Any adobe reader patches that were copied back to c. I need to delete some winsxs folder entries windows 10. To show a hidden folder, in either windows 7 or windows 8. The windows component store is used to support the functions needed for. The winsxs folder contains enough files on windows 7, for. Finally a screen capture of a brand new 2008r2 server.
Not only are these files critical to the operation of windows 10 but when updates to windows are installed, these files get updated. Im having some serious trouble deleting stuff in the folder winsxs. In windows 7 sp 1, you can delete old update files. I have had my windows 7 64bit installation for a while now, and i have a problem, that is the winsxs folder is taking up. However, first, you need to see it because its a hidden folder. For instance, inside the winsxs folder are located the files to add or remove features, switch editions, recover damaged or missing system files, and pretty much everything else that makes up the os. Microsoft recommends not touching this winsxs folder for the purpose of gaining more disk space. To do this, open a command prompt window as administrator. So i know there was an updated released for this a while back, and when you run disk clean up itll clean up a lot of the unnecessary files in that folder. Reduce the size of vistas winsxs folder andrew berry.
I did some experimenting when i first tried win7 and found that i could delete quite a bit from winsxs without windows showing any ill effects. Use disk cleanup to delete old updates from the sxs folder 1. How to remove windows 10 installation folder tip dottech. First off you need to get the proper update installed. Winsxs folder cleanup regain disk space in windows 7.
With the advent of the windows side by side assembly, microsoft devised a way for programs to live together in binary bliss. All the windows updates get downloaded to the downloads folder as a temporary location, so you can go ahead and delete downloads folder frequently for more disk space. Since windows server 2012 microsoft have made it very easy to tidy the winsxs folder up. The easiest way to reduce the size of the winsxs folder in windows 10 and windows 8 is to remove the old versions of the components remaining after the system update. The main purpose of this folder is to be used during installations, windows updates. How to save space by cleaning windows winsxs folder. From what i can tell, there is no way to truncate the winsxs. Its a part of the move to a component based architecture, where the winsxs folder contains multiple versions of a component such as windows media player or iis, and the appropriate versions are hardlinked into the system. How to address disk space issues that are caused by a. Windows explorer doublecounts the disk space occupied by these files.
You can, however, reduce the size of the winsxs folder using tools built into windows. Softwaredistribution folder delete in windows tek eye. Winsxs, a folder called the windows component store that is used during windows updates, service packs, and hotfix installations. Windows 10 and windows server 2016 automatically reduce the size. One commonly asked question is, can i delete the winsxs folder to regain some disk space. Cleanup and delete files from the winsxs directory. My winsxs folder is at 103gb and have tried some of the methods from the internet, but now unable to even upgrade to windows 7 due to not having enough space in c. You may be interested in reading this article from microsoft about the winsxs directory. Find answers to how to delete the winsxs folder in windows 2008 standard from the expert community at experts exchange. The winsxs folder is located in the windows folder, for example c.
Winsxs cleanup in windows 2012 and windows 8 lefteris. On the disk cleanup tab, select windows update cleanup, and then click ok. In case when it is necessary to perform deletion of windows 7 unused updates on plenty of pcs at the same time of course nobody will run from one pc to another, performing all these operations manually. A file in a directory in winsxs may be linked from multiple locations e. The ntfs file system has long had a feature that allows a single copy of a file or folder to appear in multiple folders. How to reclaim space reducing size of winsxs folder on. I want to delete the 250mb worth of videos and audio in that folder. On further inspection of the windows folder i can see that the winsxs folder is hogging 15.
To do this, you can use the standard disk cleanup wizard cleanmgr. How to cleanup system disk in windows 7 sp1 by deprecated. Each time you run a windows update files in the winsxs folder get update and the size will continue to grow. All of the components in the operating system are found in the winsxs f older in fact we call this location the component store. For more information about the winsxs folder, see manage the component store. On windows 10, winsxs windows side by side is an essential folder within the windows folder, which contains most of the components to. In windows 7 and windows 810, there is a new folder under c. I was told to be very carefull with this folder because deleting the wrong files could mess up the server. How to delete the winsxs folder in windows 2008 standard. While doing a thorough scan with malwarebytes i found it slogging through a folder under windows named winsxs. How to clean up winsxs folder on windows 2008 r2 to gain. The drive i am looking at now has about 56 gbs used and 11 gbs free its is a windows 2008 r2 sp2.
