Can I delete the blue uninstall

[John Vanini]

I have almost 500 MB of blue uninstall updates (such as
$NtUninstallKB835732$) in the Windows folder and wondered whether I can
delete these or not.

They are, obviously, from their names, uninstall programs, so, as my windows
is working fine, do I need these?

I have searched the Internet but am more confused by the answers I have read
than I was before! I've been to the MS website and that didn't help in the
slightest!

I'd be grateful for any help, please.

 

[Bill in Co.]

If you ever wanted to uninstall them (and you don't know what programs they
are for), you should keep them. 500 MB is nearly a pittance in disk space
these days; if you're getting that desperate (or close to the edge), maybe
it's time to think about getting a larger HD. That would be the proper
solution.

 

[sandy58]

I have almost 500 MB of blue uninstall updates (such as
$NtUninstallKB835732$) in the Windows folder and wondered whether I can
delete these or not.

They are, obviously, from their names, uninstall programs, so, as my windows
is working fine, do I need these?

I have searched the Internet but am more confused by the answers I have read
than I was before! I've been to the MS website and that didn't help in the
slightest!

I'd be grateful for any help, please.

Unless you are a collector.........bin the lot!!!

 

[John Vanini]

Thanks Bill and Sandy58 for your replies!

You can see the problem, however, (and I don't mean this nastily at all, I
assure both of you - it just made me smile) - one says keep them and the
other bin them!

If they are uninstall programs, why do I need them as I've never needed to
uninstall a single update yet. On top of that I wouldn't know how to use
them or what they would uninstall if I did use them. As an example, one of
these is $NtUninstallQ329048$, which, obviously, uninstalls update Q329048$
but what exactly is this and how would I know if this were the cause of my
computer problem - assuuming I had one?

I have a 200 gigabyte main 'C' drive plus two other 200 gigabyte drives ('D'
and 'E') so room isn't a problem. It's just that the long, long list of blue
uninstall programs irritated me and made me wonder what on earth they do,
why they are there taking up room, and whether they can be deleted or not.

A large number are dated April 2006, so I would have thought that, as I have
had no problems with Windows, these could be deleted. It seems that the best
thing to do is leave them alone but, out of interest, I thought I'd ask. As
a matter of interest, are they anything to do with the Windows 'Restore'
point?

Thanks again for both your replies and no offence was intended - honest!

John

 

[Mark]

Don't install any updates for a couple of days just to make sure everything
is fine, then delete them. That's what I do.

Mark

 

[John Vanini]

Thanks Mark, that makes sense.

John

Don't install any updates for a couple of days just to make sure
everything is fine, then delete them. That's what I do.

Mark

 

[John Stevo]

You think you have a problem my brother has 9GB of these files going back
several years. we are going to try deleting all but the most recent, but
keeping everything crossed.

 

[Big Al]

Thanks Mark, that makes sense.

John

Before you delete them, burn a CD with them. 500Meg fits fine.
That's what I did.

 

[Mark]

Before you delete them, burn a CD with them. 500Meg fits fine.
That's what I did.

That's also a good idea.

Mark

 

[sandy58]

I have almost 500 MB of blue uninstall updates (such as
$NtUninstallKB835732$) in the Windows folder and wondered whether I can
delete these or not.

They are, obviously, from their names, uninstall programs, so, as my windows
is working fine, do I need these?

I have searched the Internet but am more confused by the answers I have read
than I was before! I've been to the MS website and that didn't help in the
slightest!

I'd be grateful for any help, please.

I'm just grinning here. You got the LOT here, John. Bin, sure. Keep,
sure. Then the fence-sitters "em, well you never know." I have never
ever kept them. Mind you I only zap them when I SEE them. So, that's
one for the "fence-sitters". You'll do what YOU want to do, John
and good luck to you.
ATB
sandy58

 

[Big Al]

I'm just grinning here. You got the LOT here, John. Bin, sure. Keep,
sure. Then the fence-sitters "em, well you never know." I have never
ever kept them. Mind you I only zap them when I SEE them. So, that's
one for the "fence-sitters". You'll do what YOU want to do, John
and good luck to you.
ATB
sandy58

I just love these "what do you think" questions. The most innocent
question can get 100 replys. And yes, its kinda up to the OP to pick
out the best of the lot and play the odds. Its fun reading if nothing
else.

