Why Windows 11 on a VM is much smaller in size compared to actual Windows 11?


Od1sseas

Od1sseas

Well-known member
Member
Local time
9:45 AM
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OS
Windows 11
I installed the exact same .ISO of Windows 11 on a VM and on real hardware.

Windows 11 installed on real hardware with tweaks is around 23GB

The tweaks i ran:
1) Debloat
2) Clean and Disable System Restore
3) Disable Reserved Storage
4) Clean WinSxS using /ResetBase
5) Enabling Compact OS

Applying the same tweaks on the exact same install but on a VM, Windows 11 will be only 6.5GB
Screenshot 2024-07-31 200728.png

What's even weirder is that even WITHOUT applying any tweaks, stock Windows 11 on a VM is still MUCH smaller than TWEAKED real Windows 11
Screenshot 2024-07-31 201012.png

HOW is this possible?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Core i5 13600KF
    Motherboard
    Asrock Z790 PG Lightning
    Memory
    2x16GB 7200Mhz C34 Tuned
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radeon RX 6700 XT
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Philips 24M1N3200ZA (165Hz IPS)
    Screen Resolution
    1080p
    Hard Drives
    1TB NVMe (3GB/s)
    PSU
    Aerocool VX 550W
    Case
    Aerocool Hive v3
    Cooling
    Xilence M705D
    Browser
    Edge
    Antivirus
    Malwarebytes
VMs do not have hibernation files or all the temporary files e.g. appdata, program data etc.
They will soon grow.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro + Win11 Canary VM.
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS Zenbook 14
    CPU
    I9 13th gen i9-13900H 2.60 GHZ
    Motherboard
    Yep, Laptop has one.
    Memory
    16 GB soldered
    Graphics Card(s)
    Integrated Intel Iris XE
    Sound Card
    Realtek built in
    Monitor(s) Displays
    laptop OLED screen
    Screen Resolution
    2880x1800 touchscreen
    Hard Drives
    1 TB NVME SSD (only weakness is only one slot)
    PSU
    Internal + 65W thunderbolt USB4 charger
    Case
    Yep, got one
    Cooling
    Stella Artois (UK pint cans - 568 ml) - extra cost.
    Keyboard
    Built in UK keybd
    Mouse
    Bluetooth , wireless dongled, wired
    Internet Speed
    900 mbs (ethernet), wifi 6 typical 350-450 mb/s both up and down
    Browser
    Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    TPM 2.0, 2xUSB4 thunderbolt, 1xUsb3 (usb a), 1xUsb-c, hdmi out, 3.5 mm audio out/in combo, ASUS backlit trackpad (inc. switchable number pad)

    Macrium Reflect Home V8
    Office 365 Family (6 users each 1TB onedrive space)
    Hyper-V (a vm runs almost as fast as my older laptop)
cereberus said:
VMs do not have hibernation files or all the temporary files e.g. appdata, program data etc.
They will soon grow.
Click to expand...
Sure, but almost 17GB difference? Still way too much to believe that's only what's different.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Core i5 13600KF
    Motherboard
    Asrock Z790 PG Lightning
    Memory
    2x16GB 7200Mhz C34 Tuned
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radeon RX 6700 XT
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Philips 24M1N3200ZA (165Hz IPS)
    Screen Resolution
    1080p
    Hard Drives
    1TB NVMe (3GB/s)
    PSU
    Aerocool VX 550W
    Case
    Aerocool Hive v3
    Cooling
    Xilence M705D
    Browser
    Edge
    Antivirus
    Malwarebytes
Od1sseas said:
Sure, but almost 17GB difference? Still way too much to believe that's only what's different.
Click to expand...
What's the size of your recycle bin?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 16 9640
    CPU
    Intel Core Ultra 9 185H 45W
    Memory
    32GB LPDDR5x 7467 MT/s
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 8GB GDDR6
    Monitor(s) Displays
    16.3 inch 4K+ OLED Infinity Edge Touch
    Screen Resolution
    3840 x 2400
    Hard Drives
    1 Terabyte M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD
    Cooling
    Vapor Chamber Cooling
    Internet Speed
    960 Mbps Netgear Mesh + 2 Satellites
    Browser
    Microsoft Edge (Chromium) + Bing
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Windows Security (Defender)
    Other Info
    Microsoft 365 subscription
    Microsoft OneDrive 1TB Cloud
    Microsoft Visual Studio
    Microsoft Visual Studio Code
    Microsoft PowerToys
    Macrium Reflect
    Dell Support Assist
    Dell Command | Update
    LastPass Password Manager
    Amazon Kindle for PC
    Interactive Brokers Trader Workstation
    Lightroom/Photoshop subscription
    BitLocker
    CoPilot
Od1sseas said:
Sure, but almost 17GB difference? Still way too much to believe that's only what's different.
Click to expand...
Don't forget also the hidden files on c:

