Free Microsoft-Based App Saves Significant Space on Windows Without Performance Loss

Maximizing Storage Efficiency with CompactGUI

As the gaming industry evolves, the demand for disk space has surged dramatically. While high-resolution textures and complex 3D models previously topped the list of storage consumers, the advent of ray tracing technology has added another layer of complexity to game installations. Ray tracing shaders, in particular, can significantly inflate the size of modern games.

Introducing CompactGUI

For gamers and users short on storage, CompactGUI emerges as a valuable solution. This user-friendly tool leverages Windows’ built-in compact.exe command-line utility, allowing users to compress and decompress files and directories on NTFS file systems, effectively optimizing storage usage.

Understanding CompactGUI’s Functionality

CompactGUI simplifies the process of executing compact-based commands through an intuitive graphical user interface. The developer highlights the minimal impact on performance during compression and decompression, assuring users that modern CPUs can handle these tasks with ease:

Windows 10 introduced a little-known but very useful tool called compact.exe that allows one to compress folders and files on disk, decompressing them at runtime. With any modern CPU (I have tested as old as an i3-370M from 2010 with negligible impact), this added load is hardly noticed, and the space savings are of most use on those with smaller SSDs.

As program folders and games can be shrunk by up to 60%, this has the added bonus of potentially reducing load times – especially on slower HDDs.

Efficiency Across Different Applications

The performance benefits extend beyond gaming, with substantial disk space savings noted for productivity applications as well. For instance, ARK: Survival Evolved has achieved a compression ratio of 54%, while Adobe Photoshop has shown even greater savings at 50.6%.Here are some key metrics:

ARK: Survival Evolved: 169 GB reduced to 91.2 GB

Adobe Photoshop: 1.71 GB reduced to 886 MB

Testing Results from XDA Developers

Recently, XDA Developers conducted tests on CompactGUI with various games to evaluate its efficacy. The findings were largely positive, revealing significant space savings without any noticeable drop in performance or visual quality after compression.

Baldur’s Gate 3 Compression Results

Testing on Baldur’s Gate 3 highlighted impressive savings, especially when using XPRESS compression algorithms. XPRESS4K, the default option, provided baseline metrics while faster algorithms could offer even more efficiency:

Game Compression Type Size Before Compression Size After Compression Compression Ratio

Baldur’s Gate 3 XPRESS4K 142.62GB 130.78GB 0.92x

Baldur’s Gate 3 XPRESS8K 146.18GB 129.92GB 0.89x

Baldur’s Gate 3 XPRESS16K 145.9GB 129.78GB 0.89x

Baldur’s Gate 3 LZX 152.71GB 134.54GB 0.88x

Game	Compression Type	Size Before Compression	Size After Compression	Compression Ratio
Baldur’s Gate 3	XPRESS4K	142.62GB	130.78GB	0.92x
Baldur’s Gate 3	XPRESS8K	146.18GB	129.92GB	0.89x
Baldur’s Gate 3	XPRESS16K	145.9GB	129.78GB	0.89x
Baldur’s Gate 3	LZX	152.71GB	134.54GB	0.88x

Counter-Strike 2 Compression Insights

Next, testing on Counter-Strike 2 yielded even more substantial compression percentages:

Game Compression Type Size Before Compression Size After Compression Compression Ratio

Counter-Strike 2 XPRESS4K 39.44GB 29.34GB 0.74x

Counter-Strike 2 XPRESS8K 36.18GB 26.28GB 0.73x

Counter-Strike 2 XPRESS16K 37.73GB 28.13GB 0.75x

Counter-Strike 2 LZX 38.17GB 27.04GB 0.71x

Game	Compression Type	Size Before Compression	Size After Compression	Compression Ratio
Counter-Strike 2	XPRESS4K	39.44GB	29.34GB	0.74x
Counter-Strike 2	XPRESS8K	36.18GB	26.28GB	0.73x
Counter-Strike 2	XPRESS16K	37.73GB	28.13GB	0.75x
Counter-Strike 2	LZX	38.17GB	27.04GB	0.71x

Additional Game Testing

A variety of other titles were also analyzed to review the compression capabilities:

Game Compression Type Size Before Compression Size After Compression Compression Ratio

Little Kitty: Big City XPRESS16K 13.76GB 6.34GB 0.46x

Little Kitty: Big City LZX 13.43GB 5.44GB 0.40x

Cities: Skylines XPRESS16K 13.06GB 7.08GB 0.54x

Cities: Skylines LZX 13.27GB 6.3GB 0.47x

Half-Life: Alyx XPRESS16K 72.93GB 61.6GB 0.84x

Half-Life: Alyx LZX 72.52GB 58.08GB 0.80x

Game	Compression Type	Size Before Compression	Size After Compression	Compression Ratio
Little Kitty: Big City	XPRESS16K	13.76GB	6.34GB	0.46x
Little Kitty: Big City	LZX	13.43GB	5.44GB	0.40x
Cities: Skylines	XPRESS16K	13.06GB	7.08GB	0.54x
Cities: Skylines	LZX	13.27GB	6.3GB	0.47x
Half-Life: Alyx	XPRESS16K	72.93GB	61.6GB	0.84x
Half-Life: Alyx	LZX	72.52GB	58.08GB	0.80x

Conclusion

The data suggests a trend where AAA titles, known for their heavy visual assets, yielded the least space savings, indicating that their standard compression methods are already efficient. Nevertheless, CompactGUI stands out as a useful tool for users looking to reclaim valuable disk space across various applications.

Getting Started with CompactGUI

If you’re interested in optimizing your storage with CompactGUI, you can download it from its GitHub repository. The latest update supports. NET 9, so be prepared to install that as well. However, it’s important to note that users should avoid using this tool on DirectStorage titles since such applications bypass the CPU, rendering the utility less effective.

Source: XDA Developers

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