 

[sandy58]

I just love these "what do you think" questions. The most innocent
question can get 100 replys. And yes, its kinda up to the OP to pick
out the best of the lot and play the odds. Its fun reading if nothing
else.

You gottit, Big Al. Nice to see a lot of interest all the
same....and the different ideas.

 

[Jim]

Thanks Bill and Sandy58 for your replies!

You can see the problem, however, (and I don't mean this nastily at all, I
assure both of you - it just made me smile) - one says keep them and the
other bin them!

Not quite. Bill said to keep them because they consume a trivial amount of
disk space.
Sandy58 said to bin them (I would take that to mean to copy them to a CD or
DVD).
I have done both at different times.

If they are uninstall programs, why do I need them as I've never needed to
uninstall a single update yet. On top of that I wouldn't know how to use
them or what they would uninstall if I did use them. As an example, one of
these is $NtUninstallQ329048$, which, obviously, uninstalls update
Q329048$ but what exactly is this and how would I know if this were the
cause of my computer problem - assuuming I had one?

In this case, you would search the internet for Q329048 to see what the
patch fixes.
You could also search MS for that update to see what it fixes.

I have a 200 gigabyte main 'C' drive plus two other 200 gigabyte drives
('D' and 'E') so room isn't a problem. It's just that the long, long list
of blue uninstall programs irritated me and made me wonder what on earth
they do, why they are there taking up room, and whether they can be
deleted or not.

One can never know that any given update will not need to be removed.
The blue color means that the contents have been compressed to save space.

A large number are dated April 2006, so I would have thought that, as I
have had no problems with Windows, these could be deleted. It seems that
the best thing to do is leave them alone but, out of interest, I thought
I'd ask. As a matter of interest, are they anything to do with the Windows
'Restore' point?

The only relation is that a restore point made before the installation will
provide a quick and easy way to remove a faulty patch. Surely though
restore points from April 2006 are long gone.
Jim

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I have almost 500 MB of blue uninstall updates (such as
$NtUninstallKB835732$) in the Windows folder and wondered whether I can
delete these or not.

They are, obviously, from their names, uninstall programs, so, as my windows
is working fine, do I need these?

These are the uninstall files for hotfixes you've installed. 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.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

I have almost 500 MB of blue uninstall updates (such as
$NtUninstallKB835732$) in the Windows folder and wondered whether I can
delete these or not.

They are, obviously, from their names, uninstall programs, so, as my windows
is working fine, do I need these?

I have searched the Internet but am more confused by the answers I have read
than I was before! I've been to the MS website and that didn't help in the
slightest!

I'd be grateful for any help, please.

If you're confident that you won't need to uninstall either the
service pack or any of the subsequent hotfixes, you can safely delete
those folders. You can then open the Control Panel's Add/Remove
Programs applet and select each of the pertinent removal choices, in
turn. You should get an error message stating that the removal files
are missing, and asking if you'd like to delete the menu option.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:


http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. ~Bertrand Russell

The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has
killed a great many philosophers.
~ Denis Diderot

 

[John Vanini]

Hi all,



From all the replies, it seems best not to just delete the uninstall
programs out-of-hand, in case problems occur later and they're needed.
Instead, leave the updates for a while and watch for any problems, then, if
all is well, save them to a CD for future use and delete them off the drive.



It's best, then, surely, to download and install one update at a time so
that you know which caused the problem, in the first place, otherwise, if,
as I've done many times, several updates are installed at the same time, the
question is which caused the problem - and how would you know which
uninstall to use?



