Huge WinSxS folder stymies PC cleanup

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LANGALIST PLUS

Huge WinSxS folder stymies PC cleanup

By Fred Langa Every Windows version from Vista onward has a WinSxS system folder that grows larger over time. It can’t be eliminated, but it can be trimmed; here’s how. Plus: Strange PC behavior leads a reader to believe that someone is siphoning his data, and another reader wonders whether a free support-by-phone service is legit.

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The full text of this column is posted at windowssecrets.com/langalist-plus/huge-winsxs-folder-stymies-pc-cleanup/ (paid content, opens in a new window/tab).

Columnists typically cannot reply to comments here, but do incorporate the best tips into future columns.

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Thanks for the article!

I ran the cleanup program but my version didn’t show “Clean up System Files”. I checked I had the updated version and discovered that there are two versions of the program. One which has the button and another which displays “Windows Update Cleanup” in the list of clean up options. This link has the information: https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/kb/2852386.

I removed 2GB of old files.

Peter

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Though this article was mostly about cleaning up winsxs, it was motivated by a desire to clean up before installing Winidows 10.

Fred recommends cleaning up, creating a backup, upgrading to Windows 10, and finally, perhaps, clean installing Windows 10 concluding “You’ll end up with a completely fresh copy of Win10, along with a full backup of your current, well-maintained Win7 system — just in case you need it!”.

Yes, but having upgraded Windows 7 to Windows 10, will it be legal or even possible to use that “well-maintained Win7 system”?

Might the activation of Windows 7 get cancelled by upgrading?

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LANGALIST PLUS

Strange PC behavior leads a reader to believe that someone is siphoning his data…

Fred, I like your reply, but it may be a bit round-about. A network monitoring tool could give a direct indication of the source / sink of the data stream involved. Perhaps it would be worth a few words on / reference to prior mention of such tools.

Thanks for your columns; they are always insightful, useful, and even sometimes entertaining. KUTGW!

D. Hirst

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Running Win 8.1. No such “Clean up System Files” button. Ran the regular disk cleanup. Got rid of a couple of GB of junk files. But Winsxs is still 7.5GB.

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Running Win 8.1. No such “Clean up System Files” button. Ran the regular disk cleanup. Got rid of a couple of GB of junk files. But Winsxs is still 7.5GB.

Don’t know about Win 8.1 but in Win 7 you have to right click on Disk Cleanup and Run as administrator to get the option to clean out outdated Windows Updates.

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Running Win 8.1. No such “Clean up System Files” button. Ran the regular disk cleanup. Got rid of a couple of GB of junk files. But Winsxs is still 7.5GB.

I see the Clean Up System Files button on my Windows 8.1 Pro laptop. It doesn’t show up until you select a disk and it finishes estimating how much disk space will be recovered. No need to run as admin in either my Windows 7 or 8.1 pcs. Are you running the Home version?

Jerry

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I see the Clean Up System Files button on my Windows 8.1 Pro laptop. It doesn’t show up until you select a disk and it finishes estimating how much disk space will be recovered. No need to run as admin in either my Windows 7 or 8.1 pcs. Are you running the Home version?

Jerry

Nope. On the Pro version. Also 64bit. Maybe that is my problem? Or maybe it doesn’t think I have any system files that can be cleaned up.

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Nope. On the Pro version. Also 64bit. Maybe that is my problem? Or maybe it doesn’t think I have any system files that can be cleaned up.

Mine is 64 bit as well. I assume you are running it from an account with administrative privileges?

Jerry

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Mine is 64 bit as well. I assume you are running it from an account with administrative privileges?

Jerry

Yup.

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Running Win 8.1. No such “Clean up System Files” button

I have it on my basic W8.1.
Right click on the disk and select “Disk Cleanup”. After Windows does some checks you should have a window with the button in the lower left corner.

cheers, Paul

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If you run

%SystemRoot%System32cmd.exe /c Cleanmgr /sageset:65535&Cleanmgr /sagerun:65535

in a Cmd window with admin privileges (or as a shortcut) then you get the best of cleanmgr.

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In Win 7 I have Disk Cleanup pinned to my Start menu for ease of use when I right click on it to run as admin after each month’s updates.

However, I’ve just run it again as an admin and while I didn’t get the usual confirm to clean C: box, it went straight into a scan.

I then just clicked on it to run as an user and when it had completed, I saw the Clean System button so I clicked on that and it was scanning the Windows Updates Clean up.

This somewhat belies that you have to run it as an admin to get that option, but the button did have the admin crest on it – although you effectively have to run it twice in normal mode to get that button.

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My WINSXS is 13.6GB

Hi Fred, I figured out that what you meant was “DISM.exe” and I got the execute help for the “/online/Cleanup-Image” switch but my w7homepremiumsp1 install doesn’t recognize/understand your “/SpSuperseded” switch. I would presume this switch is “supposed” to limit the cleanup to “superceded” data but, being uncertain if running it without that “unknown by my install” switch would indvertently destroy my machine, I would prefer you clarify the situation first. Thanks, Joe

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My WINSXS is 13.6GB

Hi Fred, I figured out that what you meant was “DISM.exe” and I got the execute help for the “/online/Cleanup-Image” switch but my w7homepremiumsp1 install doesn’t recognize/understand your “/SpSuperseded” switch. I would presume this switch is “supposed” to limit the cleanup to “superceded” data but, being uncertain if running it without that “unknown by my install” switch would indvertently destroy my machine, I would prefer you clarify the situation first. Thanks, Joe

What exactly is your problem as Dism commands don’t normally work in Win 7.

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What exactly is your problem as Dism commands don’t normally work in Win 7.

/ScanHealth, /CheckHealth, and /RestoreHealth don’t work on Windows 7, but other switch options do function in Windows 7.

As in this article by Fred Langa a few years back (linked from the current article of this thread): Shrink that gigantic WinSxS folder down to size

But Disk Cleanup is easier for Windows 7 since an update in 2013 to include the Clean up system files button.

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I figured out that what you meant was “DISM.exe” and I got the execute help for the “/online/Cleanup-Image” switch but my w7homepremiumsp1 install doesn’t recognize/understand your “/SpSuperseded” switch.

The spacing of that command line in the newsletter was screwed up by online web formatting. There has to be a space before each “/” to be recognized as a switch, e.g.:

C:WindowsSystem32DISM /online /Cleanup-Image /SpSuperseded

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Well that worked – Dism cmds usually return an Error 87 on win 7

Yes, it is those cmds that usually return the error.

Edit – I only get the free version of the Newsletter so can’t read Fred’s article, but I’ve found that Disk Cleanup usually does the job.

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