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Win 7 Folder close to 30 GB - help reduce size

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Hi all,

I've used WinDirStat to track down the culprits and found that the following 2 folders take up the most space.

C:\Windows\Installer = 7.9GB
C:\Windows\winsxs = 6.9GB

I've done some reading on both folders and understand the need for both. I've also came to know that both folders can contain orphaned files which contribute to bloated size.

I tried using MsiZap.exe (G!) to help with the Installer folder but it tells me that there's nothing to clean up.

How can I reduce the size of these folders, any utilities out there that would safely removed unneeded files?

Thanks!
 
I'll have to watch this thread for some intel myself!

I just did a HTPC built and installed Win7 Ultimate on a 32G ssd. I was astonished when I saw the available space left, less than 5G's. I know formatting will lessen it, but COME-ON, a 20G install for Win7?

I too looked around and saw the large "Windows\winsxs = 6.9GB" file

I can do another install no problem, but what can I cut to lessen the load?
 
As far as I know there's nothing you can do about winsxs after the fact. If someone has developed a way, I haven't heard about it. It contains library dependencies that are needed for all of your software to run.
 
What's the big deal about 30GB? That can fit on a thumb drive. With today's voluminous HDDs, 30GB is almost insignificant.
 
corkyg said:
What's the big deal about 30GB? That can fit on a thumb drive. With today's voluminous HDDs, 30GB is almost insignificant.
Click to expand...

As I stated above, I started with a 32GB SSD after format and install of Win7 I have little left (3.87GB) and was looking to see if there was a solution. You got a larger one laying around that you'd like to kick down I'll PM you my address.
 
avp2306 said:
How can I reduce the size of these folders, any utilities out there that would safely removed unneeded files?
Click to expand...

Yeah, Linux.

OK sarcasm aside, Windows stores different versions of libraries in winsxs to avoid compatibility issues. It just grows over time, and as far as I know there isn't anything you can do about it other than to periodically reformat.

Have any other disks available in the system? You could try moving the winsxs folder to another drive and making a junction point to it on the C: drive. Windows might not like that though, not sure.
 
Control Panel / Performance Information and Tools / Open Disk Cleanup. Click the clean system files button and see what options it presents.
 
Using 32GB for C: \ is a mistake.

40GB should be the minimum for real functional computer.



😎
 
I bought some 30GB SSDs. In order for them to be big enough for Win7 64-bit, I set them up in a RAID-0, so I would have 60GB to work with.

Edit:
In an elevated command prompt, type "powercfg -h off" to disable hibernation and delete hiberfil.sys.
 
Last edited:
avp2306 said:
Hi all,

I've used WinDirStat to track down the culprits and found that the following 2 folders take up the most space.

C:\Windows\Installer = 7.9GB
C:\Windows\winsxs = 6.9GB

I've done some reading on both folders and understand the need for both. I've also came to know that both folders can contain orphaned files which contribute to bloated size.

I tried using MsiZap.exe (G!) to help with the Installer folder but it tells me that there's nothing to clean up.

How can I reduce the size of these folders, any utilities out there that would safely removed unneeded files?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Not sure if a whole lot can be done after the fact. But it does look like maybe a work around is possible for the Windows\Installer folder. I didn't try it as I seem to have no need so far.

http://www.pagestart.com/windowsinstallerfolder.html

I did a fresh install on my main rig in mid August when I got my 64gb C300 but did practice some space management(see below response) I'm not into gaming anymore so I just have my OS, drivers, apps I need installed on my SSD.

Here's my stats for my C: drive 18.2gb's used 41.1gb's available
C:\Windows\Installer = 805mb's
C:\Windows\winsxs = 6.41gb's
 
What the heck do you people have eating up all that space in your Windows directory? My Win 7 Enterprise 64 install is over a year old and I'm only using 19GB...
 
The Winsxs real folder size is less than reported. It uses hardlinks but explorer counts them as if they were a seperate file.
 
Holy crap, did not realize win7 was that bloated. My Windows XP folder is slightly under 4GB. What does 7 do that XP does not, which requires 10x (literally) more space? It's insane how MS bloats their OSes more and more after each release.

