Microsoft Update History.

[Guest]

This question is for any MVP or other brainy person:
I checked my MS UD history and found almost 360 entries dating back as far
as Nov. 19, 2001..... Where are these files stored and is there a way of
deleting them? Many of the UD's applied to SP1 and other programs that had
their versions changed. So why keep a record of them? BTW, I'm running
WinXP-Home with SP2.
Thanks,

 

[R. McCarty]

MRUs (Most Recently Used) lists can be cleared any number of ways.
If you have AdAware, during a normal run it will present you a list of
the MRUs and a provision to clear them. Look around on the web,
there are all kinds of tools (MRUBlaster, I seem to remember). You
could also manually edit the Registry, but I wouldn't recommend that.

 

[Rock]

This question is for any MVP or other brainy person:
I checked my MS UD history and found almost 360 entries dating back as far
as Nov. 19, 2001..... Where are these files stored and is there a way of
deleting them? Many of the UD's applied to SP1 and other programs that had
their versions changed. So why keep a record of them? BTW, I'm running
WinXP-Home with SP2.
Thanks,

Checked it where?

 

[Jupiter Jones [MVP]]

As new Service Packs are installed, appropriate files are deleted.
The history is simply a list of install attempts from the windows Update
website whether successful or failed.
The fact something is installed does not change the fact the update was
previously installed.
The old listings do not add to the size significantly.

There are some update files you can safely delete:
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/spack.htm

 

[Jupiter Jones [MVP]]

Open Windows Update
On the left side click "View Installation History"

Microsoft Update, look for "Review your update history"

 

[Guest]

Hello J. Jones:
Thanks for the good info. I deleted all of the antiquated files and reduced
the junk pile. However, I have one more question: "What about the outdated
Qxxxxxx Uninstall/Text files that date back from 2001 to 2004"? Can I safely
remove these as well? I just hate all of the unnecessary stuff on my HD.
PS: It would be nice if Microsoft would have a program that removes the
files that it installed but are no longer needed.
Thanks for your help,

 

[Torgeir Bakken \(MVP\)]

This question is for any MVP or other brainy person:
I checked my MS UD history and found almost 360 entries dating back as far
as Nov. 19, 2001..... Where are these files stored and is there a way of
deleting them? Many of the UD's applied to SP1 and other programs that had
their versions changed. So why keep a record of them? BTW, I'm running
WinXP-Home with SP2.
Thanks,

Hi,

To clear the Windows Update history listing, you need to delete
the folder DataStore located here:

%windir%\SoftwareDistribution\

(%windir% is typically C:\Windows)

You can use the procedure described here:

http://v5.windowsupdate.microsoft.com/v5consumer/showarticle.aspx?articleid=11&ln=en

 

[Guest]

Hello Torgeir:
Thanks for the helpful info. Did it accordingly and it cleared up the old
records.
Appreciate all of the replies.
Thanks,