Patches

[LouA]

There are about 50 patches or hotfixes in winXP PRO that
are listed in the add/remove section of the control panel
and also under C:\windows such as
$NtServicePackUninstall$
$NtUninstallKB810217$ and so on. These are all folders
the total is 1286 objects.
I don't want to uninstall them but is it save to delete
them from C:\windows? I suppose they will remain in the
control panel.
Thank you in advance.

 

[Robert Moir]

There are about 50 patches or hotfixes in winXP PRO that
are listed in the add/remove section of the control panel
and also under C:\windows such as
$NtServicePackUninstall$
$NtUninstallKB810217$ and so on. These are all folders
the total is 1286 objects.
I don't want to uninstall them but is it save to delete
them from C:\windows? I suppose they will remain in the
control panel.
Thank you in advance.

You can safely delete the "uninstall" folders from c:\windows once you are
sure an update is working correctly (in other words, leave it a few days
after applying a change before deleting its uninstall folder).

Removing them from the control panel will, as you probably suspect,
uninstall the patch, not tidy up its uninstall folder.

 

[LouA]

-----Original Message-----


You can safely delete the "uninstall" folders from c:\windows once you are
sure an update is working correctly (in other words, leave it a few days
after applying a change before deleting its uninstall folder).

Removing them from the control panel will, as you probably suspect,
uninstall the patch, not tidy up its uninstall folder.

Thank you, exactly as I suspected but leary and unsure.
Better safe than sorry. thank you for your help
LouA

 

[Guest]

BTW, this is a reply I received from an old MSN-MVP I
knew back in the days when we had a different type NG and
testers.
"Those folders are the uninstall information for the
hotfixes and various patches that you install. If you
delete that information and need to remove patches or
hotfixes say one at a time for example , perhaps just
trying to diagnose an issue, you wouldn't be able to
because the uninstall information would have been deleted
if you delete those folders."

 

[Robert Moir]

BTW, this is a reply I received from an old MSN-MVP I
knew back in the days when we had a different type NG and
testers.
"Those folders are the uninstall information for the
hotfixes and various patches that you install. If you
delete that information and need to remove patches or
hotfixes say one at a time for example , perhaps just
trying to diagnose an issue, you wouldn't be able to
because the uninstall information would have been deleted
if you delete those folders."

Isn't that what I said?

--
--
Rob Moir, Microsoft MVP for servers & security
Website - http://www.robertmoir.co.uk
Virtual PC 2004 FAQ - http://www.robertmoir.co.uk/win/VirtualPC2004FAQ.html

Kazaa - Software update services for your Viruses and Spyware.

 

[Alex Nichol]

There are about 50 patches or hotfixes in winXP PRO that
are listed in the add/remove section of the control panel
and also under C:\windows such as
$NtServicePackUninstall$
$NtUninstallKB810217$ and so on. These are all folders
the total is 1286 objects.
I don't want to uninstall them but is it save to delete
them from C:\windows?

Those are there so you could *uninstall* the patches. Each corresponds
to a folder of files needed for the purpose -
Windows\$NTUninstallQnnnnnn$ for the fix described at
http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=kb;en-us;nnnnnn

If you decide you will not want to uninstall a fix (and if all is
running smoothly you probably won't) then delete the folder. If you
then try in Add/remove, to Remove that one, it will fail, and you will
be offered the option of removing the entry there