windows hotfix

[donna]

I have in my program files approximately 35 lines that
read: windows xp hotfix (SP1) Q(followed by a 6 digit
number and each takes up 11.05 MB of space. Are all
these necessary or can I delete them. Lately my computer
has been extremely slow and I am attempting to get rid of
any programs and files that are not necessary. Thank you
for your help.

 

[Yves Leclerc]

Hotfixes are "patches" to Windows XP which help to make it moe reliable. If
you delete the directories, you would not be able to un-install the
Hotfixes. Also, Xp ill automatically re-install the Hotfixes if they are
un-installed from Control Panel.

 

[Guest]

temp files can be removed but the ones in add/remove can
not be deleted. and run spybot from safer-networking.org
to get rid of the spyware slowing down your computer.
and use firebird from mozilla.org to help keep the
spyware from auto installing.

 

[Kelly]

Some of the Hotfixes (Mostly security updates) do not have an uninstall
feature, these will not appear in the Add and Remove list. If a Hotfix does
appear in the Add and Remove list then it can be uninstalled just like any
other program.

If you uninstall the Hotfix, you will lose the benefits of that patch. This
should only be done if you can determine that you are experiencing negative
effects from the particular Hotfix.

If you simply do not want them to appear in the Add and Remove list and you
are sure that you will not need the uninstall option, you can remove items
from that list by using a registry tweak.

Automated Edit:

Remove Hotfixes from Add or Remove (Line 193)
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm

Manual Edit: Go to Start/Run/Regedit and navigate to this key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\
Uninstall

Expand this branch and look at the list. The Hotfixes are all listed by a
"Q" number that corresponds to the entry in the Add and Remove list. Make
sure that you back up each Key before deleting it.

Select the key and then select File/Export and include the Q number in the
name of the file. Right click the entries you want to remove and select
Delete.

 

[Alex Nichol]

I have in my program files approximately 35 lines that
read: windows xp hotfix (SP1) Q(followed by a 6 digit
number and each takes up 11.05 MB of space. Are all
these necessary or can I delete them.

Presuming you mean in Control Panel - Add/Remove Programs, then those
are there so you could *uninstall* the patches from Windows Update.
Each corresponds to a hidden folder of files needed for the purpose -
Windows\$NTUninstallQnnnnnn$ for the fix described at
http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=kb;en-us;nnnnnn

The 11.05 MB BTW is not correct and is essentially meaningless

If you decide you will not want to uninstall a fix (and if all is
running smoothly you probably won't) then you can 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