Delete Windows folder and reinstall?

What would happen if I deleted the Windows folder, then ran a repair installation from the disc?

Or...how can I delete all the updates/patches from my laptop? I stupidly enabled Windows Update and now they're taking up a ton of space for useless things I don't need/care about?

I'd rather avoid having to reinstall Windows 7...

Thanks

edit: found out how to uninstall most of them, anyway to remove *everything*?

 

Download and run ccleaner and glary utilities.

Word of caution, it will clear out your browser history, passwords, cookies, etc unless you click to not touch them.

 

Do you mean all the updates, important and recommended ones or only the recommended updates?

You should not run a non up to date windows, the recommended updates can be skipped, but the ones that are marked as important are just that: important. They address bugs, and mostly vulnerabilities. In the end, the choice is up to you though.

 

thanks for the replies

I removed all the non security updates, and the service pack, but it didn't free any space up. it's that stupid winsxs folder, I knew there was a reason I was using XP for so long...

 

Try to do a fresh install of windows 7... I use windows 7 for long now and not having any problem mate

 

hmmm, well I think it's the only way then I downloaded that Windows 8 a while ago so I might just burn that anyway

thanks

 

Oh, WinSXS folder, that beast. Well, that folder is not necessarily as large as it reports. It's a bunch of symlinks (pointers) to other files, but reports the folder as big as the files it's putting a pointer to.

If you were to delete that folder (***DON'T DO THAT!!!***) you would not regain that much space, only a fraction of that. If you were to reinstall windows it would be small at first, but as you installed more things the WinSXS folder would grow in size again. That folder basically eliminates duplicate dll files and minimizes dll and system file conflicts. It's actually a VERY GOOD THING.

To confirm the file size discrepence if you wish, you can highlight all your folders in your Windows Explorer (including hidden and system ones) and check the file size and then compare it with used space, they would be different.

In order to add more space do the following (*** ALL AT YOUR OWN RISK ***):

(1) First let's make sure we see ALL files on our system: To show hidden and system files, open Windows Explorer (tap Win+E). Tap your "ALT" key, select Tools / Folder Options, choose "View" tab. Under "Hidden Files and Folders" select "Show hidden files and folders". Now a little bit further down, UNCHECK "Hide protected operating system files (Recommended)". It will yell at you just say ok. You should now see "pagefile.sys" and "hiberfil.sys" in your root C directory.

(2) Change virtual memory to a range between 256MB and 1024MB, it is most likely equal to the size of your RAM. Requires a reboot.
To do this right click computer, properties, advanced system settings (on left), advanced tab, settings button under "performance", advanced tab (yes another one), virtual memory click "change" button. Select your C: drive, and click "custom size". Type 256MB min and 1024MB max. Click "Set". Ok. Ok. Ok. And reboot when prompted. Your pagefile.sys should now show 256MB only.

(3) Disable hibernate unless you use it. It takes up to the same amount of space as RAM you have. You can still sleep your system, just not hibernate.
To do this tap your Windows key, type "cmd" (DO NOT press Enter yet) and right click cmd.exe in the list and select "run as administrator" (or just press Ctrl-Shift-Enter). this will take you an elevated command prompt (with administrator privileges). Type the following without quotes: "powercfg -h off" and hit enter. Your hibernate file will be gone. You can close the CMD window now. Your hiberfil.sys file should be GONE.

(4) Reduce your system restore files to absolute minimum (1%). Right click computer, properties, system protection (on left), configure, move slider all the way to the left. Click OK and OK. If you want to free up more space there are other ways, see HERE. I run 500MB and it's more than enough for 8-12 system restore points, more than enough for me.

(5) Use Ccleaner and Glary Utilities to remove any extra files not required. I wouldn't remove any Windows folders or files that ccleaner and glary utilites do not. You'd only be asking for trouble.

Now make sure you go back and hide the protected operating system files I noted earlier above so you don't delete something that breaks your computer.

(wow, that's quite a guide, I should publish it somewhere)™

 

I am probably only one of a few who hates ccleaner.

For the average user, ccleaner can be a nightmare. It will remove your browsing history, saved passwords, autofill information unless you otherwise specify (and who wants to go through and manually create a whitelist?!)

Registry cleaners in general are bad news they do not offer any tangible gains and they can remove GOOD entries from time to time. The only time you should be cleaning your registry is when Malwarebytes is trying to fix your "Windows Antispyware 2012" rogue program that you installed via a Bot.

What's wrong with CTRL+SHIFT+DELETE?! I seldomly bother with clearing out my Internet history because your browser will set a quota on temporary space anyways... its called a "cache" for a reason. Most modern computers have enough hard drive space and RAM to compensate for this. Privacy is the only concern now, IF that is a concern at all to you.

I think ccleaner tries to do a good job at being an "all-in-one" system cleaner but it fails in that regard in my opinion in terms of reliability.

 

Well, it's called crap cleaner for a reason and defaults to the most aggressive setting without screwing up your system. And you don't have to clean out the registry, that's a separate issue, and separate part of ccleaner and glary utilities. But I've never had issues with it, as many machines as I've degunked, those two apps fix probably 80% of problems alone. Once you set your options for whatever works best for you just leave it.

CTRL-SHIFT-DEL takes care of windows and internet history and cache, nothing more, nothing to do with system files or temp files. And won't clear up much space unless your browser cache is several GB in size. If it is you better get that changed.

If nothing else use windows disk cleanup that takes care of most of the temp file locations that house the largest amount of unneeded files.