Windows os stores all its core components to winsxs directory. Want to reduce winsxs folder size posted in windows 7. Note by default, the windows update cleanup option is already selected. Winsxs folder is the component store of windows vista and later operating systems. We have talked in length about the winsxs folder back in 2010 and how it comes up regularly as one of the largest folder on the computer when storage is analyzed using tools like wiztree windows explorer and thirdparty programs report a size of several gigabyte at the very least, but the count can go up to ten and more gigabytes depending on the system it is. The winsxs folder is the component store located in your c. Winsxs stands for windows sidebyside, and it is used to store critical component store information. Analyze and clean the winsxs folder ghacks tech news. Its the location for windows component store files.
The winsxs folder contains the files for all the windows features you can install in the default operating system. Winsxs, stands for windows side by side, referring to the concept of hosting the same files in different versions in the operating system. Post windows 7 sp1, there is now a way to remove the unnecessary files from this folder using the command line elevatedadmin mode click start type cmd in search. Servicing operations include, but are not limited to, windows update, service pack. Winsxs folder exists in windows vista 7 8 and 10 and in the previous versions, this folder was known as the dllcache folder. How to reduce the size of your winsxs folder on windows 7 or 8. New windows 7 feature in kb 2852386 reclaims wasted space. Scroll down the list youll see the section hidden files and folders. If you choose to install the removed components later, windows will prompt you to download the component files from microsoft.
Winsxs cleanup now that you know what winsxs is, how do we go about cleaning it up. This article explains how windows uses the softwaredistribution folder and covers cleaning the folder to help free up disk space. Undoubtedly youve come across the winsxs folder in windows and wondered if its possible to reclaim the space used. In the past there was no real easy way to cleanup the winsxs folder. For this reason, windows 8 added a new option that allows you to remove these uninstalled components from the winsxs folder entirely, freeing up space. This applies to current versions of microsoft windows, i. When deep cleaning windows to recover disk space, performing a softwaredistribution folder cleanup is one task that may help. Dont be shocked if you reclaim 0 bytes running the commands below. The backup folder is displayed as the largest folder in the winsxs folder, followed by. When you installed win7 service pack 1, the installer included the option to delete all of the old, obsolete winsxs files, and if you chose to cut the bloat then, you only have detritus from that. Youre asking because it appears to be taking a lot of disk space, right. Go to this download page and download the update specifically for windows server 2008 r2. Now heres a screen capture of a production 2008 server. You may have to restart the computer to finish the cleanup process.
Now, the tool merely scans for updates but does not display the appropriate checkbox. The winsxs folder is used to store install and uninstall files, windows packages current and previous versions of a component you should not completely delete this folder. But you can do so if you are running short on space by following the right direction. The large size of the winsxs folder is more apparent than real. If i cant delete the data in the winsxs folder what can i delete in the windows folder because i obviously have an issue with storage at the moment and i cannot install additional programs on the c. Winsxs folder component store clean up in windows 8.
It also stores older versions of all dll and component files and can grow to be quite large. If you are doing this on a one off basis you can download the patch either directly here or run windows update making sure to look for kb2852386. The winsxs folder is the only location that the core system components found on the system and all the system files you see in their usual locations, in the windows directory structure, are hard linked back to the winsxs folder. We have a post that describes how to clean up winsxs folder on a windows 8 computer but unfortunately, the same step doesnt seem to be working on a windows.
925 874 1291 218 534 1113 697 281 423 978 401 216 1177 946 1108 127 450 1146 1582 374 356 1065 262 249 285 1378 1157 807 1199 1191 1220 418 797 614 224 499 1203