Windows 10 1903: We'll still update PCs with less than 32GB storage, says Microsoft

[The AchieVer]

Windows 10 1903: We'll still update PCs with less than 32GB storage, says Microsoft

Microsoft clarifies that the new 32GB storage minimum for Windows 10 version 1903 is only for newly built PCs

 

Ahead of the Windows 10 version 1903 release, Microsoft said in an April support document this version would raise the minimum storage capacity to 32GB for 32-bit and 64-bit Windows. 

 

The company didn't explain why Windows 10 required more storage but as ZDNet reported at the time, the Windows 10 May 2019 Update, aka 1903, also introduced 'reserved storage', roughly 7GB of disk space to ensure updates don't fail.    

 

Microsoft has now clarified in a recent support document aimed at IT pros that this minimum requirement for Windows 10 1903 doesn't apply to PCs that are already in use, only to OEMs manufacturing new PCs. So, Windows 10 users with 32GB PCs can still expect to receive version 1903 at some point in future.   

 

"New disk space requirement for Windows 10, version 1903 applies only to OEMs for the manufacture of new PCs. This new requirement does not apply to existing devices," said Microsoft.  

 

"PCs that don't meet new device disk space requirements will continue to receive updates and the 1903 update will require about the same amount of free disk space as previous updates."

 

As for why OEMs won't get Windows 10 version 1903 on systems with less than 32GB, Microsoft points to its explanation about reserved storage, which will be enabled automatically on new PCs with Windows 10 1903 pre-installed and for clean installs. 

 

"It will not be enabled when updating from a previous version of Windows 10," Microsoft notes.   

 

The document also details key Windows 10 update control and quality improvements that Microsoft made in the wake of the disastrous Windows 10 version 1809 rollout, such as the ability for Windows to automatically uninstall certain updates if they trigger a startup failure. 

 

"You can now automatically recover from startup failures by removing updates if the startup failure was introduced after the installation of recent driver or quality updates. When a device is unable to start up properly after the recent installation of Quality of driver updates, Windows will now automatically uninstall the updates to get the device back up and running normally," the document states. 

 

Microsoft also highlights the new option for Windows 10 Home users to pause updates for 35 days, which again was part of its response to version 1809. 

 

Additionally, Windows will now display a coloured dot on the Power button in the Start Menu and Windows icon in the taskbar to indicate there's an update requiring a device restart. 

 

 

 

 

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[mp68terr]

Not taking into account this 32GB storage requirement, but gives an idea about how this parameter evolved with win versions:

Windows system requirements from Windows 3.1 to Windows 10

XP 1.5GB, win10-1903 32GB, not sure that the last win is 20 times better than XP.

[The AchieVer]

Microsoft Clarifies 32GB Storage Requirement for Latest Windows 10

 

Credit: Aleksandr Grechanyuk/Shutterstock Original Image

Microsoft announced in April that installing the Windows 10 May 2019 Update would require at least 32GB of available storage. That's a marked increase from previous versions of Windows 10, but today the company clarified that the 32GB requirement is only for new devices from its OEM partners.

 

Previous versions of Windows 10 required varying amounts of available storage, depending on whether you're installing the 32-bit or 64-bit version of the operating system. For the Windows 10 October 2018 Update, for example, installing the 32-bit and 64-bit versions required a respective 16GB and 20GB of available storage. The most recent update doubled (for the 32-bit version) Windows 10's storage requirements.

 

Initially, it wasn't clear why the Windows 10 May 2019 Update required more storage than its predecessors. But new support documents from Microsoft explain that much of the increase stems from the Reserved Storage feature, which is enabled by default on clean installs and devices with the most recent version of Windows 10 pre-installed, but which isn't automatically enabled when upgrading from older versions of Windows 10.

 

Microsoft said in one support document that Reserved Storage "sets aside disk space to be used by updates, apps, temporary files and system caches" in an effort to improve "the day-to-day function of your PC by ensuring critical OS functions always have access to disk space." When the company announced Reserved Storage in January, it said the feature would take up about 7GB of storage and people were, predictably, a bit perturbed by that.

 

Reserving that 7GB of storage accounts for nearly half of the Windows 10 May 2019 Update's increased requirements. Microsoft said in another document that those requirements are really more like guidelines, though, because "PCs that don’t meet new device disk space requirements will continue to receive updates, and the 1903 update will require about the same amount of free disk space as previous updates." Huzzah!

 

There will probably still be people annoyed that new devices ship with so much of their advertised storage occupied by Windows 10 itself and Reserved Storage. But at least it's clear that users who can't spare a few gigabytes can still install Windows 10 updates, and if Reserved Storage facilitates Microsoft's efforts to improve the Windows 10 update process, losing that 7GB seems like a small price to pay for a bit more sanity in that area.

 

 

 

 

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