Can you recommend an appropriate disk size, please?

[valha]

Hi,

I am a long-term Windows user and just got a MacBook Pro and I am ready for the change, but I still need Windows.

I have just installed Fusion and I am creating a disk. I left the default disk size to 20 GB (Windows Vista Ultimate), but now I am thinking that might not be enough for my needs. I will be installing Windows Office, some smallish work applications, and I would like to be able to play Windows PC games as well. Should I start over and assign more disk size? If so, can you please recommend a size I should give it taking into account what I have described? I have a 200 GB drive in my MacBook ,which is not huge, and also have Mac Office installed, so I would really like to find an ideal size without going overboard either...

So, what would be a good size for running Windows Office, some work apps and PC games on my virtual Vista Ultimate drive?

Thanks so much in advance.

[MandarMS]

It depends on what you want to do with the virtual machine. [d-2523]http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-2523 might be a good starting place.You have to plan for it; in my experience a blank XP install takes about 2 GB, and will go up with various patches. While it's possible to later expand a virtual disk (I personally think it's pretty simple)Please refer the [http://communities.vmware.com/message/690626#690626|m-690626]

[MandarMS]

please find the link for the same

http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-2523

http://communities.vmware.com/message/690626#690626

[admin]

20 GB should be enough for Vista + Office + small apps and data, but the largest variable is probably which games you plan to install - games can be large, and if you install multiple games it can add up.

[valha]

Thanks so much. That's what I needed, I think. I'll go with 30 GB to be on the safe side!

[Bob_Zimmerman]

If I remember correctly, Fusion creates "sparse" disks by default. For these disks, you specify the maximum size and the disk file on the host grows as you use more space in the guest up to that cap. It's normally best to specify a much larger disk than you think you will need, because increasing the maximum size after the fact is a painful process. If you think you'll only need 20 GB, specify 40 as the max. That sort of thing.

[admin]

If I remember correctly, Fusion creates "sparse" disks by default.

Yep.

It's normally best to specify a much larger disk than you think you will need

I don't think it's always a good idea to specify a lot more space than you need - just because you use only 20 GB in the guest doesn't mean it takes 20 GB on the host; if you specified a 40 GB disk, it could use up to that amount (whereas if you specified a 30 GB disk, it could only take up 30 GB). Snapshots compound the difference. Also, it has implications for shrinking. I would say to err on the larger side, but don't go too wild.