Guest K Stonefield Posted August 20, 2008 Posted August 20, 2008 In C:\WINDOWS, I can see almost 150 hidden folders that all start with $NtUninstall... When I check the folder sizes, most of them are in the MB range. Are these files necessary to have? Is it taking up unnecessary space? -- Thanks! In the field of stones...
Guest Rey Santos Posted August 20, 2008 Posted August 20, 2008 RE: Do I Need These Files? These folders contain the uninstall information for each Microsoft update you install. That means that you will be unable to uninstall the updates if you delete these folders. You may leave them there unless you need hard drive space. http://windowsxp.mvps.org/Hotfix_backup.htm -- Rey "K Stonefield" wrote: > In C:\WINDOWS, I can see almost 150 hidden folders that all start with > > $NtUninstall... > > When I check the folder sizes, most of them are in the MB range. Are these > files necessary to have? Is it taking up unnecessary space? > > -- > Thanks! > In the field of stones...
Guest Frank Saunders MS-MVP IE,OE/WM Posted August 20, 2008 Posted August 20, 2008 Re: Do I Need These Files? "K Stonefield" <KStonefield@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:A921964B-2B51-492E-8AB0-42DE604D659D@microsoft.com... > In C:\WINDOWS, I can see almost 150 hidden folders that all start with > > $NtUninstall... > > When I check the folder sizes, most of them are in the MB range. Are > these > files necessary to have? Is it taking up unnecessary space? > > -- > Thanks! > In the field of stones... If you do decide to remove them each has an associated *.log. -- Frank Saunders MS-MVP IE,OE/WM Do not reply with email
Guest Gerry Posted August 20, 2008 Posted August 20, 2008 Re: Do I Need These Files? If your drive is formatted as NTFS another potential gain arises with your operating system on your C drive. In the Windows Directory of your C partition you will have some Uninstall folders in your Windows folder typically: $NtServicePackUninstall$ and $NtUninstallKB282010$ etc. These files may be compressed or not compressed. If compressed the text of the folder name appears in blue characters. If not compressed you can compress them. Right click on each folder and select Properties, General, Advanced and check the box before Compress contents to save Disk Space. On the General Tab you can see the amount gained by deducting the size on disk from the size. Folder compression is only an option on a NTFS formatted drive / partition. Other ways to free disk space. You should have at least 20% free. The default allocation to System Restore is 12% on your C partition which is over generous. I would reduce it to 700 mb. Right click your My Computer icon on the Desktop and select System Restore. Place the cursor on your C drive select Settings but this time find the slider and drag it to the left until it reads 700 mb and exit. When you get to the Settings screen click on Apply and OK and exit. Another default setting which could be wasteful is that for temporary internet files, especially if you do not store offline copies on disk. The default allocation is 3% of drive. Depending on your attitude to offline copies you could reduce this to 1% or 2%. In Internet Explorer select Tools, Internet Options, General, Temporary Internet Files, Settings to make the change. At the same time look at the number of days history is held. The default allocation for the Recycle Bin is 10 % of drive. Change to 5%, which should be sufficient. In Windows Explorer place the cursor on your Recycle Bin, right click and select Properties, Global and move the slider from 10% to 5%. However, try to avoid letting it get too full as if it is full and you delete a file by mistake it will bypass the Recycle Bin and be gone for ever. Select Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk CleanUp to Empty your Recycle Bin and Remove Temporary Internet Files. Also select Start, All Programs, accessories, System Tools, Disk CleanUp, More Options, System Restore and remove all but the latest System Restore point. Run Disk Defragmenter. Select Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, System Information, Tools, Dr Watson and verify that the box before "Append to existing log" is NOT checked. This means the next time the log is written it will overwrite rather than add to the existing file. The default maximum size setting for Event Viewer logs is too large. Reset the maximum for each log from 512 kb to 128 kb and set it to overwrite. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308427/en-us -- Hope this helps. Gerry ~~~~ FCA Stourport, England Enquire, plan and execute ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ K Stonefield wrote: > In C:\WINDOWS, I can see almost 150 hidden folders that all start with > > $NtUninstall... > > When I check the folder sizes, most of them are in the MB range. Are > these files necessary to have? Is it taking up unnecessary space?
Guest ju.c Posted August 20, 2008 Posted August 20, 2008 Re: Do I Need These Files? They are Microsoft Updates (Hotfix) uninstallers. You may delete them with no problem, however you really should copy them to a backup, just in case. Keep the same folder structure so you can easily remember where to put one if you need to: C:\WINDOWS\ You can also empty this folder: C:\WINDOWS\SoftwareDistribution\Download and you don't need to back that one up: IMPORTANT!!! Do not delete this one! C:\WINDOWS\$hf_mig$ ju.c "K Stonefield" <KStonefield@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:A921964B-2B51-492E-8AB0-42DE604D659D@microsoft.com... > In C:\WINDOWS, I can see almost 150 hidden folders that all start with > > $NtUninstall... > > When I check the folder sizes, most of them are in the MB range. Are these > files necessary to have? Is it taking up unnecessary space? > > -- > Thanks! > In the field of stones...
Guest Ken Blake Posted August 20, 2008 Posted August 20, 2008 Re: Do I Need These Files? "K Stonefield" <KStonefield@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:A921964B-2B51-492E-8AB0-42DE604D659D@microsoft.com... > In C:\WINDOWS, I can see almost 150 hidden folders that all start with > > $NtUninstall... > > When I check the folder sizes, most of them are in the MB range. Are > these > files necessary to have? Is it taking up unnecessary space? These files are the uninstall files for Windows updates you have installed. Yes, you can delete them, but if you do, you will never be able to uninstall the associated updates. If you are sure you will never want to uninstall the updates, feel free to delete them, but bear the following in mind: 1. Deleting them will save only a small amount of space. 2. If that small amount of space is significant to you, deleting them will be only a stopgap measure. You need to bite the bullet and buy a larger (or a second) drive. My personal practice, since they take up so little space, is to leave them there, just in case.
Guest Gorka Miranda Posted September 17, 2008 Posted September 17, 2008 Re: Do I Need These Files? Hi Those folders store information to uninstall applications and windows updates. You can delete them but you are not going to uninstall the windows updated and some applications automatically, so you will have to do it manually, which could be tricky. regards Gorka Miranda "K Stonefield" <KStonefield@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:A921964B-2B51-492E-8AB0-42DE604D659D@microsoft.com... > In C:\WINDOWS, I can see almost 150 hidden folders that all start with > > $NtUninstall... > > When I check the folder sizes, most of them are in the MB range. Are > these > files necessary to have? Is it taking up unnecessary space? > > -- > Thanks! > In the field of stones...
Guest ju.c Posted September 17, 2008 Posted September 17, 2008 Re: Do I Need These Files? Those folders are for uninstalling Windows updates and Hotfixes. It is perfectly fine to delete them, but you must not delete this folder: C:\WINDOWS\$hf_mig$ That folder is used by Automatic Updates. But before you delete them for good, copy them to a CD or DVD, it's always good practice to make backups, you really just never know. Also, here is a good tutorial: Making Your Windows Folder Smaller http://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?s=1de168d77b4b50d7d6252b7a51011aa6&showtopic=80511 ju.c "K Stonefield" <KStonefield@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:A921964B-2B51-492E-8AB0-42DE604D659D@microsoft.com... > In C:\WINDOWS, I can see almost 150 hidden folders that all start with > > $NtUninstall... > > When I check the folder sizes, most of them are in the MB range. Are > these > files necessary to have? Is it taking up unnecessary space? > > -- > Thanks! > In the field of stones...
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