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


Od1sseas

Od1sseas

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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 My Computer

At a glance

Windows 11Core i5 13600KF2x16GB 7200Mhz C34 TunedRadeon RX 6700 XT
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
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Philips 24M1N3200ZA (165Hz IPS)
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1080p
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1TB NVMe (3GB/s)
PSU
Aerocool VX 550W
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Aerocool Hive v3
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Xilence M705D
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Edge
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Malwarebytes
VMs do not have hibernation files or all the temporary files e.g. appdata, program data etc.
They will soon grow.
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 11 Pro + Win11 Canary VM.I9 13th gen i9-13900H 2.60 GHZ16 GB solderedIntegrated Intel Iris XE
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
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Edge
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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 My Computer

At a glance

Windows 11Core i5 13600KF2x16GB 7200Mhz C34 TunedRadeon RX 6700 XT
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 Computers My Computers

System One System Two

  • At a glance

    Windows 11 ProIntel Series 3 Core Ultra X9 388H64GB LPDDR5x 9600 MT/sIntel Arc graphics B390 Panther Lake
    OS
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 16 DA16260
    CPU
    Intel Series 3 Core Ultra X9 388H
    Memory
    64GB LPDDR5x 9600 MT/s
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Arc graphics B390 Panther Lake
    Monitor(s) Displays
    16" 3.2K Tandem OLED Infinity Edge
    Screen Resolution
    3200 x 2000 16:10 236 PPI
    Hard Drives
    1 Terabyte M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD
    Case
    Black Anodized Aluminum
    Cooling
    Vapor Chamber Cooling
    Mouse
    None
    Internet Speed
    942 Mbps Netgear Mesh + 2 Satellites
    Browser
    Microsoft Edge (Chromium)
    Antivirus
    Windows Security (Defender)
    Other Info
    NPU delivering 67 TOPS
    Microsoft 365 subscription
    Microsoft Office 365
    Microsoft OneDrive 1TB Cloud
    Microsoft Visual Studio
    Microsoft Visual Studio Code
    Microsoft Sysinternals Suite
    Microsoft BitLocker
    Microsoft Copilot
    Dell Support Assist
    Dell Command | Update
    Macrium Reflect X subscription
    1Password Password Manager
    Amazon Kindle for PC
    Lightroom/Photoshop subscription
    Interactive Brokers Trader Workstation

  • At a glance

    Windows 11 ProSnapdragon® X Elite (12 Core) with Hexagon NP...32GB LPDDR5x 8448 MT/sIntegrated Adreno GPU
    Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Microsoft Surface Laptop 7
    CPU
    Snapdragon® X Elite (12 Core) with Hexagon NPU delivering 45 TOPS
    Memory
    32GB LPDDR5x 8448 MT/s
    Graphics card(s)
    Integrated Adreno GPU
    Sound Card
    Omnisonic speakers with Dolby Atmos spatial sound
    Monitor(s) Displays
    13.8″ PixelSense Flow touchscreen 120 Hz 600 NIT
    Screen Resolution
    2304 × 1536 (201 PPI), 3:2 aspect ratio
    Hard Drives
    1 TB PCIe NVMe Gen 4 SSD
    Case
    Black Anodized Aluminum
    Cooling
    Vapor Chamber Cooling
    Mouse
    None
    Internet Speed
    942 Mbps Netgear Mesh + 2 Satellites
    Browser
    Microsoft Edge (Chromium)
    Antivirus
    Windows Security (Defender)
    Other Info
    Microsoft 365 subscription (Office)
    Microsoft Office 365
    Microsoft OneDrive 1TB Cloud
    Microsoft Visual Studio 2026
    Microsoft Visual Studio Code
    Interactive Brokers Trader Workstation
    Lightroom/Photoshop subscription
    1Password Password Manager
    Microsoft Sysinternals
    Amazon Kindle for PC
    Microsoft BitLocker
    Microsoft 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.
 

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System One System Two

  • At a glance

    All Branches but ReleaseAMD Ryzen 7 7735HS 3200-4500 Mhz 8 cores x 232 GB DDR5Radeon Graphic / NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 8 GB...
    OS
    All Branches but Release
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Nitro ANV15-51
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 7735HS 3200-4500 Mhz 8 cores x 2
    Motherboard
    Sportage_RBH
    Memory
    32 GB DDR5
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radeon Graphic / NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 8 GB GDDR6
    Sound Card
    AMD/Realtek(R) Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Integrated Monitor (15.3"vis)
    Screen Resolution
    FHD 1920X1080 16:9 144Hz
    Hard Drives
    KINGSTON OM8SEP4512Q-AA 1TB
    Western Digital 256GB
    PSU
    19V DC 6.32 A 120 W
    Cooling
    Dual Fans
    Mouse
    MS Bluetooth
    Internet Speed
    Fiber 1GB Cox -us & 1GB Orange-fr
    Browser
    Edge Canary- Firefox Nightly-Chrome Dev-Chrome Dev
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender

  • At a glance

    Windows 11 BetaAMD A9-94208 GB of DDR4AMD Radeon R5
    Operating System
    Windows 11 Beta
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Asus X751BP
    CPU
    AMD A9-9420
    Memory
    8 GB of DDR4
    Graphics card(s)
    AMD Radeon R5
    Screen Resolution
    1600x900
    Hard Drives
    Seagate 1 TB
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 Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 11 Enterprise 25H2 [rev. 8893]
OS
Windows 11 Enterprise 25H2 [rev. 8893]
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 My Computer

At a glance

Windows 7
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 My Computers

System One System Two

  • At a glance

    Windows 11 ProIntel Core i5-8279u32GB DDR4 2666MhzIntel Iris Plus 655
    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.

  • At a glance

    Windows 10 ProRyzen 9 5900x64GB DDR4-3600EVGA GeForce 3080 FT3 Ultra
    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
    Keyboard
    Corsiar K65 RGB Lux
    Mouse
    Logitech G9 Laser Mouse
    Internet Speed
    500/50
    Browser
    Chrome
    Antivirus
    Defender.

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 11Core i5 13600KF2x16GB 7200Mhz C34 TunedRadeon RX 6700 XT
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 My Computer

At a glance

Windows XP,11 Linux Fedora Rawhide pre-releas...2 X Intel i7
OS
Windows XP,11 Linux Fedora Rawhide pre-release 45
Computer type
PC/Desktop
CPU
2 X Intel i7
Screen Resolution
4KUHD X 2
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