SURbit Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 What is Compact OS feature in Windows 10 and How to Enable It There are many improvements in Windows 10 both in terms of visible features and under-the-hood changes. Though we mostly talk about the visible features like Cortana, redesigned Start menu, new icons, and other stuff, there are other features like Compact OS which are equally important. As most of you know, when compared to Windows 7 and 8, Windows 10 has less disk footprint when it comes to the operating system files. In fact, unlike the older versions, Windows 10 doesn’t even require a recovery image to reset or refresh your PC which in turn gives you nearly 4+ GB of disk space. This is a necessary step if Microsoft wants Windows 10 to be installed on devices like tablets and ultrabooks which typically have low disk space. What Is Compact OS Microsoft started implementing this OS footprint reduction process back in Windows 8 using WIMBoot (Windows Image Boot). The workings of WIMBoot are quite simple, Windows compresses all the operating system files into a single file called “Install.WIM” and decompresses it when required. However, WIMBoot presents some challenges when it comes to recovery image, and it proved to be less and less viable loolong at the actual Windows updates and other software added by OEMs. In Windows 10 Microsoft improved the existing feature and completely got rid of the need for any recovery image. Since there is no recovery image, in the event you reset or refresh your system, Windows rebuilds itself using the runtime system files (residing in the “/windows/winsxs/” folder). Along with this, Microsoft also introduced a new tool or feature called Compact OS which can effectively store and compress all the Windows 10 files in a special container. The good thing about Compact OS is that it is supported by both the UEFI- and BIOS-based devices. Moreover, to maintain the disk footprint over time, a Windows update can replace or remove the files as needed. Since both the WIMBoot and Compact OS can significantly lower the operating system footprint, it makes it easy to install and have some space left over for other software in low disk space devices. That being said, unlike the WIMBoot, you can enable or disable the Compact OS feature on the fly which makes it easy to configure and deploy. Do note that this feature is disabled by default. If you have low disk space, here is how to enable Compact OS to get some of the disk space back. Enable Compact OS Feature in Windows 10 Enabling the Compact OS feature in Windows 10 is quite simple and straightforward. To start, press “Win + X” and select the option “Command Prompt (Admin).” <img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-142317" title="compact-os-cmd-admin" src="https://maketecheasier-holisticmedia.netdna-ssl.com/assets/uploads/2016/01/compact-os-cmd-admin.png" alt="compact-os-cmd-admin" /> The above action will open the Command Prompt with administrator rights. Here, copy the below command and press the Enter button. This action will start the compression process. Compact.exe /CompactOS:always <img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-142321" title="compact-os-enabling" src="https://maketecheasier-holisticmedia.netdna-ssl.com/assets/uploads/2016/01/compact-os-enabling.jpg" alt="compact-os-enabling" /> Once the operating system has done the compression, it will let you know how much space you’ve saved by enabling the Compact OS feature in Windows 10. <img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-142320" title="compact-os-enabled" src="https://maketecheasier-holisticmedia.netdna-ssl.com/assets/uploads/2016/01/compact-os-enabled.jpg" alt="compact-os-enabled" /> If you want to know whether you’ve enabled or disabled the Compact OS feature, use the below command. It will tell you the current status of the feature. Compact.exe /CompactOS:query <img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-142323" title="compact-os-query" src="https://maketecheasier-holisticmedia.netdna-ssl.com/assets/uploads/2016/01/compact-os-query.png" alt="compact-os-query" /> If you ever want to disable Compact OS, simply copy and paste the below command in the Command Prompt, and you are good to go. Compact.exe /CompactOS:never SOURCE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiliarou Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 Is there any impact on performance when Compact is activated ? I assume there is otherwise it would be enabled by default... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geeteam Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 probably exactly what I was thinking... why was it disabled by default. If won't have any Impact on system performance. ... and pls kindly fix image shot, It's currently not showing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
truemate Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 how many tweaks/enable/disable things are hidden in this win10... I was planning to update to 10...but decided to stay with AWESOME win7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikie Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 Compact.exe /CompactOS:query says my build11102 The system is in the Compact state. Its a 64gb partition on a 128gb ssd - an upgrade install from a fresh booted install of the previous version. Default installed in the compact state here apparently. Microsoft employee in the past has said some files on win10 are compressed when its basically not a human perceivable performance difference. I once on a build used the Compress command to see what space savings and if any noticeable speed drop... and was about 1gb smaller best I recall & really didn't notice any speed or any differences in performance .. but then shocked me when I uncompressed it as it grew to maybe 800mb larger than I had started with. Lenovo g570, 16gb ram, i7 2.7/3.4 sandy bridge 2nd gen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SURbit Posted January 27, 2016 Author Share Posted January 27, 2016 1 hour ago, tiliarou said: Is there any impact on performance when Compact is activated ? I assume there is otherwise it would be enabled by default... Couldn't say myself as I went back to win8.1 just hours after trying win10. 1 hour ago, geeteam said: probably exactly what I was thinking... why was it disabled by default. If won't have any Impact on system performance. ... and pls kindly fix image shot, It's currently not showing. must be on your side as I see it ok and your only one to say so. 1 hour ago, truemate said: how many tweaks/enable/disable things are hidden in this win10... I was planning to update to 10...but decided to stay with AWESOME win7 yes I'm with you older is better, as for me it's win 8.1 but, win 7 is good as well. This site has a lot on win10 Quote https://www.maketecheasier.com/about/search-result/?q=windows+10&cx=012219648382774935931%3A71v9_lruh3c Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SURbit Posted January 27, 2016 Author Share Posted January 27, 2016 23 minutes ago, mikie said: Compact.exe /CompactOS:query says my build11102 The system is in the Compact state. Its a 64gb partition on a 128gb ssd - an upgrade install from a fresh booted install of the previous version. Default installed in the compact state here apparently. Microsoft employee in the past has said some files on win10 are compressed when its basically not a human perceivable performance difference. I once on a build used the Compress command to see what space savings and if any noticeable speed drop... and was about 1gb smaller best I recall & really didn't notice any speed or any differences in performance .. but then shocked me when I uncompressed it as it grew to maybe 800mb larger than I had started with. Lenovo g570, 16gb ram, i7 2.7/3.4 sandy bridge 2nd gen. From the source page it has a comment of "" I have an HP Stream with only 32 GB, it is so small that Windows Update can’t run and adding apps to it is impossible, I put my data on an SD card. This is a miracle because it adds about 4 GB to my system! Thank you!! "" So it must be an advantage to small drive systems and why it's not enabled by default, only thing I can seem to find out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vibranium Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 There should be no performance difference with compact OS under normal use. Just that more CPU cycles will be consumed. If CPU or IO hits the bottleneck, you could notice a difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sylence Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 Because this feature is good for people having low disk space in their C drive and also SSDs are too expensive and most people choose low capacity SSDs only for their C drive to get the most performance, I think only those having low capacity SSDs can utilize this feature without any sensible performance loss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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