About 2 years ago, my father and I each bought a computer with a 34 GB hard
drive. Both computers are up-to-date with all XPSP2 updates. Now, my
father's computer has virtually no disk drive space while my computer has
over 50% free disk space.

I determined that my father's computer has 26 GB of Windows Installer
patches and Windows Installer Packages in the C:\Windows\Installer folder.
Can I delete the Installer patch/package files (to free up some disk space)
without impacting Windows XP or Office 2003?

Obviously, I don't want to uninstall these patches/packages but I do want to
free up space.
--
Thanks!
Jerry

Jerry5316 wrote:
> About 2 years ago, my father and I each bought a computer with a 34
> GB hard drive. Both computers are up-to-date with all XPSP2
> updates. Now, my father's computer has virtually no disk drive
> space while my computer has over 50% free disk space.
>
> I determined that my father's computer has 26 GB of Windows
> Installer patches and Windows Installer Packages in the
> C:\Windows\Installer folder. Can I delete the Installer
> patch/package files (to free up some disk space) without impacting
> Windows XP or Office 2003?
>
> Obviously, I don't want to uninstall these patches/packages but I
> do want to free up space.

If you are comfortable with the stability of your system, you can delete the
uninstall files for the patches that Windows XP has installed..

http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/spack.htm


Do you have hidden and system files visible?
How's your system restore settings?
Used Disk Cleanup?
Is hibernate turned on and do you use that feature?
Uninstalled unnecessary applications lately?
Moved things to external media?

Other ways to free up space..

SequoiaView
http://www.win.tue.nl/sequoiaview/

DX Hog Hunt
http://www.dvxp.com/en/Downloads.aspx

JDiskReport
http://www.jgoodies.com/freeware/jdiskreport/index.html

Those can help you visually discover where all the space is being used.

You can use an application that scans your system for log files and
temporary files and use that to get rid of those:

Ccleaner (Free!)
http://www.ccleaner.com/

You can run Disk Cleanup - built into Windows XP - to erase all but yuor
latest restore point and cleanup even more "loose files"..

How to use Disk Cleanup
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310312

You can turn off hibernation if it is on and you don't use it..

When you hibernate your computer, Windows saves the contents of the system's
memory to the hiberfil.sys file. As a result, the size of the hiberfil.sys
file will always equal the amount of physical memory in your system. If you
don't use the hibernate feature and want to recapture the space that Windows
uses for the hiberfil.sys file, perform the following steps:

- Start the Control Panel Power Options applet (go to Start, Settings,
Control Panel, and click Power Options).
- Select the Hibernate tab, clear the "Enable hibernation" check box, then
click OK; although you might think otherwise, selecting Never under the
"System hibernates" option on the Power Schemes tab doesn't delete the
hiberfil.sys file.
- Windows will remove the "System hibernates" option from the Power Schemes
tab and delete the hiberfil.sys file.

You can control how much space your System Restore can use...

1. Click Start, right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
2. Click the System Restore tab.
3. Highlight one of your drives (or C: if you only have one) and click on
the "Settings" button.
4. Change the percentage of disk space you wish to allow.. I suggest 5% or
higher.
5. Click OK.. Then Click OK again.

You can control how much space your Temporary Internet Files can utilize...

Empty your Temporary Internet Files and shrink the size it stores to a
size between 128MB and 512MB..

- Open ONE copy of Internet Explorer.
- Select TOOLS -> Internet Options.
- Under the General tab in the "Temporary Internet Files" section, do the
following:
- Click on "Delete Cookies" (click OK)
- Click on "Settings" and change the "Amount of disk space to use:" to
something between 128MB and 512MB. (Betting it is MUCH larger right
now.)
- Click OK.
- Click on "Delete Files" and select to "Delete all offline contents"
(the checkbox) and click OK. (If you had a LOT, this could take 2-10
minutes or more.)
- Once it is done, click OK, close Internet Explorer, re-open Internet
Explorer.

