Deleting files in C:\WINDOWS

[Guest]

I made a (long overdue) Windows Update. The total size of the download was
about 24MB (including Win Media Player 11 and .NET Framework 3.0). This
update resulted in a reduction of an estimated 460MB (62%) in the free space
on my C: drive, compared to what I had the day before the update. I have
located 248MB of the stolen property in C:\WINDOWS\Installer,
C:\WINDOWS\ie7updates, and C:\WINDOWS\SoftwareDistribution, but ~220MB remain
at large. The System is WinXP HOME SP2, and the space estimates above include
consideration of SP2, restore points and the $NtUninstallKB......$
directories. Temp directories are nearly empty and IE history has been wiped
clean. The system has been rebooted since the update.

1. Can I safely get rid of stuff in the three directories mentioned first?
If not, what can I do safely? (Specially in C:\WINDOWS\Installer)?
2. Where else can I find files connected to Windows Update? What is safe to
delete?

 

[Gordon Burgess-Parker]

I made a (long overdue) Windows Update. The total size of the download was
about 24MB (including Win Media Player 11 and .NET Framework 3.0). This
update resulted in a reduction of an estimated 460MB (62%) in the free
space on my C: drive,

I suggest that as you had less than 1GB free, you either need to upgrade to
a much bigger HDD, or do some SERIOUS cleaning out. When was the last time
you emptied your temp Internet files? have you ever emptied the Recycle
bin?

 

[SingaporeWebDesign]

Hello,

If the system has been working properly after the updates, you can delete
the hot fix backup files by using the utility at this page
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_hotfix_backup.htm

--
Singapore Web Design
http://www.bootstrike.com/Webdesign/
Singapore Web Hosting
http://www.bootstrike.com/WinXP/faq.html
Windows XP FAQ

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I made a (long overdue) Windows Update. The total size of the download was
about 24MB (including Win Media Player 11 and .NET Framework 3.0). This
update resulted in a reduction of an estimated 460MB (62%) in the free space
on my C: drive, compared to what I had the day before the update. I have
located 248MB of the stolen property in C:\WINDOWS\Installer,
C:\WINDOWS\ie7updates, and C:\WINDOWS\SoftwareDistribution, but ~220MB remain
at large. The System is WinXP HOME SP2, and the space estimates above include
consideration of SP2, restore points and the $NtUninstallKB......$
directories. Temp directories are nearly empty and IE history has been wiped
clean. The system has been rebooted since the update.

1. Can I safely get rid of stuff in the three directories mentioned first?
If not, what can I do safely? (Specially in C:\WINDOWS\Installer)?
2. Where else can I find files connected to Windows Update? What is safe to
delete?

Your Windows Update may have been long overdue but so is
a disk upgrade. A healthy disk has at least 20% free space and
at least 2 GBytes. Disk are cheaper than they have ever been -
clone your system partition on to a larger disk now!

 

[Guest]

Thanks, but as I wrote in the original post, I already moved of the
$NtUnistallKB... directories away, so the tool will just fix the registry
keys. Or are you referring to something else?

 

[Guest]

Thanks to all who answered but the answers didn't solve my problem. I am
still looking for answers to my two specific questions. The situation is easy
to state: before the update I had x amount of free space, after it I had y
less space for a rather large y, so where are the files? If, for example,
redundent files remain in C:\WINDOWS\Installer, I'd like to know about it.
And the new update files are not in the recycle bin, that would be an old
problem, and I'm looking for a solution to the new problem of the update.