c:\windows directory filling up with odd folders

[Jackson]

My c:\windows directory has 100 - 150 folders with such names as
$NtUninstallKB92068$. Some of them show in black letters but the bulk
of them show in blue letters. I believe the blue are compressed.

By their names they appear to be the result of windows updates gone
bad. They typically contain a dll file and a subfolder that in turn
contains other files (spuninst.exe / spuninst.inf / spuninst.txt /
updspapi.dll)

Earlier, I had a few dozen similar folders in the root directory C:\.
I copied these to a CD and erased them from the HD. All those folders
concerned KB927978, which evidently kept reinstalling itself over and
over again. These new folders all seem to have different KB#####$
numbers.

Can I safely delete these files in the c:\windows directory too?

I have automatic update set. If I shut it off might that stop the
rampant growth of these folders?

Thanks

 

[Detlev Dreyer]

My c:\windows directory has 100 - 150 folders with such names as
$NtUninstallKB92068$. Some of them show in black letters but the bulk
of them show in blue letters. I believe the blue are compressed.
Correct.

By their names they appear to be the result of windows updates gone
bad.
Nope.

Can I safely delete these files in the c:\windows directory too?
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_hotfix_backup.htm

I have automatic update set. If I shut it off might that stop the
rampant growth of these folders?

If you want to run a not fully patched system, go ahead.

 

[Shenan Stanley]

My c:\windows directory has 100 - 150 folders with such names as
$NtUninstallKB92068$. Some of them show in black letters but the
bulk of them show in blue letters. I believe the blue are
compressed.

By their names they appear to be the result of windows updates gone
bad. They typically contain a dll file and a subfolder that in turn
contains other files (spuninst.exe / spuninst.inf / spuninst.txt /
updspapi.dll)

Earlier, I had a few dozen similar folders in the root directory
C:\. I copied these to a CD and erased them from the HD. All those
folders concerned KB927978, which evidently kept reinstalling
itself over and over again. These new folders all seem to have
different KB#####$ numbers.

Can I safely delete these files in the c:\windows directory too?

I have automatic update set. If I shut it off might that stop the
rampant growth of these folders?

Yes. For the most part.
As long as you never want to undo any of the Windows XP Hotfixes (those are
the uninstall files...)

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

Your question seems to represent you as someone looking to free up disk
space... Along those lines:

How large is your hard disk drive anyway?
How large are the partition(s) on said hard disk drive?
If you don't know - now is a fine time to find out.

- Open 'My Computer'.
- Find your hard disk drive listed there (usually at least 'Local Disk
(C') and right-click on it.
- Choose 'Properties'.
- You should see (under the General tab) three numbers...
- Free Space
- Used Space
- Capacity
- Come back and respond here with those three numbers as shown.

Used Disk Cleanup?
Is hibernate turned on and do you use that feature?
Uninstalled unnecessary applications lately?

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...
(You may want to turn this off on your system.. 3GB?!)

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.

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/

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.

 

[Jackson]

/.../

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

Thanks, Shenan and Detlev for answering.

These folders are on my laptop (XPHE)which I haven't owned long enough
to fill up the HD. I'm sort of a neatnik and don't like to see 100+
uninstall folders in my Windows directory, at this point I'm not short
of HD space. Of course, if these things keep growing at such a rate I
eventually would be.

I have a desktop with XPME and it doesn't have nearly as many of these
folders in its root or Windows directories. Maybe there are fewer
updates to that OS.

Anyway, I'm not sure what to do. I guess I could collect them all
into a separate folder, or maybe copy them to a CD and then I wouldn't
have to look at them so often. After a few months I would feel safe
enough to delete them.

BTW, if I wanted to uninstall an update, how would I do it? If I
execute the .exe file that is inside a particular ...KB######$ folder,
would that do the trick?

Also, thanks for the links to the explanations.

 

[Shenan Stanley]

Jackson remove XX wrote:

Anyway, I'm not sure what to do. I guess I could collect them all
into a separate folder, or maybe copy them to a CD and then I
wouldn't have to look at them so often. After a few months I
would feel safe enough to delete them.

BTW, if I wanted to uninstall an update, how would I do it? If I
execute the .exe file that is inside a particular ...KB######$
folder, would that do the trick?

Also, thanks for the links to the explanations.

If you have not had to uninstall the updates by now - you probably won't
have to.
(Usually I give 'em a couple of months..)

To Uninstall - Control Panel --> Add or Remove Programs --> make sure the
'Show Updates' box is checked and remove the one you wish to - like
uninstalling any other application. The folder in question is merely the
record as well as the copy of the stuff it replaced in many cases.

 

[Spikey]

Jackson remove XX wrote:

Under the tools menu - view tab - tick "do not show hidden files etc" and
then you wont see them!!

)

 

[Jackson]

Under the tools menu - view tab - tick "do not show hidden files etc" and
then you wont see them!!

)

Hey, that was easy! Thanks...