They directed my to try the Windows Installer Cleanup utility to see if that would repair the problem. I've been searching for such an animal, but it seems as if it was last available for Windows 7. Is there something I can use on Windows 10 Pro? Free download Microsoft Windows Installer Cleanup Utility for Windows, Windows Installer is an indispensable tool in the Windows operating system, which allows you to properly install different software. Windows installer CleanUp utility software for Microsoft Windows operating systems is made to eliminate uninstalled fragments of programs. The software uses registry references and files related to Windows Installer installed by several programs, and compulsorily wipes invalid entries.
On my SSD machine, the C:WindowsInstaller folder is massive and takes up about 15% of my total disk space.
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Is there a way to clean up that folder without killing Windows 8.1/10? Tucking away the installers on the OS partition seems wasteful.
8 Answers
This seems to have worked for me. This is a simplified set of instructions from http://www.kavoir.com/2012/07/how-to-free-up-c-drive-disk-space-in-windows-7-easy.html
- Make sure no installations are running on your machine (there's probably a formal way to do this, but I'm not sure how).
- Copy using Windows explorer C:WindowsInstaller to another disk, e.g., D:C_DRIVEWindowsInstaller -- note: WindowsInstaller is a system folder and thus invisible in Windows 8.1. You have to tweak your account to make it visible to use Explorer to make the copy. Google will help you find out how to do that.
- Make a backup copy of C:WindowsInstaller
Type the following commands in a cmd.exe window running as Administrator:
Windows may not let you to delete the installer directory, because some process are using some files within this directory:
In this case you can use this link and use Process Explorer to find and stop the process which is restricting the rmdir command.
Verification
As a verification, I ran a 'repair' of my Microsoft Visio Professional 2013 install (took 4 minutes to process). This completed successfully. Windows update (with reboots) also ran successfully after making the above changes. I will write back if anything doesn't work.
FuhrmanatorFuhrmanatorI created 'PatchCleaner' to clean the windows installer directory of all orphaned files in one easy click. If you don't trust the app to do the right thing, use the move feature to put them somewhere safe in case you need them back in the future. I have run it on multiple machines and saved up to 15Gb of space :-)
Run PatchCleaner after windows updates to find newly orphaned files. Data visualization software.
I recommend you use the Move action, and move the orphaned patches to external storage, just to be safe
Known Issues (full details on website)
- Adobe Reader can fail to update after running PatchCleaner.
NOTE: as @ Feb-2016 version 1.4.1.0 is out that has a fix to allow customisable filters to exclude adobe reader from being incorrectly detected.
jcrawfor74jcrawfor74You can compress the folder. You will regain between 10 and 20% of the space.
- Enable 'Show system files' in Explorer options
- Right-click the installer folder
- Properties
- Click on Advanced
- On the new dialog, select 'Compress'
- Click OK
- Apply for all files and folder
Sometimes $patchcache$ consumes a great deal of 'Installer' folder.You can check how big is your 'C:WindowsInstaller$PatchCache$' folder (mine was 6GB after 1.5 years).
Basically it boils down to 'If you have original installers, then you could delete it'.
rmdir /q /s 'C:WINDOWSInstaller$PatchCache$' (as admin of course)
read about it:Can I delete the folder 'C:WINDOWSInstaller$PatchCache$'?
Windows Installer Cleanup Utility Download
https://subsrenaca.tistory.com/11. msdn:http://blogs.msdn.com/b/heaths/archive/2007/01/17/the-patch-cache-and-freeing-space.aspx
There is no official way to kill it. You can use a link to move it to a HDD if you have one.
magicandre1981magicandre1981How to safely(*) clear disk space on Windows 10(**)
(*) The following steps are generally believed to be safe but I offer no cast-iron guarantees so please use at your own risk.
(**) The instructions were written for Windows 10 but similar instructions may also apply to other versions of Windows.
- Run PatchCleaner to delete orphaned files.
- Run Disk Cleanup (e.g. by typing 'clean' in the Windows start screen and selecting 'Free up disk space by deleting unnecessary files'). Select the drive to be cleaned. Click on 'Clean up system files' (and enter credentials if required). Select the drive to be cleaned. Select the option to clear system files.
- Open Configuration Manager Properties (e.g. by typing 'config' in the Windows start screen and selecting 'Configuration Manager'). Select the Cache tab. Click on 'Configure Settings' (and enter credentials if required). Click on 'Delete Files..' Tick the 'Delete persisted cache content' checkbox and click on 'Yes'.
- Download and install Treesize Free. Run it, scan the relevant drive and then manually delete any of the larger folders or files that can be deleted (applying the necessary caution).
- Open File Explorer and navigate to the Windows temp folder (e.g.
C:WindowsTemp). Select all files and folders and then choose to hard-delete them by pressing SHIFT+DEL (you may be required to enter admin credentials). Then choose to skip all files that cannot be deleted because they are in use.
You can try a junction by copying the files to the new drive, then renaming the old installer folder temporarily, creating a junction from the default folder to the new. Then test things for a bit before deleting the renamed installer folder. Maybe install a bigger more complex program like visual studio, or adobe Photoshop, then uninstall it just to make sure all is well. But be forewarned, if anything goes wrong, you might not be able to install or re-install programs. Been there, done that. :)
DamonDamonThe best solution is to use Windows Installer CleanUp Utility.
protected by Community♦Oct 1 '15 at 7:56
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| Developer(s) | Microsoft |
|---|---|
| Initial release | August 10, 1999 |
| Final release | |
| Operating system | Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 |
| Platform | Microsoft Windows |
| Size | 351 KB |
| Available in | English |
| Type | Third-party uninstaller |
| License | Freeware (without support and warranty) |
The Windows Installer CleanUp Utility (MSICU.exe, MSICUU.exe, MSICUU2.exe) was a software utility for the Microsoft Windowsoperating system designed to solve uninstallation problems of programs that use the Windows Installer technology. It looks up registry references and files related to Windows Installer that were installed by various programs, and forcibly wipes invalid entries out. It works in all 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Microsoft Windows.
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Microsoft first released the utility in 1999[1] to help Windows-based computers clean up installed programs that would either refuse or pretend not to remove themselves from the 'add/remove programs' feature in Microsoft Windows.
The utility only changes registry values and files associated with Windows Installer and does not remove any files associated with installed programs. Only users who have logged in as system administrators may run the utility.
For developers who have problems with the Windows Installer automatically repairing their own installations on developer machines (when the developer has manually updated some of the binaries), this utility is ideal to remove the Windows Installer information whilst leaving the actual installation intact.
Microsoft retired the Windows Installer CleanUp utility on June 25, 2010, due to conflicts with Microsoft Office 2007. A Program Install and Uninstall Troubleshooter for Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 was instead made available.[2]
References[edit]
- ^'README FOR WINDOWS INSTALLER CLEANUP UTILITY', 'JUNE 1999'. Microsoft Knowledge Base Article Q238413 (has been revoked, archive available through Wayback Machine). Microsoft Corporation.
- ^'Fix problems that block programs from being installed or removed'. support.microsoft.com. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
Windows Installer Cleanup Utility 7
External links[edit]
- Whitney, Lance (August 2008). 'Utility Spotlight: Windows Installer CleanUp Utility'. TechNet Magazine. Microsoft Corporation. Retrieved 4 December 2009.