Can I delete the blue uninstall

May 15, 2008

I have almost 500 MB of blue uninstall updates (such as

$NtUninstallKB835732$) in the Windows folder and wondered whether I can

delete these or not.

They are, obviously, from their names, uninstall programs, so, as my windows

is working fine, do I need these?

I have searched the Internet but am more confused by the answers I have read

than I was before! I've been to the MS website and that didn't help in the

slightest!

I'd be grateful for any help, please.

May 15, 2008

Re: Can I delete the blue uninstall

If you ever wanted to uninstall them (and you don't know what programs they

are for), you should keep them. 500 MB is nearly a pittance in disk space

these days; if you're getting that desperate (or close to the edge), maybe

it's time to think about getting a larger HD. That would be the proper

solution.

John Vanini wrote:

> I have almost 500 MB of blue uninstall updates (such as

> $NtUninstallKB835732$) in the Windows folder and wondered whether I can

> delete these or not.

>

> They are, obviously, from their names, uninstall programs, so, as my

> windows

> is working fine, do I need these?

>

> I have searched the Internet but am more confused by the answers I have

> read

> than I was before! I've been to the MS website and that didn't help in the

> slightest!

>

> I'd be grateful for any help, please.

May 15, 2008

Re: Can I delete the blue uninstall

On May 15, 8:18 am, "John Vanini" <john_van...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:

> I have almost 500 MB of blue uninstall updates (such as

> $NtUninstallKB835732$) in the Windows folder and wondered whether I can

> delete these or not.

>

> They are, obviously, from their names, uninstall programs, so, as my windows

> is working fine, do I need these?

>

> I have searched the Internet but am more confused by the answers I have read

> than I was before! I've been to the MS website and that didn't help in the

> slightest!

>

> I'd be grateful for any help, please.

Unless you are a collector.........bin the lot!!!

May 15, 2008

Re: Can I delete the blue uninstall

Thanks Bill and Sandy58 for your replies!

You can see the problem, however, (and I don't mean this nastily at all, I

assure both of you - it just made me smile) - one says keep them and the

other bin them!

If they are uninstall programs, why do I need them as I've never needed to

uninstall a single update yet. On top of that I wouldn't know how to use

them or what they would uninstall if I did use them. As an example, one of

these is $NtUninstallQ329048$, which, obviously, uninstalls update Q329048$

but what exactly is this and how would I know if this were the cause of my

computer problem - assuuming I had one?

I have a 200 gigabyte main 'C' drive plus two other 200 gigabyte drives ('D'

and 'E') so room isn't a problem. It's just that the long, long list of blue

uninstall programs irritated me and made me wonder what on earth they do,

why they are there taking up room, and whether they can be deleted or not.

A large number are dated April 2006, so I would have thought that, as I have

had no problems with Windows, these could be deleted. It seems that the best

thing to do is leave them alone but, out of interest, I thought I'd ask. As

a matter of interest, are they anything to do with the Windows 'Restore'

point?

Thanks again for both your replies and no offence was intended - honest!

John

"John Vanini" <john_vanini@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message

news:ytRWj.1550$q96.484@newsfe18.ams2...

>I have almost 500 MB of blue uninstall updates (such as

>$NtUninstallKB835732$) in the Windows folder and wondered whether I can

>delete these or not.

>

> They are, obviously, from their names, uninstall programs, so, as my

> windows is working fine, do I need these?

>

> I have searched the Internet but am more confused by the answers I have

> read than I was before! I've been to the MS website and that didn't help

> in the slightest!

>

> I'd be grateful for any help, please.

>

May 15, 2008

Re: Can I delete the blue uninstall

Don't install any updates for a couple of days just to make sure everything

is fine, then delete them. That's what I do.

Mark

"John Vanini" <john_vanini@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message

news:ytRWj.1550$q96.484@newsfe18.ams2...

