Can the c:\windows\installer folder be purged? It seems to be the
archive of the exes for updates. and if they are really old, and I
have purged the Uninstall info, Is it OK to dump these?

folder now at almost 2GB.

thanx

have you tried running
windows clean manager?

if not yet, then click
start>run>cleanmgr

--

db·´¯`·...¸><)))º>
DatabaseBen, Retired Professional
- Systems Analyst
- Database Developer
- Accountancy
- Veteran of the Armed Forces
- Microsoft Partner
- @hotmail.com
~~~~~~~~~~"share the nirvana" - dbZen

>
>

"plugginaway" <anon> wrote in message news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Can the c:\windows\installer folder be purged? It seems to be the archive of the exes for updates. and if they are really old,
> and I have purged the Uninstall info, Is it OK to dump these?
>
> folder now at almost 2GB.
>
> thanx

How to remove the junk left behind in the C:\Windows\Installer folder:

You will find a good number of these .MSI files belong to software such as
Java, AV Software, Norton Ghost, Microsoft's .NET Framework, files
downloaded during an applications update session and so on. It would appear
that some software will clean up after itself and then deletes the files
that were created in the C:\Windows\Installer folder. A failed update
session will create and leave folders and files behind each time you try to
install the update and therefore you could end up with a lot of files taking
up disk space.

There also could be a lot of orphaned (no longer needed) files. It's these
failed updates and orphaned files that can be safely deleted.

Preparation:
Where to download the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility:
(File name is: msicuu2.exe)
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/290301
or use the direct link to the MS Download site:
http://download.microsoft.com/downlo...../msicuu2.exe

Warning: Do not use the GUI interface to select and remove any applications
that are working properly, if you do so then you will lose the ability to
uninstall that application as it will no longer be in the Add/Remove
programs list. You will be using the command line MSIZAP utility that will
only remove orphaned files and folders and will leave any valid entries in
place.

Using MSIZAP Step by Step:
First: Open a command prompt window.
Next: Change the default folder path to: C:\Program Files\Windows Installer
Clean Up
Then: At the command prompt enter:
msizap !g > zapresults.txt
Press the 'Enter' key.

The results will be stored in the file named zapresults.txt, open this file
with Notepad and you will see a list of files that have been deleted.

--
JS
http://www.pagestart.com



"plugginaway" <anon> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Can the c:\windows\installer folder be purged? It seems to be the archive
> of the exes for updates. and if they are really old, and I have purged
> the Uninstall info, Is it OK to dump these?
>
> folder now at almost 2GB.
>
> thanx

no, but the MS info on it says you have to specify what to clean, so I
am back in the same boat - Can the \windows\insatller be purged?

thx

db wrote:

> have you tried running
> windows clean manager?
>
> if not yet, then click
> start>run>cleanmgr
>

outstandingly detailed and precise answer. THANX

JS wrote:

> How to remove the junk left behind in the C:\Windows\Installer folder:
>
> You will find a good number of these .MSI files belong to software such as
> Java, AV Software, Norton Ghost, Microsoft's .NET Framework, files
> downloaded during an applications update session and so on. It would appear
> that some software will clean up after itself and then deletes the files
> that were created in the C:\Windows\Installer folder. A failed update
> session will create and leave folders and files behind each time you try to
> install the update and therefore you could end up with a lot of files taking
> up disk space.
>
> There also could be a lot of orphaned (no longer needed) files. It's these
> failed updates and orphaned files that can be safely deleted.
>
> Preparation:
> Where to download the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility:
> (File name is: msicuu2.exe)
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/290301
> or use the direct link to the MS Download site:
> http://download.microsoft.com/downlo...../msicuu2.exe
>
> Warning: Do not use the GUI interface to select and remove any applications
> that are working properly, if you do so then you will lose the ability to
> uninstall that application as it will no longer be in the Add/Remove
> programs list. You will be using the command line MSIZAP utility that will
> only remove orphaned files and folders and will leave any valid entries in
> place.
>
> Using MSIZAP Step by Step:
> First: Open a command prompt window.
> Next: Change the default folder path to: C:\Program Files\Windows Installer
> Clean Up
> Then: At the command prompt enter:
> msizap !g > zapresults.txt
> Press the 'Enter' key.
>
> The results will be stored in the file named zapresults.txt, open this file
> with Notepad and you will see a list of files that have been deleted.
>

Same for wondows\ie7updates?

thanx

plugginaway wrote:
> outstandingly detailed and precise answer. THANX
>
> JS wrote:
>
>> How to remove the junk left behind in the C:\Windows\Installer folder:
>>
>> You will find a good number of these .MSI files belong to software
>> such as Java, AV Software, Norton Ghost, Microsoft's .NET Framework,
>> files downloaded during an applications update session and so on. It
>> would appear that some software will clean up after itself and then
>> deletes the files that were created in the C:\Windows\Installer
>> folder. A failed update session will create and leave folders and