pagefile.sys
& less consequential swapfile.sys.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. TUF Gaming FX705GM
    CPU
    2.20 gigahertz Intel i7-8750H Hyper-threaded 12 cores
    Motherboard
    ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. FX705GM 1.0
    Memory
    24428 Megabytes
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel(R) UHD Graphics 630 / NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060
    Sound Card
    Intel(R) Display Audio / Realtek(R) Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Integrated Monitor (17.3"vis)
    Screen Resolution
    FHD 1920X1080 16:9
    Hard Drives
    2 SSD SATA/NVM Express 1.3
    WDS500G2B0A-00SM50 500.1 GB
    WDCSDAPNUW-1002 256 GB
    PSU
    19V DC 6.32 A 120 W
    Cooling
    Dual Fans
    Mouse
    MS Bluetooth
    Internet Speed
    Fiber 1GB Cox -us & ADSL Bouygues -fr
    Browser
    Edge Canary- Firefox Nightly
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    VMs of Windows 11 stable/Beta/Dev/Canary
    VM of XeroLinux- Arch based & Debian 12
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Insider Canary
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS X751BP
    CPU
    AMD Dual Core A6-9220
    Motherboard
    ASUS
    Memory
    8 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    AMD Radeon R5 M420
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17.3
    Screen Resolution
    1600X900 16:9
    Hard Drives
    1TB 5400RPM
There’s also a difference in drivers. Real hardware has especially large drivers, like from Intel, who loves to make multi-GB video drivers for Pete’s sake. Not that I’m salty about it or anything.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 23H2
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Intel NUC12WSHi7
    CPU
    12th Gen Intel Core i7-1260P, 2100 MHz
    Motherboard
    NUC12WSBi7
    Memory
    64 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Iris Xe
    Sound Card
    built-in Realtek HD audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell U3219Q
    Screen Resolution
    3840x2160 @ 60Hz
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SSD 990 PRO 1TB
    Keyboard
    CODE 104-Key Mechanical Keyboard with Cherry MX Clears
  • Operating System
    Linux Mint 21.2 (Cinnamon)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Intel NUC8i5BEH
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-8259U CPU @ 2.30GHz
    Memory
    32 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Iris Plus 655
    Keyboard
    CODE 104-Key Mechanical Keyboard - Cherry MX Clear
pseymour said:
There’s also a difference in drivers. Real hardware has especially large drivers, like from Intel, who loves to make multi-GB video drivers for Pete’s sake. Not that I’m salty about it or anything.
Click to expand...
If you wanted to be salty, DISM import the entire NVIDIA driver folder and get a 50 GB ISO from DLL duplication. No big deal.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
Run a tool like Treesizefree and get a breakdown where all the space is being consumed. That will show you the culprit real quick.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Beelink SEI8
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-8279u
    Motherboard
    AZW SEI
    Memory
    32GB DDR4 2666Mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Iris Plus 655
    Sound Card
    Intel SST
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Asus ProArt PA278QV
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    512GB NVMe
    PSU
    NA
    Case
    NA
    Cooling
    NA
    Keyboard
    NA
    Mouse
    NA
    Internet Speed
    500/50
    Browser
    Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    Mini PC used for testing Windows 11.
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Ryzen 9 5900x
    Motherboard
    Asus Rog Strix X570-E Gaming
    Memory
    64GB DDR4-3600
    Graphics card(s)
    EVGA GeForce 3080 FT3 Ultra
    Sound Card
    Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ASUS TUF Gaming VG27AQ. ASUS ProArt Display PA278QV 27” WQHD
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    2TB WD SN850 PCI-E Gen 4 NVMe
    2TB Sandisk Ultra 2.5" SATA SSD
    PSU
    Seasonic Focus 850
    Case
    Fractal Meshify S2 in White
    Cooling
    Dark Rock Pro CPU cooler, 3 x 140mm case fans
    Mouse
    Logitech G9 Laser Mouse
    Keyboard
    Corsiar K65 RGB Lux
    Internet Speed
    500/50
    Browser
    Chrome
    Antivirus
    Defender.

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Core i5 13600KF
    Motherboard
    Asrock Z790 PG Lightning
    Memory
    2x16GB 7200Mhz C34 Tuned
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radeon RX 6700 XT
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Philips 24M1N3200ZA (165Hz IPS)
    Screen Resolution
    1080p
    Hard Drives
    1TB NVMe (3GB/s)
    PSU
    Aerocool VX 550W
    Case
    Aerocool Hive v3
    Cooling
    Xilence M705D
    Browser
    Edge
    Antivirus
    Malwarebytes
VM's have all sorts of features to enable much more dynamic use and release of resources and of course paravirtualisation means that zillions of drivers etc don't need to be loaded for the OS or even for specific hardware. So in general it's not safe to assume a 1:1 ratio between a VM and the equivalent real machine.Of course if you run apps like photoshop in a VM then you'll still need similar resources to the same app running on a physical machine such as disk data areas for scratch files / layers etc.

Cheers
jimbo
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows XP,7,10,11 Linux Arch Linux
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    2 X Intel i7
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