>I have almost 500 MB of blue uninstall updates (such as

>$NtUninstallKB835732$) in the Windows folder and wondered whether I can

>delete these or not.

>

> They are, obviously, from their names, uninstall programs, so, as my

> windows is working fine, do I need these?

>

> I have searched the Internet but am more confused by the answers I have

> read than I was before! I've been to the MS website and that didn't help

> in the slightest!

>

> I'd be grateful for any help, please.

>

May 15, 2008

Re: Can I delete the blue uninstall

Thanks Mark, that makes sense.

John

"Mark" <secureourborders@hotmail.com> wrote in message

news:368526B2-9FD5-4F33-A014-B5FE40FEED9E@microsoft.com...

> Don't install any updates for a couple of days just to make sure

> everything is fine, then delete them. That's what I do.

>

> Mark

>

> "John Vanini" <john_vanini@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message

> news:ytRWj.1550$q96.484@newsfe18.ams2...

>>I have almost 500 MB of blue uninstall updates (such as

>>$NtUninstallKB835732$) in the Windows folder and wondered whether I can

>>delete these or not.

>>

>> They are, obviously, from their names, uninstall programs, so, as my

>> windows is working fine, do I need these?

>>

>> I have searched the Internet but am more confused by the answers I have

>> read than I was before! I've been to the MS website and that didn't help

>> in the slightest!

>>

>> I'd be grateful for any help, please.

>>

>

May 15, 2008

RE: Can I delete the blue uninstall

You think you have a problem my brother has 9GB of these files going back

several years. we are going to try deleting all but the most recent, but

keeping everything crossed.

--

John Stevo

"John Vanini" wrote:

> I have almost 500 MB of blue uninstall updates (such as

> $NtUninstallKB835732$) in the Windows folder and wondered whether I can

> delete these or not.

>

> They are, obviously, from their names, uninstall programs, so, as my windows

> is working fine, do I need these?

>

> I have searched the Internet but am more confused by the answers I have read

> than I was before! I've been to the MS website and that didn't help in the

> slightest!

>

> I'd be grateful for any help, please.

>

May 15, 2008

Re: Can I delete the blue uninstall

John Vanini wrote:

> Thanks Mark, that makes sense.

>

> John

> "Mark" <secureourborders@hotmail.com> wrote in message

> news:368526B2-9FD5-4F33-A014-B5FE40FEED9E@microsoft.com...

>> Don't install any updates for a couple of days just to make sure

>> everything is fine, then delete them. That's what I do.

>>

>> Mark

>>

>> "John Vanini" <john_vanini@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message

>> news:ytRWj.1550$q96.484@newsfe18.ams2...

>>> I have almost 500 MB of blue uninstall updates (such as

>>> $NtUninstallKB835732$) in the Windows folder and wondered whether I can

>>> delete these or not.

>>>

>>> They are, obviously, from their names, uninstall programs, so, as my

>>> windows is working fine, do I need these?

>>>

>>> I have searched the Internet but am more confused by the answers I have

>>> read than I was before! I've been to the MS website and that didn't help

>>> in the slightest!

>>>

>>> I'd be grateful for any help, please.

>>>

>

Before you delete them, burn a CD with them. 500Meg fits fine.

That's what I did.

May 15, 2008

Re: Can I delete the blue uninstall

"Big Al" <BigAl@nowhere.com> wrote in message

news:1dXWj.36808$Au2.18850@trnddc07...

> John Vanini wrote:

>> Thanks Mark, that makes sense.

>>

>> John

>> "Mark" <secureourborders@hotmail.com> wrote in message

>> news:368526B2-9FD5-4F33-A014-B5FE40FEED9E@microsoft.com...

>>> Don't install any updates for a couple of days just to make sure

>>> everything is fine, then delete them. That's what I do.

>>>

>>> Mark

>>>

>>> "John Vanini" <john_vanini@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message

>>> news:ytRWj.1550$q96.484@newsfe18.ams2...