>> files behind each time you try to install the update and therefore you
>> could end up with a lot of files taking up disk space.
>>
>> There also could be a lot of orphaned (no longer needed) files. It's
>> these failed updates and orphaned files that can be safely deleted.
>>
>> Preparation:
>> Where to download the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility:
>> (File name is: msicuu2.exe)
>> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/290301
>> or use the direct link to the MS Download site:
>> http://download.microsoft.com/downlo...../msicuu2.exe
>>
>> Warning: Do not use the GUI interface to select and remove any
>> applications that are working properly, if you do so then you will
>> lose the ability to uninstall that application as it will no longer be
>> in the Add/Remove programs list. You will be using the command line
>> MSIZAP utility that will only remove orphaned files and folders and
>> will leave any valid entries in place.
>>
>> Using MSIZAP Step by Step:
>> First: Open a command prompt window.
>> Next: Change the default folder path to: C:\Program Files\Windows
>> Installer Clean Up
>> Then: At the command prompt enter:
>> msizap !g > zapresults.txt
>> Press the 'Enter' key.
>>
>> The results will be stored in the file named zapresults.txt, open this
>> file with Notepad and you will see a list of files that have been
>> deleted.
>>

plugginaway wrote:
> Can the c:\windows\installer folder be purged? It seems to be the
> archive of the exes for updates. and if they are really old, and I
> have purged the Uninstall info, Is it OK to dump these?
>
> folder now at almost 2GB.

2GB? That's not really that big. 2GB USB drives are now given away like
candy. ;-)

If you are worried about that little amount of space - thinking it might
make a difference - you might consider investing in a new hard disk drive of
larger size to replace your current one. Just telling you this because
sometimes the easiest solution is the best. ;-)

However - you likely should do some cleanup...

Download/install this:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/290301

After installing, do the following:

Start button --> RUN --> type in:
"%ProgramFiles%\Windows Installer Clean Up\msizap.exe" g!
--> Click OK.

(The quotation marks and percentage signs and spacing should be exact.)

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
( Particularly of interest here - #4 )
( Alternative: http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_hotfix_backup.htm )

You can run Disk Cleanup - built into Windows XP - to erase all but your
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 moving
the slider until you have just about 1GB (1024MB or close to that...)
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 64MB and 128MB..

- 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 64MB and 128MB. (It may be 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.

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/

Other ways to free up space..

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

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

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

In the end - a standard Windows XP installation with all sorts of extras
will not likely be above about 4.5GB to 9GB in size. If you have more space
than that (likely do on a modern machine) and most of it seems to be used -
likely you need to move *your stuff* off and/or find a better way to manage
it.

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

all good suggestions; and most of them peformed.

this is a laptop. so hate to do new HDD.

the msizap threw out 6 files and made hardly a dent in the 2.1GB
Installer folder.

???

thanx

Shenan Stanley wrote:

> plugginaway wrote:
>
>>Can the c:\windows\installer folder be purged? It seems to be the
>>archive of the exes for updates. and if they are really old, and I
>>have purged the Uninstall info, Is it OK to dump these?
>>
>>folder now at almost 2GB.
>
>
> 2GB? That's not really that big. 2GB USB drives are now given away like
> candy. ;-)
>
> If you are worried about that little amount of space - thinking it might
> make a difference - you might consider investing in a new hard disk drive of
> larger size to replace your current one. Just telling you this because
> sometimes the easiest solution is the best. ;-)
>
> However - you likely should do some cleanup...
>
> Download/install this:
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/290301
>
> After installing, do the following:
>
> Start button --> RUN --> type in:
> "%ProgramFiles%\Windows Installer Clean Up\msizap.exe" g!
> --> Click OK.
>
> (The quotation marks and percentage signs and spacing should be exact.)
>
> 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
> ( Particularly of interest here - #4 )
> ( Alternative: http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_hotfix_backup.htm )
>
> You can run Disk Cleanup - built into Windows XP - to erase all but your
> 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 moving
> the slider until you have just about 1GB (1024MB or close to that...)
> 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 64MB and 128MB..
>
> - 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 64MB and 128MB. (It may be 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.
>
> 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/
>
> Other ways to free up space..
>
> SequoiaView
> http://www.win.tue.nl/sequoiaview/
>
> JDiskReport
> http://www.jgoodies.com/freeware/jdiskreport/index.html
>
> Those can help you visually discover where all the space is being used.
>
> In the end - a standard Windows XP installation with all sorts of extras
> will not likely be above about 4.5GB to 9GB in size. If you have more space
