Windows 7 on a netbook?

nichorob · 10 Jan 2009 at 14:53

I have a Dell Mini 9 (1.6Ghz Atom, 1Gb DDR, 8Gb SSD) currently running XP quite happily.

I have read a couple of articles now which state that Windows 7 can run quite happily on a netbook but my only concern is how much storage space it will need. I have read that it will take up 5.5Gb?

Is this viable?

vintage-x · 10 Jan 2009 at 15:07

Ive just got an acer aspire one and am going to try installing win 7 on that. I really dont see any reason why it shouldnt work

pingwing · 10 Jan 2009 at 15:09

Got a vista disc to hand? 7 and vista are supposed to be fairly similar *hides from general flaming* so seeing if vista runs on it should be a good test to see if it can handle 7..

My guess is it probably wont be the best thing ever though (i thought netbooks were more for linux and a stripped down xp....)

fini · 10 Jan 2009 at 15:11

7 runs much better than Vista, so the fact that Vista runs slowly on netbooks doesn't give any indication as to whether 7 should.

I think it should run well though as performance isn't supposed to be too far off of XP at all.

nichorob · 10 Jan 2009 at 15:15

From what I have read, Microsoft want to take a real hold of the netbook market so have made Windows 7 capable of scaling to run perfectly on a netbook. Some people even claim that it seems to run smoother than XP.

I have never used Vista do don't have a disk. Any ideas on install size?

dbeckett · 10 Jan 2009 at 15:19

Should be fine, heres a link showing someone installing it on a 6year old pc which is of similar spec
http://geekpi.com/?p=38#more-38

nichorob · 10 Jan 2009 at 15:21

He has a 60Gb hard disk though, mine is only 8Gb! I don't mind if it only leaves me with 1Gb free space as my netbook does not have anything on it that requires a lot of space.

vintage-x · 10 Jan 2009 at 15:24

Frank Butcher said:
He has a 60Gb hard disk though, mine is only 8Gb! I don't mind if it only leaves me with 1Gb free space as my netbook does not have anything on it that requires a lot of space.

might not work then because it takes about 8 and a half Gb or more to install

nichorob · 10 Jan 2009 at 15:27

vintage-x said:
might not work then because it takes about 8 and a half Gb or more to install

Ah right, thanks for the info.

No options for a barebones install to save space on some of the extra stuff?

vintage-x · 10 Jan 2009 at 15:30

Frank Butcher said:
Ah right, thanks for the info.

No options for a barebones install to save space on some of the extra stuff?

tbh I dont think there will be any type of vlite programs for windows 7 for a while yet.

As I said im just going to try and install it on my new acer one now but i dont know weather it will work or not untill i get another 512mb of ram which I will not be able to get installed till next weekend. If only overclockers delivered on a sunday

dbeckett · 10 Jan 2009 at 15:32

Microsoft has confirmed to CNET UK that it will be providing a version of Windows 7 specifically developed for netbooks and sub-notebook computers, as well as at least one version for consumers, and one for enterprise users.

The confirmation came during a one-on-one briefing at Microsoft's London offices this week. Although we can't confirm whether the 'netbook edition' of Windows 7 will be on general sale to consumers, we imagine it'll be made available only to netbook manufacturers for installation on new machines.

Just read that there now, so the beta isn't fully meant for netbooks.

I have windows 7 running on vmware, it takes up around 9gb of the harddrive

will_expert · 10 Jan 2009 at 16:06

i've got seven (release 7000, not the beta) running on my samsung nc10, it runs way faster than xp and vista (even with all the eye candy turned on).
however, it's taking up 20gb with only the bare essential programs installed so it probably wouldn't install atall on your dell :/

vintage-x · 10 Jan 2009 at 16:06

will_expert said:
i've got seven (release 7000, not the beta) running on my samsung nc10, it runs way faster than xp and vista (even with all the eye candy turned on).
however, it's taking up 20gb with only the bare essential programs installed so it probably wouldn't install atall on your dell :/

how did u install it did u use a usb dvd-rom drive???

edit: ive got it to work kind of just need to download the 32bit version

nichorob · 10 Jan 2009 at 16:51

will_expert said:
i've got seven (release 7000, not the beta) running on my samsung nc10, it runs way faster than xp and vista (even with all the eye candy turned on).
however, it's taking up 20gb with only the bare essential programs installed so it probably wouldn't install atall on your dell :/

Ouch.

hegemon · 10 Jan 2009 at 17:02

will_expert said:
i've got seven (release 7000, not the beta) running on my samsung nc10

Release 7000 is the Beta

will_expert · 10 Jan 2009 at 17:25

hegemon said:
Release 7000 is the Beta

sorry i meant i downloaded a torrent of it before the beta was officialy relased by microsoft.

londonbairn · 10 Jan 2009 at 17:59

will_expert said:
i've got seven (release 7000, not the beta) running on my samsung nc10, it runs way faster than xp and vista (even with all the eye candy turned on).
however, it's taking up 20gb with only the bare essential programs installed so it probably wouldn't install atall on your dell :/

What bare essential programs? I installed Windows 7 on my NC10 and the base install is taking up 8.1gb.....

MouseMat2004 · 10 Jan 2009 at 18:08

It ran fine on my Acer One. Had a few issues with the wireless driver though, seems to be fairly common too. Apart from that everything worked perfectly and it ran very well, I wouldnt say it was faster than XP but much better than Vista.

I'll try some of the latter betas/RC's and see what happens, plus I'm sure better drivers will help a little.

vintage-x · 10 Jan 2009 at 18:37

MouseMat2004 said:
It ran fine on my Acer One. Had a few issues with the wireless driver though, seems to be fairly common too. Apart from that everything worked perfectly and it ran very well, I wouldnt say it was faster than XP but much better than Vista.

I'll try some of the latter betas/RC's and see what happens, plus I'm sure better drivers will help a little.

so is there no way to get the wireless working then???

MouseMat2004 · 10 Jan 2009 at 18:43

Some people report it working after the initial boot - basically it doesnt pickup the device but when you reboot it does and works (had a problem where it wouldnt copy 100+mb files over the network tho) but whenever I rebooted it would not pick it up again, until I rebooted again and it was fine. I tried quite a few different drivers, tried forcing the drivers and everything else I could think of.

It maybe something to do with the initial boot - the ones who claim it to be working are the ones who dont touch the wireless and just reboot.