I'm sorry about this but I have to ask - how would you know that it was an
update that caused the problem in the first place - just, I suppose, that
the problem occurred after the installation?



As in my case, I've always let windows download and install my updates
automatically, which it has, several at a time, so how would I know which
one caused the damage? I think the answer, in my present case, is, because I
haven't installed an update for some time, it's okay to assume that I won't
get problems, now (that sounds dangerous but you see what I mean!). so I can
save the uninstall programs to CD and then delete them off the hard drive.
In future, perhaps, I should manually download updates one at a time and
wait to see what happens.



Now I'm getting worried, again - I think I'm going to lie down - my brain
hurts!



Seriously, thanks to all for the discussion (not a rude person in sight!) -
I've learned a lot. And my thanks to everyone for all the help - it's been
fun and is greatly appreciated. At least the blue programs are no longer a
mystery to me!



John

 

[Bill in Co.]

Hi all,


From all the replies, it seems best not to just delete the uninstall
programs out-of-hand, in case problems occur later and they're needed.

I think that's the wisest approach (although I would leave them there on the
HD).

Instead, leave the updates for a while and watch for any problems, then,
if
all is well, save them to a CD for future use and delete them off the
drive.

It's best, then, surely, to download and install one update at a time so
that you know which caused the problem, in the first place, otherwise, if,
as I've done many times, several updates are installed at the same time,
the
question is which caused the problem - and how would you know which
uninstall to use?

Exactly.
And you should reboot after each and every update, to make sure it's ok and
completely installed.

I'm sorry about this but I have to ask - how would you know that it was an
update that caused the problem in the first place - just, I suppose, that
the problem occurred after the installation?

Right. And hopefully you would give it a bit of time to evaluate, before
jumping in to the next update (assuming you want the updates)

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Hi all,



From all the replies, it seems best not to just delete the uninstall
programs out-of-hand, in case problems occur later and they're needed.
Instead, leave the updates for a while and watch for any problems, then, if
all is well, save them to a CD for future use and delete them off the drive.

Personally I leave them on the drive because I have plenty of disk
space, but the CD approach is fine too

My approach is not to throw away anything I might need later (even if
the chances I might need it are tiny) if the space to keep it is
available.

It's best, then, surely, to download and install one update at a time so
that you know which caused the problem, in the first place, otherwise, if,
as I've done many times, several updates are installed at the same time, the
question is which caused the problem - and how would you know which
uninstall to use?



I'm sorry about this but I have to ask - how would you know that it was an
update that caused the problem in the first place - just, I suppose, that
the problem occurred after the installation?

There are two possible answers to that:

1. Problems, and what caused them, are often documented, in Microsoft
KB articles, in newsgroup postings, etc. So it's often possible to
know that a particular problem was caused by a specific update.

2. Sometimes you *don't* know, but only suspect. In that case, it's a
trial and error procedure. Uninstall what you suspect. If it doesn't
solve the problem, reinstall it.

 

[John Vanini]

Okay, thanks, got it and understand it.

I won't need to bother anyone again - at least not on this subject!

To be honest, I probably won't delete anything now that I understand what
it's all about (please don't be offended!!!) but I also know enough about
the subject to make reasonable decisions in the future - it's no longer a
total mystery!

Thanks very much, to all of you, once again.

John

 

[Durward Absconditus]

If you ever wanted to uninstall them (and you don't know what programs they
are for), you should keep them. 500 MB is nearly a pittance in disk space
these days; if you're getting that desperate (or close to the edge), maybe
it's time to think about getting a larger HD. That would be the proper
solution.

I myself have been tempted to delete these files even though I have
almost 400gb of free space between my 2 hdd.
I think what my problem may be is I come from a generation that
started using PC's in the late 80's when a 20mb hard drive was
considered state of the art and DOS was still considered the
foundation of my Windows 2.0 operating system.
In those days ones instinct was to delete every un-needed byte from
your hard drive. Old habits do die hard.