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

"Jerry5316" wrote

> About 2 years ago, my father and I each bought a computer with a 34 GB
> hard
> drive. Both computers are up-to-date with all XPSP2 updates. Now, my
> father's computer has virtually no disk drive space while my computer has
> over 50% free disk space.
>
> I determined that my father's computer has 26 GB of Windows Installer
> patches and Windows Installer Packages in the C:\Windows\Installer folder.
> Can I delete the Installer patch/package files (to free up some disk
> space)
> without impacting Windows XP or Office 2003?
>
> Obviously, I don't want to uninstall these patches/packages but I do want
> to
> free up space.

What about getting a bigger hard drive? They are very inexpensive these
days. The new drive will either come with a utility to clone the old drive
to it, or you can download that utility from the new drive manufacturer's
web site. Once the old drive is cloned to the new, remove the old drive,
hook up the new drive (most likely master on the primary channel) and boot
only with the new drive. Once the system boots ok, you can install the old
drive as a slave drive and use it's space for storage.

Thank you for replying to my post. I have tried a number of programs to
clear up some disk space - including ccleaner, disk cleaner, perfect disk,
and a number of programs to defrag and delete uneccessary files, cache, etc.
I've also reduced internet cache, etc.

The bottom line is that I have 2,604 files (*.msp files) in my
Windows/Installer folder taking up 26 GB of space. So, can I just delete
this files? (these are not the uninstall files)

Note - I have two other computers (one identical to my father's computer)
and neither computer has this problem. If you go to your
C:\Windows\Installer folder, I would guess that you don't have 20+GB of files
either.

Your thoughts?

PS - In an ideal world, I would rather not just add a new hard drive since
my father isn't exactly a power user. I just want to free up some space for
him.


--
Thanks!
Jerry


"Shenan Stanley" wrote:

> Jerry5316 wrote:
> > About 2 years ago, my father and I each bought a computer with a 34
> > GB hard drive. Both computers are up-to-date with all XPSP2
> > updates. Now, my father's computer has virtually no disk drive
> > space while my computer has over 50% free disk space.
> >
> > I determined that my father's computer has 26 GB of Windows
> > Installer patches and Windows Installer Packages in the
> > C:\Windows\Installer folder. Can I delete the Installer
> > patch/package files (to free up some disk space) without impacting
> > Windows XP or Office 2003?
> >
> > Obviously, I don't want to uninstall these patches/packages but I
> > do want to free up space.
>
> If you are comfortable with the stability of your system, you can delete the
> uninstall files for the patches that Windows XP has installed..
>
> http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/spack.htm
>
>
> Do you have hidden and system files visible?
> How's your system restore settings?
> Used Disk Cleanup?
> Is hibernate turned on and do you use that feature?
> Uninstalled unnecessary applications lately?
> Moved things to external media?
>
> Other ways to free up space..
>
> SequoiaView
> http://www.win.tue.nl/sequoiaview/
>
> DX Hog Hunt
> http://www.dvxp.com/en/Downloads.aspx
>
> JDiskReport
> http://www.jgoodies.com/freeware/jdiskreport/index.html
>
> Those can help you visually discover where all the space is being used.
>
> You can use an application that scans your system for log files and
> temporary files and use that to get rid of those:
>
> Ccleaner (Free!)
> http://www.ccleaner.com/
>
> You can run Disk Cleanup - built into Windows XP - to erase all but yuor
> latest restore point and cleanup even more "loose files"..
>
> How to use Disk Cleanup
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310312
>
> You can turn off hibernation if it is on and you don't use it..
>
> When you hibernate your computer, Windows saves the contents of the system's
> memory to the hiberfil.sys file. As a result, the size of the hiberfil.sys
> file will always equal the amount of physical memory in your system. If you
> don't use the hibernate feature and want to recapture the space that Windows
> uses for the hiberfil.sys file, perform the following steps:
>
> - Start the Control Panel Power Options applet (go to Start, Settings,
> Control Panel, and click Power Options).
> - Select the Hibernate tab, clear the "Enable hibernation" check box, then
> click OK; although you might think otherwise, selecting Never under the
> "System hibernates" option on the Power Schemes tab doesn't delete the
> hiberfil.sys file.
> - Windows will remove the "System hibernates" option from the Power Schemes
> tab and delete the hiberfil.sys file.
>
> You can control how much space your System Restore can use...
>
> 1. Click Start, right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
> 2. Click the System Restore tab.
> 3. Highlight one of your drives (or C: if you only have one) and click on
> the "Settings" button.
> 4. Change the percentage of disk space you wish to allow.. I suggest 5% or
> higher.
> 5. Click OK.. Then Click OK again.
>
> You can control how much space your Temporary Internet Files can utilize...
>
> Empty your Temporary Internet Files and shrink the size it stores to a
> size between 128MB and 512MB..
>
> - Open ONE copy of Internet Explorer.
> - Select TOOLS -> Internet Options.
> - Under the General tab in the "Temporary Internet Files" section, do the
> following:
> - Click on "Delete Cookies" (click OK)
> - Click on "Settings" and change the "Amount of disk space to use:" to
> something between 128MB and 512MB. (Betting it is MUCH larger right
> now.)
> - Click OK.
> - Click on "Delete Files" and select to "Delete all offline contents"
> (the checkbox) and click OK. (If you had a LOT, this could take 2-10
> minutes or more.)
> - Once it is done, click OK, close Internet Explorer, re-open Internet
> Explorer.
>
> --
> Shenan Stanley
> MS-MVP
> --
> How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
> http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
>
>
>

