cleaning up the installer folder in Windows 2012 R2

Question

_{Wednesday, October 19, 2016 7:33 PM}

I have a installer folder that is 23GB in size and the WinSxS is 8.7GB in size. I want to cleanup both of these directories correctly.  However my understanding is that since both of the folders are part of the installation process I have not found a safe way to delete the files within it.  Ideas?

All replies (7)

_{Thursday, October 20, 2016 8:40 AM ✅Answered}

Hi,

Thanks for your post.

The WinSXS folder contains all Windows system components. In fact, component files elsewhere in Windows are just links to files contained in the WinSXS folder. The WinSXS folder contains every operating system file. When Windows installs updates, it drops the new Windows component in the WinSXS folder and keeps the old component in the WinSXS folder. This means that every Windows Update you install increases the size of your WinSXS folder.

For example, the following command will uninstall all previous versions of components without the scheduled task’s 30-day grace period:

DISM.exe /online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup

The following command will remove files needed for uninstallation of service packs. You won’t be able to uninstall any currently installed service packs after running this command:

DISM.exe /online /Cleanup-Image /SPSuperseded

The following command will remove all old versions of every component. You won’t be able to uninstall any currently installed service packs or updates after this completes:

DISM.exe /online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup /ResetBase

You could use this guide to free up space:

How to Clean up the WinSxS Directory and Free Up Disk Space on Windows Server 2008 R2 with New Update
http://blogs.technet.com/b/askpfeplat/archive/2014/05/13/how-to-clean-up-the-winsxs-directory-and-free-up-disk-space-on-windows-server-2008-r2-with-new-update.aspx

Some articles for your reference:

How to address disk space issues that are caused by a large Windows component store (WinSxS) directory

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2795190

Best Regards,

Alvin Wang

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_{Wednesday, October 19, 2016 7:49 PM | 1 vote}

This one might help.

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn251565.aspx?f=255&MSPPError=-2147217396

Regards, Dave Patrick ....
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows Server] Datacenter Management

Disclaimer: This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties or guarantees, and confers no rights.

_{Monday, October 24, 2016 7:51 PM}

Sorry but none of those suggestions worked.

_{Monday, October 24, 2016 8:17 PM}

installer folder that is 23GB

Seems out of control. I just checked a couple here that are like 150 mB in size. You might be able to move it to another disk (most likely unsupported)

Regards, Dave Patrick ....
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows Server] Datacenter Management

Disclaimer: This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties or guarantees, and confers no rights.

_{Tuesday, October 25, 2016 3:08 PM}

I thought deleting what is in the installer folder can cause big time damage to the point where you have to do a rebuild.  Explain further.

_{Tuesday, October 25, 2016 3:10 PM}

I thought deleting what is in the installer folder can cause big time damage to the point where you have to do a rebuild.  Explain further.

Delete was not mentioned. move might be possible but also most likely unsupported.

Regards, Dave Patrick ....
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows Server] Datacenter Management

Disclaimer: This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties or guarantees, and confers no rights.

_{Friday, February 23, 2018 2:01 PM}

I laugh at 23GB, try 250GB, no the solution didn't help me either