is one the ThinkPad products. Don't need to use it.

Copy all c:\users\ymi\My Documents\ to d:\.... Also pictures, videos, music

Then go to Windows Explorer, right click on each of Documents, Pictures, Videos, etc. and change them to new directories on your d: drive (such as d:\users\ymi\my pictures). Make those new drives be the default Save location. Move them to them top. Delete the c:\user\ymi directories for documents, pictures, etc.