And never, under any circumstances get rid of the folder %windir%\$hf_mig$!
Regards, Rubens Almeida On Mon, Sep 28, 2009 at 3:50 PM, Steven M. Caesare <[email protected]> wrote: > Careful with that. > > > > There are dependencies there for future things (think removing/re-adding a > windows component), that you may not realize. > > > > -sc > > > > From: Sam Cayze [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: Monday, September 28, 2009 2:29 PM > To: NT System Admin Issues > Subject: RE: Question about a folder under C:\Windows > > > > "It's best to not touch folders within the .\Windows directory to try to > reclaim disk space." > > > > You can safely delete all the update install folders for Windows Update and > Service Packs if your machine is running stable and you doubt you will ever > need to uninstall them. > > > > Frees up a LOT of space. > > > > Sam > > > > ________________________________ > > From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: Monday, September 28, 2009 1:17 PM > To: NT System Admin Issues > Subject: Re: Question about a folder under C:\Windows > > As hinted, the Install Clean-up Tool is essentially MSIZAP with a GUI. It's > best to use it by: > > 1. Use the Conrol Panel Add/Remove programs to unistall applications, then > > 2. Run the Installer Clean-Up tool, and select any apps you believe should > have been removed. (Add/Remove sometimes leaves pieces behihd, depending on > how well written the app was.) > > 3. Check your file system - some pieces get left behind in the .\Program > Files directory. > > Do NOT use the clean-up tool first in order to uninstall apps! That will do > a great job of making the Add/Remove control panel applet unusable for that > app. > > Back to the original "problem"... It's best to not touch folders within the > .\Windows directory to try to reclaim disk space. (There is probably a > .\Windows\temp folder, but I've never seen much in those folders.) Use > something like WinTree, WinDirStat, etc to locate big files or folders. > Some browser caches can get to be pretty big. If a machine has multiple > users, some of those profiles (some of which are local caches of a roaming > user) can approach Gbs in size. I've seen machines with several crash dump > files in the root directory. (Some crash dump files also end up in an > administrators local settings profile instead of the rood.) > -- > richard > > Ben Scott <[email protected]> wrote on 09/28/2009 01:05:59 PM: > >> On Mon, Sep 28, 2009 at 12:32 PM, Joseph Heaton <[email protected]> >> wrote: >> > The c:\windows\installer folder. On the system I'm looking at it >> is a hidden system folder. Does anyone know the function of this >> folder, and whether or not the contents can be cleared? >> >> That folder is part of the -- wait for it -- Windows Installer. >> (Also called "Microsoft Installer" or MSI.) The folder gets used to >> store a number of things, including database information about >> installed packages, cached patches for (re)installation, program icons >> (stored as .EXE files), temporary files during install, and other >> mysterious stuff. It typically uses opaque IDs rather than >> human-readable names. It's your classic Microsoft big-ball-of-mud. >> >> You don't want to go "pruning" in there without specific direction. >> If you remove a file related to a currently-installed package, then >> future attempts at upgrading, repairing, or removing that package may >> fail. For example, patches are cached so they can be re-applied or >> reversed during future operations, and database info tells MSI exactly >> what to do during an uninstall. >> >> However, it is also quite possible for stale files to accumulate in >> there. Unfortunately, since it's a rather opaque data store, it's >> hard to know what's needed and what isn't. >> >> The MSIZAP utility has a command, G, to "remove orphaned cached >> Windows Installer data files". Exactly how it determines what an >> orphan is, I don't know, but it's supposedly safe as long as you don't >> use the "!" modifier to force things. I don't know if it's >> comprehensive -- I don't know if "MSIZAP G" will find all possible >> stale/orphan files. I suspect not. >> >> The other options in MSIZAP generally remove information from the >> MSI store without actually touching package files on your system. In >> other words, indiscriminate use of MSIZAP will just remove the >> *record* of an install, not the install itself. You have been warned. >> >> The MSIZAP tool comes with the "Windows Installer Cleanup Utility". >> You can get it from MSKB 290301. >> >> -- Ben >> >> ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ >> ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ >> > > > > > > > > > > > > ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~