> than that (likely do on a modern machine) and most of it seems to be used -
> likely you need to move *your stuff* off and/or find a better way to manage
> it.
>

plugginaway wrote:
> Can the c:\windows\installer folder be purged? It seems to be the
> archive of the exes for updates. and if they are really old, and I
> have purged the Uninstall info, Is it OK to dump these?
>
> folder now at almost 2GB.

Shenan Stanley wrote:
> 2GB? That's not really that big. 2GB USB drives are now given
> away like candy. ;-)
>
> If you are worried about that little amount of space - thinking it
> might make a difference - you might consider investing in a new
> hard disk drive of larger size to replace your current one. Just
> telling you this because sometimes the easiest solution is the
> best. ;-)
> However - you likely should do some cleanup...
>
> Download/install this:
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/290301
>
> After installing, do the following:
>
> Start button --> RUN --> type in:
> "%ProgramFiles%\Windows Installer Clean Up\msizap.exe" g!
> --> Click OK.
>
> (The quotation marks and percentage signs and spacing should be
> exact.)
> 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
> ( Particularly of interest here - #4 )
> ( Alternative:
> http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_hotfix_backup.htm )
> You can run Disk Cleanup - built into Windows XP - to erase all but
> your 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 moving the slider until you have just about 1GB (1024MB or
> close to that...) 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 64MB and 128MB..
>
> - 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 64MB and 128MB. (It may be 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.
>
> 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/
>
> Other ways to free up space..
>
> SequoiaView
> http://www.win.tue.nl/sequoiaview/
>
> JDiskReport
> http://www.jgoodies.com/freeware/jdiskreport/index.html
>
> Those can help you visually discover where all the space is being
> used.
> In the end - a standard Windows XP installation with all sorts of
> extras will not likely be above about 4.5GB to 9GB in size. If you
> have more space than that (likely do on a modern machine) and most
> of it seems to be used - likely you need to move *your stuff* off
> and/or find a better way to manage it.

plugginaway wrote:
> all good suggestions; and most of them peformed.
>
> this is a laptop. so hate to do new HDD.
>
> the msizap threw out 6 files and made hardly a dent in the 2.1GB
> Installer folder.
>
> ???

That means the stuff in there is still installed and has properly working
connections to something - thus the MSIZAP found no substantially sized
orphans.

- What size is this hard disk drive (total)?
- Is there something special about this system (it's a netbook, it's got an
SSD so it's smaller than normal, etc?)
- What does SequoiaView and/or JDiskReport (many find the latter more
informative) show as being your biggest space wasters?
- Are you actually *low* on space - or just trying to clear up space
'because'? ;-)

You could copy the contents of the folder to an external drive/DVD then
delete them and see what happens. Usually - you would likely be fine - but
there are cases where people deleted these files and it came back to haunt
them. Thus the backups. But 2.1GB - really shouldn't make much of a dent
in a true modern laptop (netbooks and those with smaller SSDs being the
exception - although I cannot see getting a useful laptop with less than
32GB in any case - and I would usually go with 160+GB. ;-) )

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

NO!!!

plugginaway wrote:
> Same for wondows\ie7updates?
>
> thanx
>
> plugginaway wrote:
>> outstandingly detailed and precise answer. THANX
>>
>> JS wrote:
>>
>>> How to remove the junk left behind in the C:\Windows\Installer folder:
>>>
>>> You will find a good number of these .MSI files belong to software
>>> such as Java, AV Software, Norton Ghost, Microsoft's .NET Framework,
>>> files downloaded during an applications update session and so on. It
>>> would appear that some software will clean up after itself and then
>>> deletes the files that were created in the C:\Windows\Installer
>>> folder. A failed update session will create and leave folders and
>>> files behind each time you try to install the update and therefore you
>>> could end up with a lot of files taking up disk space.
>>>
>>> There also could be a lot of orphaned (no longer needed) files. It's
>>> these failed updates and orphaned files that can be safely deleted.
>>>
>>> Preparation:
>>> Where to download the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility:
>>> (File name is: msicuu2.exe)
>>> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/290301
>>> or use the direct link to the MS Download site:
>>> http://download.microsoft.com/downlo...../msicuu2.exe
>>>
>>> Warning: Do not use the GUI interface to select and remove any
>>> applications that are working properly, if you do so then you will
>>> lose the ability to uninstall that application as it will no longer be
>>> in the Add/Remove programs list. You will be using the command line
>>> MSIZAP utility that will only remove orphaned files and folders and
>>> will leave any valid entries in place.
>>>
>>> Using MSIZAP Step by Step:
>>> First: Open a command prompt window.
>>> Next: Change the default folder path to: C:\Program Files\Windows
>>> Installer Clean Up
>>> Then: At the command prompt enter:
>>> msizap !g > zapresults.txt
>>> Press the 'Enter' key.
>>>
>>> The results will be stored in the file named zapresults.txt, open this
>>> file with Notepad and you will see a list of files that have been
>>> deleted.