Deleting Windows Update Uninstall Files

Question

I have partitioned my hard drive into several drives. Recently I got a popup notice that C: drive was getting full. In the process of deleting some of the clutter I noticed that in the C:\Windows directory, there were a lot of hidden files that appear to be used somehow to uninstall the automatic Microsoft updates/patches to Windows. An example of a typical folder name is $NtUninstallKB941202$ The number of files in all these hidden files is over 5500 and they take up 1.15 GB. Because it seems several times a week I get a new patch, it won't be long until these uninstall files eat up all the space on my drive. Can they be deleted? If not, could I archive them to a CD to get more space? If so, when and how would I know that I need to copy them back to the \Windows folder? Any information on what purpose the folders serve and how to deal with them would be appreciated. PtlyCldy99

tgsmith · Answer

Ptlycldy99,   Microsoft put the Windows Updates in a hidden folder for a reason; i.e., they shouldn't be seen or messed with.  Microsoft has a procedure to safely remove Service Pack uninstall folders with Windows 2000, albeit with several caveats.  That procedure involved also removing reference to the uninstall folder for each service pack in the system registry.  Please note, however, that Windows System Restore may need to access these folders and files to fully restore your system to an earlier date.   My recommendation would be to leave them alone, and look elsewhere for data files that could be safely relocated to one of your other drives.   Tony

maxd · Answer

Agreed. Take a look at the following link for a few tips:   http://www.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/en-us/default.aspx?dg=microsoft.public.windowsupdate&tid=8ba8aeca-ce94-4199-abe4-304423c9b0cf&p=1   Does it mention emptying the Recycle Bin and setting the size of RB to a smaller percentage of C:.

tomron · Answer

$NtUninstall can safely deleted.The thing is this will prevent you from uninstalling updates.   If there old might as well delete them.

maxd · Answer

I agree they can be safely removed. I disagree they should be. There are times when they are required. Update files can be corrupted and need to be reapplied. Most people use Windows Updates site to install the updates and they won't be picked up by that site unless the updates are first uninstalled. If you remove the uninstaller... To re-install them manually, ie over-write may not be long-term beneficial if even doable. If possible, not a good idea.

JRosenfeld · Answer

And I agree with maxd:-).

tmlittle · Answer

There is a piece of software that will allow you do do this.  Check here: http://www.pc-shareware.com/update.htm  I use it and have had no problems with it.   Good Luck!

tomron · Answer

ccleaner also has this feature.

ky331 · Answer

i don't know if anyone has considered this point... so if you're already all familiar with this, please forgive me for bringing it up... but some of the windows uninstallers are there, offering 'rollback' features:   as a prime example, if you upgrade from media player 10 to media player 11, and then decide you don't like it for whatever reason, its uninstaller will not only remove player 11, but it will 'rollback' and re-instate your old player 10 !!   if you were to delete this particular uninstaller, you'd lose this 'feature'.   and i'm assuming this is not the only instance of an available 'rollback'...

JRosenfeld · Answer

You are correct, each of those $NTUninstall folders contains the version of those files that the update replaces that were on the system when the update was installed, and uninstalling an update rolls those files back to the  versions as they were when the update was installed.

Windows General

Deleting Windows Update Uninstall Files

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