Is the winsxs folder necessary? The TEMP folder on your computer takes up a lot of space - what to do?

So, every time you run the Disk Cleanup utility, for some reason the contents of the %WinDir%\System32\DISM folder are copied to the %LocalAppData%\Temp\(GUID) folder (and the temporary folder is not deleted after the operation is completed). Then, using the updated DLL, a programmatic call to the deep cleaning function is made directly from the utility. However, copying of the DISM folder was observed even before the release of KB2852386.

Ambiguities

There is reason to believe that the cleaning algorithm in Windows 7 is not exactly the same as in Windows 8 and higher with the /StartComponentCleanup key. In particular, for me and for the readers not revealed yet file compression, despite the identity text description in the cleanmgr utility. Check it out for yourself and write in the comments!

Another incomprehensible nuance is a mysterious phrase in the knowledge base article (translation is mine):

Therefore, after you run the Disk Cleanup wizard, you may be unable to roll back to a superseded update.
After wiping your disk, you may not be able to roll back to an update that has been replaced by a more recent one.

And nowhere is it explained what this feature depends on :) In my experiment, all updates retained the ability to remove them, as it should be when using the /StartComponentCleanup key in Windows 8 and newer. Perhaps over time, specifics will appear...

Finally, it is not entirely clear what prevented this from being implemented earlier, and why the update appeared now. By the way, there are no plans yet to transfer cleaning to the DISM.exe utility of Windows 7, which does not allow processing offline images. Perhaps such a transfer reveals a whole layer of support issues related to image maintenance.

How to automate cleaning of the WinSxS folder

In Windows 8, cleaning is assigned to a separate scheduled task, and as a last resort, you can use the command line utility DISM.exe. In Windows 7, the only method currently available is to create a customized configuration for the Disk Cleanup utility and add the resulting command to the scheduler.

Folders with compressed files marked in blue. So far I have not seen a single fact of compression in Windows 7.

Why is the command not working? DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup?

Because it is for Windows 8 and newer. On Windows 7, use Disk Cleanup following the instructions in this article.

To be continued…

Discussion

I have about the same questions for you as after the publication of a similar article about Windows 8. But given high percentage Windows 7 owners, I expect to see more answers :)

Please, write in the comments:

1. Did you manage to optimize the WinSxS folder?
2. How much space did you save (you can convert bytes to gigabytes

Many people notice that the Windows folder is growing, but the download speed is falling. Cleaning the Windows folder! Let us help you clean Windows XP of junk.

The first thing we’ll do is clean “%windir%/temp/” from there you can delete everything. We also delete everything from the folders "%systemdrive%/Documents and Settings/%user%/Local Settings/Temp/" and from "%systemdrive%/Documents and Settings/%user%/Local Settings/Temporary Internet Files/". Perhaps after these actions the Windows folder will be “lightened” by 1-2 gigabytes, and the “Documents and Settings” folder may even be lighter by up to 20 GB.

Now let's take on the supplies that makes Windows Update. In the Windows folder there are folders like "*$" and "*$". These folders contain files that are necessary for correct removal installed updates. If removal is not required (which is usually the case), then they can simply be deleted. After uninstalling, go to “Add or Remove Programs”, check the box to show updates, and remove everything Windows updates(for cleanliness).

ATTENTION! The folder "$" cannot be deleted! It is used to install new updates.

Go to the folder "%windir%\Installer$PatchCache$\Managed\" and clean out all its contents. This folder stores the basic versions of files that change when updating the software using msp patches and they are used so as not to ask for the distribution kit with each update. If the installer does not find these files, it will ask you to insert a disk or indicate the path from where the program was installed.

Now let's set up the "%windir%\SoftwareDistribution\" folder. All downloaded updates from Windows Update are stored in this folder. After using the system for a long time, this folder becomes quite large sizes. We clear the Downloads folder in it. The Windows folder is cleared by another 500-2000 MB.

After installing Service Packs, the folder "%windir%\ServicePackFiles" appears, which stores updated versions files. This folder can be deleted, but it is advisable, of course, to have a distribution kit, in case something gets into the system and replaces the critical ones Windows files. For this case, in fact, there is a folder with a capacity of 500 MB. If desired, this folder can be moved to another drive so that the service does not “lose” them; you need to change several parameters in the registry. We launch the registry editor and go to “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup”, along this path we edit the “ServicePackCachePath” and “ServicePackSourcePath” parameters.

Next, to optimize the system, we clean the Prefetch folder, which is located in the Windows folder. IN prefetch folder(.pf extension) contains information about frequently opened programs and services, for faster loading. You can, and moreover, you should periodically remove everything from it; the system will boot faster, and programs (for the first time) will be slower. Then files are formed again, so we take the folder “on a pencil” and periodically clean it.