Jerry5316 wrote:
> About 2 years ago, my father and I each bought a computer with a
> 34 GB hard drive. Both computers are up-to-date with all XPSP2
> updates. Now, my father's computer has virtually no disk drive
> space while my computer has over 50% free disk space.
>
> I determined that my father's computer has 26 GB of Windows
> Installer patches and Windows Installer Packages in the
> C:\Windows\Installer folder. Can I delete the Installer
> patch/package files (to free up some disk space) without impacting
> Windows XP or Office 2003?
>
> Obviously, I don't want to uninstall these patches/packages but I
> do want to free up space.

Shenan wrote:
> If you are comfortable with the stability of your system, you can
> delete the uninstall files for the patches that Windows XP has
> installed..
>
> http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/spack.htm
>
> Do you have hidden and system files visible?
> How's your system restore settings?
> Used Disk Cleanup?
> Is hibernate turned on and do you use that feature?
> Uninstalled unnecessary applications lately?
> Moved things to external media?
>
> Other ways to free up space..
<snipped rest of advice - can be googled for>

Jerry5316 wrote:
> Thank you for replying to my post. I have tried a number of
> programs to clear up some disk space - including ccleaner, disk
> cleaner, perfect disk, and a number of programs to defrag and
> delete uneccessary files, cache, etc. I've also reduced internet
> cache, etc.
>
> The bottom line is that I have 2,604 files (*.msp files) in my
> Windows/Installer folder taking up 26 GB of space. So, can I just
> delete this files? (these are not the uninstall files)
>
> Note - I have two other computers (one identical to my father's
> computer) and neither computer has this problem. If you go to your
> C:\Windows\Installer folder, I would guess that you don't have
> 20+GB of files either.
>
> Your thoughts?
>
> PS - In an ideal world, I would rather not just add a new hard
> drive since my father isn't exactly a power user. I just want to
> free up some space for him.

Before you go erasing it - you may want to read this:
http://www.pcanswers.co.uk/tips/defa...bsectionid=616

Particularly, "Your problem is traced back to the fact that your batch file
deleted the contents of the Windows\Installer folder, which is used by
Windows Installer to store details of program installations, including the
icons that are associated with the program files themselves ..."

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html