Winsxs and Installer in C drive

Question

For the first time ever, I feel like I'm on a Linux computer even though I'm on Windows. I say this, because usually Windows has it's stuff together, especially for something like what is going on with my system. I have two folders, Winsxs and Installer, both in C:\Windows directory. Winsxs seems to be growing faster than I can figure out why, and the installer folder...

Anyway, just trying to figure out what to do with these, how to fix it, how to stop it. Why haven't I ever run into these issues in the last how many years of using Windows 7? Did something with Windoze change?

Winxsx is 14GB. My Installer folder... after uncovering the hidden File menu (ALT) to show the options where I could choose to show hidden folders (and what's with hiding so many useful things lately!?!?!), and after UN-HIDING HIDDEN FOLDERS didn't actually un-hide the hidden Installer folder, and many minutes later trying to figure out how to find the size of a hidden-hidden "Installer" folder, is 11GB.

This is a VM. At this point I feel it will be quicker to delete the entire VM and re-install everything, but learning that the over-sized folders are exactly from Windoze updates (at least the winxsx folder is), I realize I'll be right back to where I started.

And to think, I'm only using this Windows 7 VM so I can use just a couple little tools that don't work in Ubuntu, yet. "Disk Clean-up"... only deletes 2GB worth of data.

Does anyone know how to get rid of this junk? Key-word there.... "know". I realize I could try this.... or try that....

Answer 1

The WinSXS folder contains all Windows system components that ever met your system. All versions of all files, .DLLs in every version ever installed. When Windows installs updates, it drops the new thigs in the WinSXS folder and keeps the old ones there also. This means that every Windows Update you install increases the size of your WinSXS folder.

Windows 8.1 added new command line option for DISM.exe, /AnalyzeComponentStore. Running the command will analyze the WinSxS folder and tell you whether a Component Store Cleanup is needed or not.

In Windows 8, open Disk Cleanup Tool and use the Windows Update Cleanup option to clean the WinSxs. Microsoft released an Update that added the Windows Update Cleanup option to Disk Cleanup tool in Windows 7 also, so it's cleanable in 7 too.

As for the installer directory, Windows Installer UnUsed Files Cleanup Tool (WICleanup) is able to scan for orphaned MSI and MSP files in the \Windows\Installer folder and offers you an option to delete them. So use this tool, but fist uninstall what applications you don't need/use anymore.