The Windows 8.1 Update can be installed in Appliances with small discs, thanks to a new technology developed by Microsoft for this new operating system version.
The new option installations, which is simply called Windows Image Boot (WIMBoot), was specifically designed to be installed on UEFI and SSD drives up to 16 GB, so users still have plenty of storage for their files and applications.
Essentially, WIMBoot, which is available on all Windows 8.1 Update storage drives, no longer extracts all files from a archive image, but instead uses filepoint to keep everything compressed in the original WIM. This way, users have the same folder structure, but underneath all the files are compressed, which helps save space on your device.
The above procedure could only be done by now and was usually a little more complicated, but in the end you could end up with 12 GB of free space on a 16 GB drive.
Essentially, you would copy the WIM file to a separate partition on the disk that looks like an "image" (just like you would for an image (recovery) of an operating system recovery), and then use DISM to create the WIM file from the files from the C: disk operating folder. "Windows recognizes this file (WIM) and knows how to boot the operating system," explains Microsoft.
On a 16 GB drive, Windows 8.1 typically requires up to 9 GB and there is room for users around 7 GB, which is considered capable of storing files and installing applications. Using the new WIMBoot system, on the other hand, Windows installation could require about 3 GB and thus leave you with about 12 GB of free disk space.
And this is not the only advantage of the WIM file. Microsoft says it can also be used as a repair-recovery image in case your Windows installation crashes and you need to repair it quickly.
Redmond reports that most tablet devices pre-configured to use WIMBoot will hit the market in the coming months in an effort to provide users with enough storage capacity for files and applications.
At this point, we remind you that a 32 GB Surface tablet 2 has only 18 GB of free space, while the 64 GB comes with 47 GB available disk space.