>>>> I have almost 500 MB of blue uninstall updates (such as

>>>> $NtUninstallKB835732$) in the Windows folder and wondered whether I can

>>>> delete these or not.

>>>>

>>>> They are, obviously, from their names, uninstall programs, so, as my

>>>> windows is working fine, do I need these?

>>>>

>>>> I have searched the Internet but am more confused by the answers I have

>>>> read than I was before! I've been to the MS website and that didn't

>>>> help in the slightest!

>>>>

>>>> I'd be grateful for any help, please.

>>>>

>>

> Before you delete them, burn a CD with them. 500Meg fits fine.

> That's what I did.

That's also a good idea.

Mark

May 15, 2008

Re: Can I delete the blue uninstall

On May 15, 8:18 am, "John Vanini" <john_van...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:

> I have almost 500 MB of blue uninstall updates (such as

> $NtUninstallKB835732$) in the Windows folder and wondered whether I can

> delete these or not.

>

> They are, obviously, from their names, uninstall programs, so, as my windows

> is working fine, do I need these?

>

> I have searched the Internet but am more confused by the answers I have read

> than I was before! I've been to the MS website and that didn't help in the

> slightest!

>

> I'd be grateful for any help, please.

I'm just grinning here. You got the LOT here, John. Bin, sure. Keep,

sure. Then the fence-sitters "em, well you never know." I have never

ever kept them. Mind you I only zap them when I SEE them. So, that's

one for the "fence-sitters". :-) You'll do what YOU want to do, John

and good luck to you.

ATB

sandy58

May 15, 2008

Re: Can I delete the blue uninstall

sandy58 wrote:

> On May 15, 8:18 am, "John Vanini" <john_van...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:

>> I have almost 500 MB of blue uninstall updates (such as

>> $NtUninstallKB835732$) in the Windows folder and wondered whether I can

>> delete these or not.

>>

>> They are, obviously, from their names, uninstall programs, so, as my windows

>> is working fine, do I need these?

>>

>> I have searched the Internet but am more confused by the answers I have read

>> than I was before! I've been to the MS website and that didn't help in the

>> slightest!

>>

>> I'd be grateful for any help, please.

>

> I'm just grinning here. You got the LOT here, John. Bin, sure. Keep,

> sure. Then the fence-sitters "em, well you never know." I have never

> ever kept them. Mind you I only zap them when I SEE them. So, that's

> one for the "fence-sitters". :-) You'll do what YOU want to do, John

> and good luck to you.

> ATB

> sandy58

I just love these "what do you think" questions. The most innocent

question can get 100 replys. And yes, its kinda up to the OP to pick

out the best of the lot and play the odds. Its fun reading if nothing

else. :-)

May 15, 2008

Re: Can I delete the blue uninstall

On May 15, 3:59 pm, Big Al <Bi...@nowhere.com> wrote:

> sandy58 wrote:

> > On May 15, 8:18 am, "John Vanini" <john_van...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:

> >> I have almost 500 MB of blue uninstall updates (such as

> >> $NtUninstallKB835732$) in the Windows folder and wondered whether I can

> >> delete these or not.

>

> >> They are, obviously, from their names, uninstall programs, so, as my windows

> >> is working fine, do I need these?

>

> >> I have searched the Internet but am more confused by the answers I have read

> >> than I was before! I've been to the MS website and that didn't help in the

> >> slightest!

>

> >> I'd be grateful for any help, please.

>

> > I'm just grinning here. You got the LOT here, John. Bin, sure. Keep,

> > sure. Then the fence-sitters "em, well you never know." I have never

> > ever kept them. Mind you I only zap them when I SEE them. So, that's

> > one for the "fence-sitters". :-) You'll do what YOU want to do, John

> > and good luck to you.