And again from optimization: it is important to sometimes clean the C:\WINDOWS\system32\spool\PRINTERS folder! This folder creates a lot of “pleasant” moments for printer owners (especially HP). In general, print queue data is stored in it. It often happens that when there is a failure, we clean up the “frozen” documents in the “print manager” and leave it at that. However, if the folder is not empty, and the system sees this, it calls spoolsv.exe and it begins to consume 99% of the memory. Having been “killed” through the task manager, after some time this process is started again by the system and continues to poison life. Similar symptoms are also characteristic of some viruses that disguise their activity as spoolsv.exe, but most often it is enough to simply empty the specified folder!

We go to the folder Windows/System32/dllcache/ Only the files need to be deleted using the commands Start - Run - sfc /cachesize=0 then sfc /purgecache. Well manually after the commands too, of course.

Finally, you can clean the System Volume Information folder, but keep in mind that these are your restore points.

If you do all this “lazy” by hand, then cleaning programs like CCleaner will come to the rescue, but keep in mind that abuse of cleaners can lead to an unscheduled reinstallation of Windows.

If any system file, but the OS loading can sometimes save the matter sfc team/scannow, and the Windows distribution inserted into the DVD-Rom.

Winsxs folder - essential Windows element. During the update process, the OS saves copies of components (bin and xml files, dlls etc.) previous versions. That is, it creates backup storage used for recovery, or “rollback,” in the event of data corruption or an unsuccessful update.

During the operation of the operating system, Winsxs tends to increase in size: it can reach a volume of more than 15-20 GB. And many users experiencing shortages free space on drive C, they wonder: “Is it possible to remove Winsxs?”

If we are talking about sending it to the “Trash” using the standard function, definitely not. This will lead to destabilization of the system. The right decision in in this case- clean the folder selectively (without damaging “vital” subfolders and files) using third-party and Windows-integrated utilities.

The methods for deleting Winsxs content differ for the Windows 7 and 8.1 distributions. The G8 has an additional cleaning tool.

How to reduce the size of Winsxs in Windows 7?

Method No. 1

1. Press the key combination “Win” + “E” at the same time.

2. Right-click on the C drive icon.

3. In the list of functions that opens, click “Properties”.

Advice! The properties window displays the free and used space of the disk partition. Analyze these parameters and compare them with the volume of Winsxs. You may need to further clean up or delete other folders containing temporary or unnecessary files to empty container “C”.

4. Click on the “Disk Cleanup” button.

This option can also be run in the Run window:

• hold down the "Win" key and press "R";
• in the panel that appears, in the “Open” line, enter - cleanmgr;
• click “OK”;
• in the new window “...select device”, click on the drop-down menu (down arrow icon) and select “(C:)” in the field.

5. When data analysis is complete, a settings panel will appear on the display. To clean the storage folder, in the “Delete the following...” block, check the box next to the “Clean up Windows updates” item.

6. Click OK.

7. While performing the procedure, do not close the utility window or launch other applications.

Method number 2: cleaning using the WinsxsLite script

WinsxsLite software developed by Christian Bering Boegh is distributed free of charge. Has the status of a trusted application. Despite its tiny size (0.5 MB), it copes with the task “excellently”. Significantly reduces the volume of the storage folder and at the same time maintains the functionality of the OS.

1. Download the WinsxsLite utility from a trusted web resource.

2. Unpack the archive (right-click → Extract all) into a separate folder.

3. Run WinsxsLite.bat with administrator rights.

4. In the console window, in the prompt line, enter “1” (select Phase 1 mode), and then “s”.

5. Wait for the scan to complete (it will take approximately 1 hour).

• Phase 1 + Apply [a];
• Phase 2 + Scan [s] + Apply [a];

Reducing the volume of Winsxs in Windows 8

Method No. 1: standard procedure

1. Right-click on the “Windows” icon in the Taskbar.

2. Opens context menu systems. Click the “Find” function in the list.

3. In the “Search” panel that opens (on the right), in the search line, enter the query “disk cleanup”. Press "Enter".

4. In the list of found parameters, select “Free up disk space...” (left click on the name).

5. In the window that appears, click the “Clean up system files” button.

6. In the list of items, check the box next to “Clean up Windows updates.”

7. To start the removal procedure, click “OK”.

Method No. 2: dism.exe utility

1. Open system menu: Right-click on the “Windows” icon (located in the lower right corner of the screen).

2. In the function bar, click “Command Prompt (Administrator)”.

3. In the command line console, enter the following directive:

dism.exe /Online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup /ResetBase

4. Press "Enter".

5. Wait for the procedure to complete (its progress will be displayed directly in the console).

Advice! To quickly analyze the contents of the storage, the utility can be launched with another key - dism.exe /Online /Cleanup-Image /AnalyzeComponentStore.

Method number 3: setting up automatic deletion

1. Open Windows menu 8.1 (right click on the “Win” shortcut).

Control Panel (in the View add-on, set “Large icons”) → Administration → Task Scheduler (open by double-clicking).