 

hey, thanks for the replies

some very nice tips there! definitely worth publishing somewhere

I already have my paging file disabled and system restore, very nice to be able to get rid of that hiberfil file though! thank you, that's another 3GB freed up

the problem is I made my system partition 60GB, and my D drive has things on so I can't extend the C drive

I guess I could install things to the D drive, would it impact performance?

 

If you have just partitioned your drive, then no performance difference. Well technically on a platter drive, it's faster at the outer edge, and there's guides on how to do that, but for the most part the difference in day to day use isn't all that much noticeable, at least not when you compare HDD vs SSD.

 

I use an equivalent version of ccleaner called Auslogics Disk Cleaner (part of the BoostSpeed suite). I don't bother with the registry defrag/cleaning services as they are useless to me. The Auslogics Disk Defrag and cleaning does a nice job of keeping my system at optimum setting.

 

While I understand why and what you are saying here, I have to question why you would offer this advice without knowing more about the system and the user habits.

While it addresses the freeing harddrive space issue, many of these suggestions can come back and bite a user in the butt later.

At the very least, you need to determine how much harddrive (total and in-use) he has, how much memory he has, and his user habits.

For all the but the most specific cases, virtual memory should be left to Windows to handle it. This is not your father's OS. Windows 7, Windows Vista and Windows XP are all competent enough to handle the pagefile size.

Let windows handle system restore allocation. The default of 12 percent is fine and if the harddrive becomes to full, windows will reduce it--the setting is UP TO 12 PERCENT.

Is hibernate really such a bad thing--OK, on a desktop, disable it, but on a laptop it can save your bacon should you accidentally unplug one day and not realize it.

The OP sounds more like a person who is fretting over 160gb of his 320gb harddrive being full.

If a computer is really running out of harddrive space, uninstall some programs. Disabling windows safety nets for the typical user is a bad idea.

I cannot tell you how many times I have had to manually clean computer viruses from computers because the user turned off system restore. I don't mind getting paid to fix a computer, but wouldn't you rather just run system restore and not have to pay someone to fix your problem?

 

Why wouldn't I offer this advice? It's the kind of stuff I've been doing since Windows 3.1. 20 years and hundreds if not thousands of computers later tells me I have a bit of a clue what I'm doing.

Hibernate isn't a safety net, it's an alternative to sleep mode. Hibernate writes RAM contents to disk so you can unplug and remove any and all power sources and recover from it. Sleep just trickles enough power to the RAM to retain contents and to restore your system to full recovery on powering up. It's the users choice what to use. Use it, don't use it. I don't care. But if you don't want to us it, it's reserving disk space equal to amount of RAM for the most part.

System Restore will not salvage a system from a virus nine times out of ten. System restore just resets the system state, but the virus still exists. And I didn't recommend turning off System Restore, it's good to have a half dozen or so restore points, and I have 10-12 with 500MB. Anything more is just past history well beyond what is useful.

Virtual memory, page file, whatever you want to call it, just defaults to the size of your system RAM. At 2GB or less it resorts to 1.5 times the system RAM. It's just a default setting. By changing the min and max settings, it will still be useable and expand if needed, but if you reduce the minimum setting, it is not reserving as much drive space. And unless you have a fussy program that requires a page file, it's not even really necessary.

Besides what prompted me was OP talking about getting rid of the WinSXS folder which is a VERY BAD IDEA. I was giving alternatives to adding additional free space. He already stated he was using Treesize Free to examine free space, and WinSXS was a big culprit. Tells me there's not much else on there he can get rid of.

 

I never said you did not know what you're doing. I said that suggesting some of this to someone else who does not appear to know what he is doing is dangerous (for him--ok, dangerous is to strong a word--unproductive).

Hibernate is a safety net. That's why it's there. Depending on the age of his machine, it may not even correctly support a sleep state.

You suggested he reduce system restore to 1%---depending on his harddrive that may not be a half a dozen system resotre points--it may not even be enough for one.

Setting a static pagefile range is old school thinking. Without knowing the programs he is using and his habits, it can cause issues. I got a phone call this morning from someone because someone set a max size on his pagefile and wanted to know why he was getting out of memory messages.

Ultimately, with today's modern large drives saving him a gb or 2 is counter productive.

You know your system. You know what to do and I said I get that--but you know nothing about his and his particulars. I am not trying to insult you but your suggestion while good and valid in some situations is not one size fits all.

 

This is a tech forum, relax. If we didn't help each other out with stuff like this the forum would be empty. Users need to understand and trial for themselves. Only way to learn. Nothing I suggested would result in anything horrible happening at all.

I can appreciate your caution, so word to anyone on the internet DO ANYTHING YOU FIND IN FORUMS AT YOUR OWN RISK! That's common sense, and hope most users use that judgement.

Hibernate is not a safety net and that's not why its there. It isn't even activated by default on desktop computers, only laptops. It's to save battery life. It takes longer to boot out of hibernate than sleep or even a reboot at times too. But most laptops can stay in sleep mode for days without issue.

It is plenty. Restore points do not exceed 300MB in size, typically are less than 100MB. And I did state that it would limit your number of restore points.

It is not old school thinking and it's not setting a static page file. You're actually setting a dynamic page file with a lower limit so if it doesn't use the pagefile, it's not reserving 1-2GB or more of disk space, only 256MB. Set the range from 256MB to 10GB if you wish and are concerned and it will utilize what it needs up to 10GB as it expands.

Although his question was actually how to free up a little space and WITHOUT deleting WinSXS which would have been devastating. I was trying to help from doing something horrible.

These are valid suggestions. I can have at least dozen other power users here at NBR attest to that if you'd like...