> > ATB

> > sandy58

>

> I just love these "what do you think" questions. The most innocent

> question can get 100 replys. And yes, its kinda up to the OP to pick

> out the best of the lot and play the odds. Its fun reading if nothing

> else. :-)

You gottit, Big Al. :-) Nice to see a lot of interest all the

same....and the different ideas.

May 15, 2008

Re: Can I delete the blue uninstall

"John Vanini" <john_vanini@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message

news:o7TWj.1755$EH5.1044@newsfe30.ams2...

> Thanks Bill and Sandy58 for your replies!

>

> You can see the problem, however, (and I don't mean this nastily at all, I

> assure both of you - it just made me smile) - one says keep them and the

> other bin them!

Not quite. Bill said to keep them because they consume a trivial amount of

disk space.

Sandy58 said to bin them (I would take that to mean to copy them to a CD or

DVD).

I have done both at different times.

>

> If they are uninstall programs, why do I need them as I've never needed to

> uninstall a single update yet. On top of that I wouldn't know how to use

> them or what they would uninstall if I did use them. As an example, one of

> these is $NtUninstallQ329048$, which, obviously, uninstalls update

> Q329048$ but what exactly is this and how would I know if this were the

> cause of my computer problem - assuuming I had one?

In this case, you would search the internet for Q329048 to see what the

patch fixes.

You could also search MS for that update to see what it fixes.

>

> I have a 200 gigabyte main 'C' drive plus two other 200 gigabyte drives

> ('D' and 'E') so room isn't a problem. It's just that the long, long list

> of blue uninstall programs irritated me and made me wonder what on earth

> they do, why they are there taking up room, and whether they can be

> deleted or not.

One can never know that any given update will not need to be removed.

The blue color means that the contents have been compressed to save space.

>

> A large number are dated April 2006, so I would have thought that, as I

> have had no problems with Windows, these could be deleted. It seems that

> the best thing to do is leave them alone but, out of interest, I thought

> I'd ask. As a matter of interest, are they anything to do with the Windows

> 'Restore' point?

>

The only relation is that a restore point made before the installation will

provide a quick and easy way to remove a faulty patch. Surely though

restore points from April 2006 are long gone.

Jim

> Thanks again for both your replies and no offence was intended - honest!

>

> John

> "John Vanini" <john_vanini@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message

> news:ytRWj.1550$q96.484@newsfe18.ams2...

>>I have almost 500 MB of blue uninstall updates (such as

>>$NtUninstallKB835732$) in the Windows folder and wondered whether I can

>>delete these or not.

>>

>> They are, obviously, from their names, uninstall programs, so, as my

>> windows is working fine, do I need these?

>>

>> I have searched the Internet but am more confused by the answers I have

>> read than I was before! I've been to the MS website and that didn't help

>> in the slightest!

>>

>> I'd be grateful for any help, please.

>>

>

May 15, 2008

Re: Can I delete the blue uninstall

On Thu, 15 May 2008 08:18:45 +0100, "John Vanini"

<john_vanini@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:

> I have almost 500 MB of blue uninstall updates (such as

> $NtUninstallKB835732$) in the Windows folder and wondered whether I can

> delete these or not.

>

> They are, obviously, from their names, uninstall programs, so, as my windows

> is working fine, do I need these?

These are the uninstall files for hotfixes you've installed. They

can be safely removed, although if you do, you will never be able to

remove the associated hotfix.

My personal practice is never to remove them. Although I've never

needed one, I am more comfortable having them there, just in case.

If you are short of disk space and removing these (which aren't

terribly large) helps, my guess is that it will just turn out to be a

stopgap measure. Sooner or later (probably sooner than later) you will

need to bite the bullet and buy a bigger drive.

--

Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience

Please Reply to the Newsgroup

May 16, 2008

Re: Can I delete the blue uninstall

John Vanini wrote:

> I have almost 500 MB of blue uninstall updates (such as

> $NtUninstallKB835732$) in the Windows folder and wondered whether I can

> delete these or not.

