What are those files?

[Yumin]

In the fold "windows" of winXP, there are many subfold
named "$NTUninstallxxxxxxx$", such
as "$NTUninstallQ329115$

What are those folds? Where do they come from? How should
do for them?

 

[Guest]

Hi, never touch those folders. I was screwing around one time and i accidentally deleted one of them, and my computer would not start up again. I think that they are all used by windows xp. hope this helps.

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi Yumin,

They are backup files for a WindowsUpdate (hotfix) and yes you can delete
them as long as you do not plan to uninstall any of the Windows Update
files. You will also find a listing for each under Add & Remove in the
Control Panel. Once you have deleted the backup, you can select the hotfix
for removal. You will get an error message followed by an option to remove
the listing. You can automate this task using a tool from the Utilties
section of www.dougknox.com

The backups are there for hotfixes that are uninstallable. This is an option
only for some updates, and it is there in case the update causes issues for
you (so you can uninstall it if necessary). If you don't plan on
uninstalling it and want to conserve drive space, there is nothing wrong
with removing them. I keep each backup for about a month before removing it.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers aka "Nutcase" MS-MVP - Win9x
Windows isn't rocket science! That's my other hobby!

Associate Expert - WinXP - Expert Zone

 

[Alex Nichol]

In the fold "windows" of winXP, there are many subfold
named "$NTUninstallxxxxxxx$", such
as "$NTUninstallQ329115$

Those are there so you could *uninstall* the patches downloaded from
Windows Update . 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 and to a Windows
Hotfix nnnnnn entry in Add/Remove Programs

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