The Mobile Office Blog

Last week I wrote about some of the ways I save space on the Acer Aspire One running Windows 7.  This weekend I did a little digging to find out where the space went and found a cheap, simple tweak to reclaim 1.2 GB of my 8 GB SSD.

Simply using file explorer, I started to review the files on the AAO's SSD.  The first thing I noticed was that the C: Drive had a couple of really large files: pagefile.sys (approx. 1.5 GB) and hiberfil.sys (approx 1.2 GB).  I already knew how to control the page file size and am happy with the system performance, so I knew to leave pagefile.sys alone.  The naming of hiberfil.sys was also pretty logical and I knew that I hadn't yet disabled hibernation in Windows 7.  I also couldn't find a place in Windows to actually turn off the hibernation function. 

A simple Google search for hiberfil.sys and I found my solution!  Hiberfil.sys, simply stated, is the disk image of the RAM that is used by Windows' hibernation functionality.  A few simple steps and I was able to disable the hibernation feature in Windows 7.  After disabling hibernation I now have almost 2.5 GB of free space on my 8 GB SSD, up from 1.3 GB last week.

To sum up the simple way you disable hibernation: enter powercfg.exe -h off at a command prompt and hit enter.  This will disable hibernation and immediately remove the hiberfil.sys file.

Why disable hibernation?  Good question!  The simple answer is that I don't use hibernation.  I never have enough stuff going on on my computer that I need to save it all for later.  I usually just shut the cover on the Aspire One and let it sleep which provides near instant on (about 5 sec.) and uses minimal power (the AAO with the 9-cell battery can sleep for a couple of days with no problems.) If I need to conserve power, I can just turn off the AAO since it turns on in about 30 seconds anyway!

How have you tweaked your Window 7 implementation to reclaim space on your netbook?  Let us know in the comments! 

Image by edanley 

One question my friends ask when they see me with my Acer Aspire One netbook is: What can you really do with a computer that small?  The answer is usually: Most of what you can do with your big honking laptop.  

One area where their huge machines win the "mine is bigger than yours" game is when it comes to disk space.  My AAO has a mere 8GB Solid State drive and, since installing Windows 7, I've used more of the drive than ever before.  The optimized install left me with a mere 1.3 GB of space on the internal drive which, in the age of terabytes, can seem a little scary.  How long can I go before I've filled the entire drive and Windows decides to not like it?

In order to preserve as much of the space as possible on the SSD, I've set a simple rule for myself: Don't install applications on the SSD!  (with only 2 exceptions)

First, the exceptions: Google Chrome and Firefox.  Since it IS a netbook I figured I should install the browsers directly on the main drive to allow for maximum performance.  To prevent the browsers from hogging all of the space I've limited them to 5 days of history (down from 90) which drastically reduces the amount of data they will store (and gives both browsers a nice performance boost at startup!)

I install all other applications on the 4GB SD card that I've had in the AAO since the day I got it.  You see, the AAO has 2 SD readers: 1 that was originally intended to extend the SSD and 1 that is meant to be a regular use card reader.  I keep the 4GB card in the "extend the SSD" slot even though my Windows 7 environment treats it like a regular USB reader.  I've got folders for the applications as well as my document, download, and other miscellaneous folders.  

Anytime I download an application, I save the file to the Download directory on the SD card (I've also configured my browsers to save to this folder by default so I don't accidentally start filling up the SSD.)  When I install, I don't let the installer determine the location.  I manually pick a new folder on my SD card.  Additionally, I've gotten out of the habit of installing default features.  I review all of the options available for the custom install and only pick the features that I actually use.  You'd be surprised how much space you can save by NOT installing functionality meant for other languages! 

Another way I save space is to put media in its proper place:

Don't let photos take up your drive space:  Utilize an online photo sharing service like flickr, facebook, or if you're a Google user, Picasa.

Don't let videos hang around either:  Honestly, are you really doing video production on an 8GB netbook?  Load those videos to Vimeo, Viddler, or YouTube to reclaim that space.

How many copies of the same song do you need on your person at any one time?  It's great to have a massive music library so you'll never have to listen to the same song twice, but keep your music on your mp3 player (or your G1, iPhone, iPod) and leave the backups at home!  An external USB drive is a great way to keep your music library safely backed up. 

So, I'm going to keep happily trucking along with my 1.2 GB of space on my internal SSD and if anything comes up, I'll let you know! 

How do you maximize your digital storage space? Post in the comments! 

Image by seeks2dream

Whenever you connect to a WiFi network in Windows 7 for the first time, Windows asks you what type of network you're joining.  Your options are:

1. Home - The idea here is that you've got a secured home network that has a lot of good stuff that is shared and that you'll need access to so Windows 7 is going to be on the lookout for other computers that are members of your "Homegroup"
2. Work - The idea here is that you're joining your secure work network and you'll be dealing with a network much like you have in the past, with specific shared resources and network locations you'll be accessing
3. Public - Your sitting at Starbucks (or in my case on the commuter boat going across Boston Harbor) and you just want to access the internet and protect all of your files and resources from the prying eyes of your fellow coffee drinkers (or boaters)

A few weeks ago I wrote about my easy installation and first impressions of Windows 7 on an Acer Aspire One, and after a couple of weeks with this as my primary mobile machine, I thought you might like to know how it's going.

It's zippy.  The big thing that I've noticed is that the AAO with a 1.6 Atom processor, 8 GB SSD, and 1.5 GB RAM is playing very nicely with the OS.  From cold boot to up-and-running is about 25 seconds and waking the AAO from a nice nap takes about 2 seconds.  Since most of my work is browser based, I'm not running into any memory or processor issues (now.)

It lasts a long time.  Maybe longer than most since I've got a huge honking 9-cell battery in the AAO at all times.  A full charge is registering at just over 7 hours with a realistic uptime of about 6 and 3/4 hours.  The nice thing is I can let it sleep all the time therefore getting amazing wakeup time and only have to throw it on that charger at night.

It plays nice with most software.  While I'm not installing tons of stuff on here (there's only about 1.3 GB of SSD space left after the install and updates,) I am able to use all of the software that I use on my bigger work machine.  I've installed Google Chrome and Firefox 3.5 for browsing (as I'm not convinced that Chrome and the Atom processor play nice,) Trillian Astra for IM and the GIMP to deal with any images that I want to adjust (I actually made the new blog banner on the AAO using GIMP!)  

I can be lazy!  Not to start anything, but I am liking the return to Windows after more than a year with Linux on the AAO.  I love Linux, but I too like to take it easy sometimes.  Microsoft did get the ease of use factor up in the latest version of Windows and it makes for a nice easy time.  I've had no stability issues and I've not run into a piece of hardware in the gadget bag that Win 7 doesn't like (yet...where's that piece of wood I keep around...knock...knock.)

So, after a couple of weeks, I can say that, barring any unforeseen bad updates, I'll be sticking with Windows 7 on my Acer Aspire One for a while!