Service Pack Uninstall files

[Don Williams]

The Windows directory has a batch of folders which are apparently intended
to allow you to remove a service pack. They seem to have names that look
like:

$NtUninstallQ810565$ and within the folder there are some files (usually
*.exe and *.dll types) and a second folder with a batch file in it which is
a set of instructions about copying files from the specific uninstall folder
to \windows\system32\.

Are these required or can they be safely removed? I need to do more cleanup
on my c drive and if I can get rid of these it would be a help.

Thanks in advance for any comments or observations.

DAW

(In at least one of the folders I looked at, the batch file listed 5 lines
of copy from>to, but only 2 of those 5 files were there. Unless my
assumption is wrong, that is a defective folder and wouldn't be of use
anyhow)

 

[TaurArian]

Folders that have uninstall as part of the name (for example $NtUninstallKB282010$ which
reside in C:\windows (hidden folders) are Window Hot Fix Update folders/files) can be
safely deleted (providing you never wish to uninstall the updates). I would recommend
leaving these folders for a period of at least a month to make sure the update is working
correctly.

These updates can be deleted individually or in multiples. To find out more about the
update/s go to:
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=XXXXXX
NB: XXXXXX = the actual number not including the "Q" or "KB"

Once you have deleted the uninstall folders/files, then go to Control Panel, Add/Remove
Programs. Select the matching Windows Hotfix Title relating the update folder/file you
have just deleted and select remove. You will get a Windows error. This is because you
have deleted the uninstall folder/files. Just choose OK and the entry will be deleted from
the Add/Remove Programs Listing.

Tidying up after installing SP2
http://aumha.org/win5/a/sp2faq.php#after

and/or
http://www.winhlp.com/WxSP2.htm#Removing_the_uninstall_information
Removing the uninstall information

http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/spack.htm
Save Space After Installing Updates


--
====================================
TaurArian [MVP] 2005-2008 - Australia
====================================
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375
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Emails will not be acknowledged - please post to the newsgroup so all may benefit.


| The Windows directory has a batch of folders which are apparently intended
| to allow you to remove a service pack. They seem to have names that look
| like:
|
| $NtUninstallQ810565$ and within the folder there are some files (usually
| *.exe and *.dll types) and a second folder with a batch file in it which is
| a set of instructions about copying files from the specific uninstall folder
| to \windows\system32\.
|
| Are these required or can they be safely removed? I need to do more cleanup
| on my c drive and if I can get rid of these it would be a help.
|
| Thanks in advance for any comments or observations.
|
| DAW
|
| (In at least one of the folders I looked at, the batch file listed 5 lines
| of copy from>to, but only 2 of those 5 files were there. Unless my
| assumption is wrong, that is a defective folder and wouldn't be of use
| anyhow)
|
|

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

The Windows directory has a batch of folders which are apparently intended
to allow you to remove a service pack. They seem to have names that look
like:

$NtUninstallQ810565$ and within the folder there are some files (usually
*.exe and *.dll types) and a second folder with a batch file in it which is
a set of instructions about copying files from the specific uninstall folder
to \windows\system32\.

Are these required or can they be safely removed? I need to do more cleanup
on my c drive and if I can get rid of these it would be a help.

The answer is yes, they can be safely removed, although if you do, you
will never be able to remove the associated hotfix.

My personal practice is never to remove them. Although I've never
needed one, I am more comfortable having them there, just in case.

If you are short of disk space and removing these (which aren't
terribly large) helps, my guess is that it will just turn out to be a
stopgap measure. Sooner or later (probably sooner than later) you will
need to bite the bullet and buy a bigger drive.

 

[Don Williams]

The answer is yes, they can be safely removed, although if you do, you
will never be able to remove the associated hotfix.

My personal practice is never to remove them. Although I've never
needed one, I am more comfortable having them there, just in case.

If you are short of disk space and removing these (which aren't
terribly large) helps, my guess is that it will just turn out to be a
stopgap measure. Sooner or later (probably sooner than later) you will
need to bite the bullet and buy a bigger drive.

Actually buying a bigger drive isn't the issue. I run Windows and Unix (to
support the software programs I provide support for) on this one machine and
have created a floppy boot diskette with an old version of fdisk* on it so I
can change the default booting operating system. Windows multi-boot will
only allow you to set up to multi-boot Windows programs.

When you run SCO Open Server Unix on a system that also runs Windows, you
have to install windows first, then the boot and primary Unix OS files
within the firat 1024 virtual cylinders, thus I am limited to 8 Gb on my C
drive (1024 virtual cylinders). That same physical drive then has 15 Gb on
Unix files, followed by 8 Gb which is drive G:. The system actually has 4
EIDE drives and 1 SATA drive, all large except for the first one, and all
running Windows. Unix has two SCSI drives, a SCSI DAT tape, and shares two
SCSI CD drives with Windows.

*Regarding use of fdisk, Unix has it's own fdisk and I can set the primary
boot back to windows before leaving Unix, or I can leave the system set to
always boot into unix, but use a verb bootos 3 to boot into OS3 which
happens to be windows. This means, of course, that any time I do a
shutdown/reboot from Windows I have to be here and catch the system at the
boot: prompt to enter "bootos 3" or it will end up going into Unix.

Anyhow, I have worked very hard to install Windows software on drives other
than C: but any time you install Windows software any place it writes more
files to drive C:. Drive C has so little space that it can't do a reputable
defrag, which makes the boot time longer than it should be because of all
the head movement to pick up the fragmented initial load files. If there
was some magic way to make Windows link another drive to the existing drive
C it would be nice. So far I haven't found it.

Topping all this off, some of the more recent releases of programs such as
Adobe reader don't have a custom install option, it all goes on drive c:

Now for the kicker. When I run disk clean, with the remove all but the last
restore point, I gain almost no more space on drive c: Furthermore, when I
removed those uninstall files, the properties screen didn't show any
increase in the available space on drive c:. Go figure?

Thanks, and if you have any thoughts please respond. Merry Christmas.

DAW

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Now for the kicker. When I run disk clean, with the remove all but the last
restore point, I gain almost no more space on drive c:

That removes the restore points, but doesn't change the amount of
space reserved for restore points. To reduce that amount, right-click
on My Computer, choose Properties, and go to the System Restore tab.

Furthermore, when I
removed those uninstall files, the properties screen didn't show any
increase in the available space on drive c:. Go figure?

Are they in the Recycle bin?

 

[Don Williams]

That removes the restore points, but doesn't change the amount of
space reserved for restore points. To reduce that amount, right-click
on My Computer, choose Properties, and go to the System Restore tab.




Are they in the Recycle bin?

No, that's all cleaned out. I also use OneCare to "Remove unnessary files"
but it doesn't remove any files beyond what I have removed using the other
methods.

I also have, at least for now, turned off restore point monitoring for all
drives except c:. I don't know where the restore data is stored but someone
recommended taking that step.

I've been looking at some of the Microsoft XP performance management
articles, but they don't address my problem, which is to get more free space
on drive C: and get a defrag that is all blue, which I can for the other
drives. I do have one red block on my drive E: which is the virtual memory
set to a fixed size.