Printer drivers in \system32\spool\drivers\W32x86

[travisr]

Our XPe image supports eight different HP Deskjet printers, whose
drivers are pre-installed. After the printers are installed, the
driver files reside at "\system32\spool\drivers\W32x86\<printer>".
However, there is also a folder at "\system32\spool\drivers\W32x86\3"
which contains a redundant copy of all the printer files from the
individual printer folders. Now, since HP printer drivers are
ridiculously bloated, the sum total of space consumed by the
"\system32\spool\drivers\W32x86" directory is over 300MB for eight
printers. I could cut that in half if the redundancy can be
eliminated. Does anybody know whether it is safe to delete one of the
copies of the printer drivers? If so, which one? Thanks in advance.

 

[travisr]

Our XPe image supports eight different HP Deskjet printers, whose
drivers are pre-installed.  After the printers are installed, the
driver files reside at "\system32\spool\drivers\W32x86\<printer>".
However, there is also a folder at "\system32\spool\drivers\W32x86\3"
which contains a redundant copy of all the printer files from the
individual printer folders.  Now, since HP printer drivers are
ridiculously bloated, the sum total of space consumed by the
"\system32\spool\drivers\W32x86" directory is over 300MB for eight
printers.  I could cut that in half if the redundancy can be
eliminated.  Does anybody know whether it is safe to delete one of the
copies of the printer drivers?  If so, which one?  Thanks in advance.

Can anybody explain why there are two copies of the driver files and
whether it is possible to consolidate them?

 

[Mike Warren]

Can anybody explain why there are two copies of the driver files and
whether it is possible to consolidate them?

I have no idea, but have you tried renaming \W32x86\3 to see if the
printers still work?