I guess as long as it works well is what counts, but holy crap, they could at least try to not hog space like it was going out of style. Makes me reconsider getting a SSD for my next build, given I'll most likely go with windows 7.
 
Red Squirrel said:
Holy crap, did not realize win7 was that bloated. My Windows XP folder is slightly under 4GB. What does 7 do that XP does not, which requires 10x (literally) more space? It's insane how MS bloats their OSes more and more after each release.

I guess as long as it works well is what counts, but holy crap, they could at least try to not hog space like it was going out of style. Makes me reconsider getting a SSD for my next build, given I'll most likely go with windows 7.
Click to expand...


There's 10 years of compatibility to maintain, and new hardware to support. Should it be that big? I dunno, but it's highly plausible. Win3.1 came on a handful of floppies. Why the hell was XP so big, and requiring a CD? ;^)
 
The WinSXS folder is not actually as big as Explorer is reporting. The reason being is because this folder is full of hardlinks of files that are in other folders and as such are being counted more than once. It's been this way since Vista and it would be a good idea for Microsoft to fix that.

That being said, do not ever delete files from that folder because doing so will ruin your system since as those files ARE hardlinks, you're deleting the real file 🙂
 
OK - you can also put your page file on a different drive, turn off System Restore and all Shadow Copies, and don't use AERO. Sounds like a candidate for Linux. 🙂
 
Hi AVP2306,

Although the below is not advised nor is it recommended, there are a few things one can do in an effort to reduce the disk footprint of Windows 7.

Some of these suggestions have been mentioned on this forum already, however, should you be interested, I have included additional resources at the bottom of this reply.

As you will see in the second reference link, Debbie, a Microsoft Answers Support Engineer, does state, “Changing permissions on or compressing the WinSxS folder can cause problems when installing an OS hotfix and installation/un-installation of any Win32 assemblies.” Please keep that in mind when making any unsupported alterations to your Windows 7 system configuration.

Reducing the Disk Footprint for Windows 7


"Windows 7 - How do I cleanup winsxs folder to free up space on SSD drives?"


"I want to delete the hiberfil.sys to save some disk space."

Jessica
Windows Outreach Team -- IT Pro
 
Red Squirrel said:
Holy crap, did not realize win7 was that bloated. My Windows XP folder is slightly under 4GB. What does 7 do that XP does not, which requires 10x (literally) more space? It's insane how MS bloats their OSes more and more after each release.

I guess as long as it works well is what counts, but holy crap, they could at least try to not hog space like it was going out of style. Makes me reconsider getting a SSD for my next build, given I'll most likely go with windows 7.
Click to expand...

Its not.

"Installer" has copies of all of the MSI's that your installed so "add/remove programs" works. IE not Windows bloat. Winsxs is a bunch of hardlinks that are misreported by explorer, but it does the same thing the lib management does on linux and maintains multiple versions of the files if needed. The actual "Windows 7" binaries and data as released from MS is about 2.2GB.

If you never bother to clean up things like patches then it grows [like the yum and apt stores], install tons of programs, it grows. MS would do so much better with the [stupid] bloat comments if they dumped all the crap in the user folder like Linux does.

XP can bloat like this also because it does the same things [patches and MSIs in system32 etc].
 
avp2306 said:
Hi all,

I've used WinDirStat to track down the culprits and found that the following 2 folders take up the most space.

C:\Windows\Installer = 7.9GB
C:\Windows\winsxs = 6.9GB

I've done some reading on both folders and understand the need for both. I've also came to know that both folders can contain orphaned files which contribute to bloated size.

I tried using MsiZap.exe (G!) to help with the Installer folder but it tells me that there's nothing to clean up.

How can I reduce the size of these folders, any utilities out there that would safely removed unneeded files?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Answer:

Disable Windows System protection by going to Configure on System Protection tab.

That will take out a good chunk of windows file size, and is also useful for imaging the system.


Case closed. Next.
 
JackMDS said:
Using 32GB for C: \ is a mistake.
40GB should be the minimum for real functional computer.
😎
Click to expand...

2 Errors in this,
  1. We are talking about Windows, not "a computer".
  2. It makes no sense for an OS to use more resources than the programs it is intended to run.

Please don't resurrect old threads
-Thanks
ViRGE
 
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