On my 7 VM the winsxs folder is taking up ~15 gb of space which is way too much for a 40 gb drive. Is there a way to shrink it? I have less than 10 gb free, the windows folder is taking up 85% of that and winsxs is taking up 52% of that according to WinDirStat. I don't have many programs installed and the largest of which is Office. I cleaned up restore points and ran ccleaner both of which made very little difference. I don't keep much on the VM at all.
It's recommended to leave it alone. Reason - you may be unable to uninstall some windows updates after cleanup.
However you can read this:
Cant cleanup system files
You need to make sure that the update mentioned is installed. KB2852386
and this:
How to Use Extended Disk Cleanup in Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8
What from that menu am I suppose to select to shrink winsxs? The folder size didn't change at all.
To explain more clearly:
Make sure that this update is installed:
Download Update for Windows 7 for x64-based Systems (KB2852386) from Official Microsoft Download Center
If it's not installed - install then reboot.
Then from an Elevated Command Prompt type:
cleanmgr.exe sageset10
Choose your settings for advanced disc cleanup in the window that opens.
Include Windows Update Cleanup
Once you've applied the settings from Elevated Command Prompt type:
cleanmgr.exe sagerun10
The cleanup will start. Watch the progress window. If you don't see a message like "Cleaning Windows Updates" then there was nothing to remove.
Note: The cleanup requires a reboot to complete. You can only compare the WINSXS folder size (before/ after) once you have rebooted.
EDIT: BarefootKid's tutorial that I posted earlier is a way to run Advanced Disc Cleanup Settings followed by the actual cleanup in one go.
The above should work. Actually the way I do it personally is by using some third party software:
The command line shown is different because that's the command line needed when not using Elevated Command Prompt.
RE: sageset10 & sagerun10
The number 10 after each word is to remember and run the settings that you applied. They are stored and remembered for next time using that number.
So for example you could use sageset11 & sagerun11 to store and run totally different cleanup options.
Yes that update is installed and I ran your commands from an elevated command prompt. I'll try your suggestions on what to check.
Ok the cleanup saved a gig in winsxs. ccleaner saved over a gig because I ran it as administrator. I still have only 11.2 gig free. How can I get more from winsxs?
Best to leave it alone. That update that allows you to clean it up is the only official microsoft recommended way.
I know that we don't like to direct users off this site for help but this might help. Have a read.
Tutorial: Reclaim disk space in Windows Seven, Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 – GabSoftware
Recommend reading section 7.4 in particular.
RE: Section 7.3. I delete on a regular basis but not without a system image backup.
RE: Section 7.1 There's a tool for that.
Windows Installer Cleanup Utility. Read more here: https://www.raymond.cc/blog/safely-d...taller-folder/
You can read about another utility "Patch Cleaner" posted in this thread:
patch cleaner / installer folder
Neither of those reduces the size of WINSXS after running the official cleanup method.
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