3. In the scheduler window, click on the “Library” folder and go to the directory: Microsoft → Windows → Servising.

4. In the adjacent panel, right-click on StartComponentCleanup, and then select “Run” from the submenu.

After these steps, the operating system will automatically clean Winsxs on a schedule (setting time intervals is on the “Conditions” tab).

Advice! To quickly activate a task, run in command line: schtasks.exe /Run /TN "\Microsoft\Windows\Servicing\StartComponentCleanup"

Periodically monitor the volume of Winsxs and clean it if necessary. Let there always be enough free space on the C drive of your PC!

Temporary file- file created specific program or an operating system for saving intermediate results during operation or transferring data to another program. Typically, such files are deleted automatically by the process that created them.

Some operating systems have additional features when working with temporary files - the ability to get the name of a temporary file (and one that will be unique - that is, it will not coincide with the name of an existing file); the ability to specify a special parameter when creating (opening) a file, instructing the file to be deleted immediately after recording

But not all programs delete temporary files. Over time, the folders where temporary files are stored grow and take up a lot of space on your hard drive. You can, of course, clean these folders manually, but then you will have to clean temporary files located in several places, since the system provides its own temporary folders for each user.

• C:\Windows\Temp
• C:\Users\Vladimir\AppData\Local\Temp
• C:\Users\All Users\TEMP
• C:\Users\All Users\TEMP
• C:\Users\Default\AppData\Local\Temp

Settings

How to set up automatic cleaning of temporary files in browsers is described in my article " Removing temporary files and cookies in browsers. Clearing the disk cache. ". To configure automatic deletion all temporary files, you must define one temporary folder for all users. Open system properties Control Panel - System - Additional options systems - Environment Variables. Changing variables TEMP And TMP on C:/Windows/Temp. To change, for example, a variable TEMP, select it and press the button Change. Enter the value and OK

When both variables have been changed, you can configure automatic cleaning of this folder Temp

Open Notepad or any text editor and copy this code

pushd %TEMP% && rd /s /q . > nul 2>&1
pushd %WinDir%\TEMP && rd /s /q . > nul 2>&1

We save the file under any name, but with the extension .cmd in a folder, for example, of a user with administrator rights.

Now let's launch the editor group policies: Start - Run and enter the command gpedit.msc Open Computer Configuration - Windows Configuration- Scripts (start/stop). In the right half of the window, open the parameter properties Shutdown. Button Add and specify the path to the saved file

Click OK, then Apply and OK. Now we do the same in the section User Configuration. Everything - setting automatic cleaning temporary files are finished. When you shut down, temporary files will be deleted. You can check the deletion of temporary files by opening the folder C:/Windows/Temp, reboot and open this folder again. If there are no files, then everything was done correctly.

operating room Windows system 7 has Windows folders Temp, which contains temporary files of included programs or games. When you turn off a program or game correctly, temporary files are automatically erased. But if the lights suddenly go out and you don’t have uninterruptible source power supply, restarted the computer reset button or you just turn off the computer with a button, then the temporary files do not have time to be erased and remain in the folders until you delete them manually. Most temporary files are saved in two Temp folders. I will answer the question everyone is interested in: is it possible to delete Temp folder So the Temp folder itself cannot be deleted, otherwise you will not be able to install programs.

We clean the first folder. Temp folder Windows 7

To clean the Temp folder, you need to find this folder.

To contain temporary files you need a temp folder

Click “Start” - “Computer” - “ Local disk C" - "Windows" - "Temp". In the “Temp” folder, select and delete everything. You can use the keyboard keys “Ctrl + A” to select files and folders, “Shift + Del” will clear the temp folder. If a message appears that a file cannot be deleted, click skip, it means that this file is currently running by some program and it will be deleted itself after the program is closed correctly. This is how cleaning is done Temp Windows 7.

Cleaning the second folder. appdata local temp

How to find the second one appdata folder local temp. Usually they try to immediately find the local temp folder but this is wrong, first Now when hidden folders Made visible, we begin to look for where the Temp folder is located. Click “Start” - “Computer” - “Local Disk C” - “Users” or “Users” - “User Name” (everyone has a different name, Kolya, Masha, Admin, etc.) - “AppData” - “Local” - "Temp". Select all files and folders in the “Temp” folder and delete them. If you cannot remove some files from the Temp folder, then leave them.

The remaining Temp folders do not need to be cleaned. These Temp folders may not exist, but when they are needed, the system will create them. You can check whether the Windows 7 Temp folder is created or not.

Where are the rest of the Temp folders?

“Start” - “Computer” - “Local Disk C” - “Users” or “Users” - “UpdatusUser” - “Temp”.
“Start” - “Computer” - “Local Disk C” - “Users” or “Users” - “General” or “All Users” - “Temp”.
“Start” - “Computer” - “Local Disk C” - “Users” or “Users” - “Default” - “Temp”.

Video

This video shows how to find the Temp folder in Windows 7 and how to delete everything stored in the Temp folder.