Which version of Win10? 32bit or 64bit on 32GB SSD

Just looked at the Compact command, and found that my own OS is in the Compact state.
As I've never meddled with Compact command, OS=Compact must be the default state of most systems
More relevant to the tiny notebook I've just done, it seems there is no extra space saving option available.

Have I got that correct?

spilly said:

What effect would running with compacted OS have on perceived performance?
The commands suggest it can be undone, and therefore safe to try out
otherwise I'd be very cautious

Your first step should be to use the command compact /CompactOS:query and find out what Setup decided to use in your clean install. You may already be running with a compact OS and not know it.



The decision at install time is based on a number of factors, there's a trade-off between time saved reading less from the hard drive and time added to do the decompression on the fly. This MS blog will tell you a bit more....

Microsoft said:

To ensure compressed system files do not adversely affect system responsiveness, Windows considers a number of factors when assessing whether a device should use compression or not.

One important factor is the amount of memory (RAM) a device has. The amount of RAM a device has determines how often it retrieves system files from storage. Another important factor is how quickly a device’s CPUs can run the decompression algorithm when retrieving system files. By considering these and other important factors, Windows is able to assess if a device can use compression without reducing human-perceivable responsiveness.

How Windows 10 achieves its compact footprint | Windows Experience Blog


Depending on the cpu's speed, you may or may not notice a decrease in responsiveness after using CompactOS. Your assessment of the relative importance of speed vs. free space may differ from Microsoft's, you may be prepared to put up with a slightly slower response in return for an increased free space.

spilly said:

Just looked at the Compact command, and found that my own OS is in the Compact state. As I've never meddled with Compact command, OS=Compact must be the default state of most systems

No, the Compact state is not the default for most systems, just for most systems like your with limited drive space. See the blog I linked to in my previous post.

More relevant to the tiny notebook I've just done, it seems there is no extra space saving option available.
Have I got that correct?

We're getting close to the limits of what can be saved. You could remove optional features like Windows Media Player or IE11 in Settings > Apps > Apps & features > Optional features, but that only gains a few tens of MB.

Your OS is compact, but not your Program Files. You could apply NTFS compression to the Program Files folder and all its sub-folders, but doing so will slow down opening your programs.

If your concern is making space to allow feature updates to take place, then your user files may be automatically compressed before a Feature Update installs, then decompressed afterwards. Before each new Feature Update MS usually release an 'Update to Windows 10 for update reliability' like this one:

Microsoft said:

To help free up disk space, this update may compress files in your user profile directory so that Windows Update can install important updates. When files or folders are compressed, they appear as having two blue arrows overlaid on the icon... ...After you install the update, your files are restored to their original state, and the blue arrows disappear from the file icons in File Explorer. At any point during the update process, you should be able to access your files.

KB4023057 Update to Windows 10 for update reliability - August 1

Thanks Bree for yet more info on stuff I never knew

I'll take a backup, do some tests to measure the effect and report back

spilly