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Can I safely delete Windows update files?

Can I safely delete Windows update files to free space on my hard drive?

(Operating System: Windows XP)

When you install updates from Windows Update, backup folders are created for the files that were replaced during the update. These are created so that you can easily uninstall a particular Hotfix, if it causes problems with your system -- it may conflict with some software or hardware you have installed. Over time, these folders accumulate to occupy a significant amount of disk space -- it could be about 250 - 500 MB or more. Can they be safely deleted with no problems, and if so, what is the recommended procedure?

If your system is working well as updated, and it has been stable for a week or two, then you may not feel the need to keep the backup files. To view these files/folders, open Windows Explorer and look in your Windows folder (usually C:\Windows\). There will be a number of sub-folders with names in the form "$Ntupdate------$" and if you're using the NTFS file system, the names will normally be blue because they're compressed. Each folder has a specific name ending in the name of a particular Windows update. If you were to go to "Add/Remove Programs" and select a Windows update to uninstall, the information on how to run this process would come from the corresponding $Ntuninstall folder. Of course, if you "uninstall" the Hotfixs, then your system will be put back to its original condition, security holes and all. So you want to "delete" those files, not "uninstall" them. Let yourself go and delete them with the directions below

Note that this is not what you're normally supposed to do when you uninstall software because it leaves dangling uninstallers and other Registry stuff, but this is different and Microsoft has made it easy for you. If you look at "Add/Remove programs" after you have finished, you'll see that all those uninstallation tags are gone.

If you want to save space by deleting these files, but are nervous and want to back them up first, you can burn them to CD, or copy them to a larger or second hard drive.

A programmer named Doug Knox has prepared a utility that will assist in removing those files even easier. It has the surprisingly intuitive name of "XP Remove Hotfix Backup", and you can find it at http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_hotfix_backup.htm. The utility won't remove all the files in your NtUninstall folder, but it will let you easily remove the ones related to "hotfixes". It will also removes the associated Registry entries for these items in Add/Remove Programs.

NOTE: This utility does NOT remove application specific hotfix backups (Internet Explorer, Outlook Express, Media player and etc.). It will only remove hotfix backups that are specific to the Windows XP operating system.

Additionally, you may not notice an immediate recovery of disk space. This is because the backup files are protected by System Restore. When they are deleted, System Restore places a copy in the most recent, or a new, restore point. As older restore points are flushed out, and new ones created, you'll see the space gain.

This is a one-way operation. If you remove the Hotfix backup files and the Registry entries, it cannot be undone, unless you back up these items manually.

To manually remove files, including any not removed by "XP Remove Hotfix Backup":

1. The files may be hidden. To show them, go to your Windows or winnt folder. Click on "TOOLS", then "FOLDER OPTIONS", then "VIEW". Check the radio button for "Show hidden files and folders", and click "OK".

2. Delete the actual folders that begin with "$NTServicePackUinistall$" and "$NTUninstall****" (DO NOT DO THIS FROM WITHIN "ADD/REMOVE PROGRAMS"). WARNING: Do NOT delete "$hf_mig$"!

3. You can also delete the files in "\SoftwareDistribution\download". They are the 'source' files, and are huge, and are not needed after the update is installed. Depending on installation method of the service Pack, this file may not be present.

4. Do NOT delete "C:\Windows\ServicePackFiles". Those files may be needed if you have problems later and sometimes for hardware installations. It is used by Windows File Protection as a backup for system files.

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Sources of info:

• Can I delete Windows update files, from PC User Help Station
• Can I delete the contents of Windows NtUninstall, from the Ask Dave Taylor! Tech Support Blog
• Save Space, from the Microsoft MVP site of Dan-De-Mar with Jupiter Jones
• Remove Hotfix Backup Files, from Doug Knox's Windows XP Utilities
• delete windows update files - Google Search