Huge LCU-Folder after latest Cumulative Update on Windows 10 1809

Question

_{Wednesday, February 13, 2019 11:27 PM}

Hi,

After the latest Cumulative Update for Windows 10 1809 I found a new Folder called "LCU" within the Folder "%windir%\Servicing". The Web says that "LCU" stands for "Latest Cumulative Update". This LCU Folder contains a huge Structure with thousands of empty Subfolders. Besides those empty Folders there are also lots of *.mum *.cat and *.manifest Files like in the "%windir%\Servicing\Packages" Folder or the "%windir%\WinSxS". Since the Update was successfully installed and I do not plan to revert it, could this LCU Folder or at least those empty Subfolders in it be deleted savely?

Normally I wouldn`t care much about these Component Store Files/Folders since messing around with them may damage the System but I dont like huge Folder Structures with empty Folders that look like unremoved remainders from the latest Update Process like the Download Contents of the "SoftwareDistribution" Folder.

I would like to create a very CLEAN Reference Virtual Machine (VMware) with an optimized Filesystem without any unneccessary Cache-, Download-, Update-Rollback Caches or Backup Folders to save every MB of Space an the less Folders the Filesystem has the faster the VM-Filesystem reacts, especially on slower Machines. Usually I clear all Kinds of Update Caches when Finalizing the Reference Image.

Best Regards
-SoftSonic-

All replies (3)

_{Thursday, February 14, 2019 8:16 AM ✅Answered | 1 vote}

Hi SoftSonic,

Thanks for posting your query here.

we could use disk cleanup to clean useless windows update packages and also other cached files. After having done the disk cleanup, the size of the folder LCU  (C:\Windows\servicing\LCU) has been reduced.

after we click "clean up system files", it will show up the selection "windows update cleanup".

Best regards,

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_{Monday, February 25, 2019 2:37 AM}

Hi,

Just checking in to see if the information provided was helpful. Please let us know if you would like further assistance.

Best regards,

Please remember to mark the replies as answers if they help.
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_{Saturday, March 2, 2019 3:40 PM}

Hi cora Zhou,

Thank you for your Help. I tried as you suggested bur the LCU-Folder still persists. It`s just about 74 MB in Size but it contains over 3000 Sub-Folders where most of them are empty. It`s the huge amount of empty Folders that confuses me. It tried the GUI-Version of the Cleanup-Tool launched from the File Explorer as you mentioned in your Screenshot with all Options selected but it didn`t remove the empty Folders.

I also tried the CMD-Line Call "cleanmgr /sageset" then select all Options (it seems there are more Options available to select when the Tool is called this way) and then run "cleanmgr /sagerun" to execute the previously selected Option Set. This also didn't remove anything from the LCU-Folder.

I tried the following Commands as well:

DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /Spsuperseded
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentcleanup
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentcleanup /ResetBase

The Result was the same. It seems that Windows Builds prior to 1809 do not create this Folder when performing a cumulative Update. I found a Post in another Forum where someone said that he had simply deleted the whole Content of the LCU-Folder. I did so and ran the following Commands afterwards without any Errors or detected Component Store Damages:

SFC /ScanNow
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth

Best regards,
-SoftSonic-