>

> They are, obviously, from their names, uninstall programs, so, as my windows

> is working fine, do I need these?

>

> I have searched the Internet but am more confused by the answers I have read

> than I was before! I've been to the MS website and that didn't help in the

> slightest!

>

> I'd be grateful for any help, please.

>

If you're confident that you won't need to uninstall either the

service pack or any of the subsequent hotfixes, you can safely delete

those folders. You can then open the Control Panel's Add/Remove

Programs applet and select each of the pertinent removal choices, in

turn. You should get an error message stating that the removal files

are missing, and asking if you'd like to delete the menu option.

--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:

http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary

safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. ~Bertrand Russell

The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has

killed a great many philosophers.

~ Denis Diderot

May 16, 2008

Re: Can I delete the blue uninstall

Hi all,

From all the replies, it seems best not to just delete the uninstall

programs out-of-hand, in case problems occur later and they're needed.

Instead, leave the updates for a while and watch for any problems, then, if

all is well, save them to a CD for future use and delete them off the drive.

It's best, then, surely, to download and install one update at a time so

that you know which caused the problem, in the first place, otherwise, if,

as I've done many times, several updates are installed at the same time, the

question is which caused the problem - and how would you know which

uninstall to use?

I'm sorry about this but I have to ask - how would you know that it was an

update that caused the problem in the first place - just, I suppose, that

the problem occurred after the installation?

As in my case, I've always let windows download and install my updates

automatically, which it has, several at a time, so how would I know which

one caused the damage? I think the answer, in my present case, is, because I

haven't installed an update for some time, it's okay to assume that I won't

get problems, now (that sounds dangerous but you see what I mean!). so I can

save the uninstall programs to CD and then delete them off the hard drive.

In future, perhaps, I should manually download updates one at a time and

wait to see what happens.

Now I'm getting worried, again - I think I'm going to lie down - my brain

hurts!

Seriously, thanks to all for the discussion (not a rude person in sight!) -

I've learned a lot. And my thanks to everyone for all the help - it's been

fun and is greatly appreciated. At least the blue programs are no longer a

mystery to me!

John

May 16, 2008

Re: Can I delete the blue uninstall

John Vanini wrote:

> Hi all,

>

> From all the replies, it seems best not to just delete the uninstall

> programs out-of-hand, in case problems occur later and they're needed.

I think that's the wisest approach (although I would leave them there on the

HD).

> Instead, leave the updates for a while and watch for any problems, then,

> if

> all is well, save them to a CD for future use and delete them off the

> drive.

>

> It's best, then, surely, to download and install one update at a time so

> that you know which caused the problem, in the first place, otherwise, if,

> as I've done many times, several updates are installed at the same time,

> the

> question is which caused the problem - and how would you know which

> uninstall to use?

Exactly.

And you should reboot after each and every update, to make sure it's ok and

completely installed.

> I'm sorry about this but I have to ask - how would you know that it was an

> update that caused the problem in the first place - just, I suppose, that

> the problem occurred after the installation?

Right. And hopefully you would give it a bit of time to evaluate, before

jumping in to the next update (assuming you want the updates)

> As in my case, I've always let windows download and install my updates

> automatically, which it has, several at a time, so how would I know which

> one caused the damage? I think the answer, in my present case, is, because

> I

> haven't installed an update for some time, it's okay to assume that I

> won't

> get problems, now (that sounds dangerous but you see what I mean!). so I

> can

> save the uninstall programs to CD and then delete them off the hard drive.

> In future, perhaps, I should manually download updates one at a time and

> wait to see what happens.

Yes.

> Now I'm getting worried, again - I think I'm going to lie down - my brain

> hurts!

>

> Seriously, thanks to all for the discussion (not a rude person in

> sight!) -

> I've learned a lot. And my thanks to everyone for all the help - it's been

> fun and is greatly appreciated. At least the blue programs are no longer a

> mystery to me!

>

> John

May 16, 2008

Re: Can I delete the blue uninstall

On Fri, 16 May 2008 06:18:56 +0100, "John Vanini"

<john_vanini@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:

> Hi all,

>

> From all the replies, it seems best not to just delete the uninstall

> programs out-of-hand, in case problems occur later and they're needed.

> Instead, leave the updates for a while and watch for any problems, then, if

> all is well, save them to a CD for future use and delete them off the drive.

Personally I leave them on the drive because I have plenty of disk

space, but the CD approach is fine too

My approach is not to throw away anything I might need later (even if

the chances I might need it are tiny) if the space to keep it is

available.

> It's best, then, surely, to download and install one update at a time so

> that you know which caused the problem, in the first place, otherwise, if,

> as I've done many times, several updates are installed at the same time, the

> question is which caused the problem - and how would you know which

> uninstall to use?

>

> I'm sorry about this but I have to ask - how would you know that it was an

> update that caused the problem in the first place - just, I suppose, that

> the problem occurred after the installation?

There are two possible answers to that:

1. Problems, and what caused them, are often documented, in Microsoft

KB articles, in newsgroup postings, etc. So it's often possible to

know that a particular problem was caused by a specific update.

2. Sometimes you *don't* know, but only suspect. In that case, it's a

trial and error procedure. Uninstall what you suspect. If it doesn't

solve the problem, reinstall it.

--

Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience

Please Reply to the Newsgroup

May 16, 2008

Re: Can I delete the blue uninstall

Okay, thanks, got it and understand it.

I won't need to bother anyone again - at least not on this subject!

To be honest, I probably won't delete anything now that I understand what

it's all about (please don't be offended!!!) but I also know enough about

the subject to make reasonable decisions in the future - it's no longer a

total mystery!

Thanks very much, to all of you, once again.

John

May 23, 2008

Re: Can I delete the blue uninstall

On Thu, 15 May 2008 01:36:39 -0600, "Bill in Co."

<not_really_here@earthlink.net> wrote:

>If you ever wanted to uninstall them (and you don't know what programs they

>are for), you should keep them. 500 MB is nearly a pittance in disk space

>these days; if you're getting that desperate (or close to the edge), maybe

>it's time to think about getting a larger HD. That would be the proper

>solution.

>

>John Vanini wrote:

>> I have almost 500 MB of blue uninstall updates (such as

>> $NtUninstallKB835732$) in the Windows folder and wondered whether I can

>> delete these or not.

>>

>> They are, obviously, from their names, uninstall programs, so, as my

>> windows

>> is working fine, do I need these?

>>

>> I have searched the Internet but am more confused by the answers I have

>> read

>> than I was before! I've been to the MS website and that didn't help in the

>> slightest!

>>

>> I'd be grateful for any help, please.

>

I myself have been tempted to delete these files even though I have

almost 400gb of free space between my 2 hdd.

I think what my problem may be is I come from a generation that

started using PC's in the late 80's when a 20mb hard drive was

considered state of the art and DOS was still considered the

foundation of my Windows 2.0 operating system.

In those days ones instinct was to delete every un-needed byte from

your hard drive. Old habits do die hard.

Sign In

Can I delete the blue uninstall

Recommended Posts

Guest John Vanini

Popular Days

Popular Days

Guest Bill in Co.

Guest sandy58

Guest John Vanini

Guest Mark

Guest John Vanini

Guest John Stevo

Guest Big Al

Guest Mark

Guest sandy58

Guest Big Al

Guest sandy58

Guest Jim

Guest Ken Blake, MVP

Guest Bruce Chambers

Guest John Vanini

Guest Bill in Co.

Guest Ken Blake, MVP

Guest John Vanini

Guest Durward Absconditus

Similar Content

how can i fix this blue screen error?

cant delete files

Hw can I see whats being Deleted ?

blue tooth not connecting

Blue screen on log in

Browse

Activity

Site Info