Reduce the size of vistas winsxs folder andrew berry. In windows server 2008 r2 you can use dism to clean up winsxs, of course. Cleaning up winsxs folder on windows server 2008 r2 interworks. The windows server 2008 sbs and its latest versions i. How to delete the winsxs folder in windows 2008 standard. Disk cleanup wizard addon lets users delete outdated windows. Finally a screen capture of a brand new 2008r2 server. The disk cleanup wizard removes the update files that pile up in the winsxs folder on windows systems. Why on earth would i want to install windows photo gallery and windows. This can be achieved by uninstalling superseded versions of packages. On the disk cleanup tab, select windows update cleanup, and then click ok. May 30, 20 the winsxs folder, also called windows sidebyside or the content store, is located in the root of the windows system folder. It can also be manually downloaded from the microsoft update catalog. Sometimes it is convenient to cleanup some disk space by deleting unneeded files like service pack files, the temporary folder an so on.
Cleaning up the component store winsxs can be done using the disk cleanup builtin tool and with a console app dism. Apr 11, 2014 winsxs folder component store clean up in windows 8. Winsxs growing out of control on server 2008 sp2 x64. How to clean up the winsxs directory and free up disk space on. Reclaiming space from the winsxs folder to alleviate disk space. This is by microsofts, at the very least hardtoexplain, design, who likely believe its more of a desktop experience feature than a musthave tool. The winsxs folder, also called windows sidebyside or the content store, is located in the root of the windows system folder. The winsxs folder stores different copies of windows. Server 2008 r2 introduced the dism deployment image servicing.
Winsxs 05 gb 10 gb total windows the only safe way to reduce the size of the winsxs folder on the disk is to remove the packages that installed the original components. You should not delete the winsxs folder but if you check out the link. The winsxs folder in windows stores backups copies of windows system files. Note by default, the windows update cleanup option is already selected. The program works well in showing you what files are being used but it seems that winsxs folder is a good place to start or maybe its not. By default, this tool is not enabled on windows server 2008 r2.
Cleanup disk space winsxs windows server 2008 standard. It also removes the files that were archived after windows vista sp1 was applied, if they are found on the system. The c drive is full and it appears all space is used by winsxs folder, which is 23gb. Click save to copy the download to your computer for installation at a later time. One commonly asked question is, can i delete the winsxs folder to regain some disk space. The winsxs folder is the component store located in your c. Clean up winsxs on windows 2008 r2 after sp1 install. When you install windows server 2008 r2 sp1, the setup program backs up any files that are replaced by the service pack. The article linked above applies to windows server 2008 r2win7 and later, but for server 2008 vista the options are much more limited. However, with windows 7, you cant just go in the winsxs folder and start deleting stuff, unless of course you want to completely hose your computer and reinstall windows. Winsxs folder cleanup for windows 7 and server 2008 r2. How to clean up the winsxs directory and free up disk. I installed desktop expirience feature so i can use the cleanup tool, but it does not. Believe me or not, but an essential windows tool, cleanmgr.
Disk cleanup on windows server 2008 without installing desktop. But, you can shrink the winsxs folder with vsp1cln. Procedures to cleanup winsxs folder in windows server 2008 r2. Oct 02, 2009 deleting files from the windows sidebyside winsxs folder is a bad idea. From what i can tell, there is no way to truncate the winsxs directory. Its a part of the move to a component based architecture, where the winsxs folder contains multiple versions of a component such as windows media player or iis, and the appropriate versions are hardlinked into the system.
To do this, open a command prompt window as administrator. Find answers to how to delete the winsxs folder in windows 2008 standard from the expert community at. In both cases run the utility at an elevated command prompt and select y to start the cleanup. A quick drill down of the largest item showed that the winsxs folder was talking up 10. Some research showed that if you have windows vista sp1 installed, there is a tool called vsp1cln. Winsxs folder in windows server 2008 sp2 spiceworks. In windows 7 and windows 810, there is a new folder under c.
On my 7 vm the winsxs folder is taking up 15 gb of space which is way too much for a 40 gb drive. If you choose to install the removed components later, windows will prompt you to download the component files from microsoft. Disk cleanup wizard addon lets users delete outdated. The windows update cleanup is only available for windows server 2008 r2 windows 7 counterpart after installing this update, you use the the counterpart of windows vista which never gets this feature to cleanup winsxs you have to manually uninstall old updates to know which updates are no longer needed superseded, open regedit, and go to the key. Winsxs folder component store clean up in windows 8. The update can be downloaded from the microsoft update.
Sbs 2008 winsxs folder size solutions experts exchange. Deleting files from the windows sidebyside winsxs folder is a bad idea. This was mainly because a lot of old vista rtm and sp1 backup files and. To reclaim additional disk space on your system, follow these steps. We have a post that describes how to clean up winsxs folder on a windows 8 computer but unfortunately, the same step doesnt seem to be working on a windows server 2008 r2 system. The idea of the winsxs folder is that an organization can still roll back to an update if it uninstalls one from the system, since the folder contains a complete copy of windows, but some. Winsxs cleanup tool available for windows server 2008 r2 sp1. Delete contents of folders windows\winsxs and windows. How to cleanup a large winsxs folder on windows sever 2008 r2 march 3, 2015 by wayne small 5 comments i was onsite this week and had a server with 21gb of files in the winsxs folder which was pretty well huge in comparison to. How to cleanup the winsxs folder on windows 7 sp1 windows. I have tried installing the desktop experience however, the cleanup for windows update cleanup is not available on 2008 standard. Winsxs can grow to be quite large, a cleanup can help saving space on the system drive.
Dec 07, 2009 windows component clean tool compcln the windows component clean tool compcln. My winsxs file in windows 7 home premium 64bit sp1 is more than 12 gb in size. Server 2008 sp2 64bit winsxs cleanup solutions experts. Unfortunately, its not installed by default when you first installed windows server 2008 r2.
On windows vista, there is a folder called winsxs, which stands for windows side by side. Windows 2008 r2 winsxs folder growth increases server. What is the winsxs directory in windows 2008 and windows. Mar 22, 20 the system in question was using about 15.
In disk cleanup, the option to clean windows update files does not show neither when i use as administrator or normal user. I have less than 10 gb free, the windows folder is taking up 85% of that and winsxs is taking up 52% of that according to windirstat. Aug 24, 2009 hello, for those who use windows vista and older, and maybe xp too. Mar 03, 2015 how to clean up a large winsxs folder on windows sever 2008 r2 march 3, 2015 by wayne small 5 comments i was onsite this week and had a server with 21gb of files in the winsxs folder which was pretty well huge in comparison to the overall 30gb in the windows folder. If you are interested in reading it, see how to clean up winsxs folder in windows 10. Download and install the windows update pack windows6. Windows server 2008 is something every admin likes to work with sense the. So looked at from that perspective, the winsxs folder is really the entirety of the whole os, referred to as a flat in downlevel operating systems. Deleting files from the winsxs folder or deleting the entire winsxs folder may severely damage your system so that your pc might not boot and make it impossible to update.
How to address disk space issues that are caused by a large. First up install the desktop experience feature via the add features function from server manager. Hello, for those who use windows vista and older, and maybe xp too. Clean up hard drive on windows server 2008 r2 to improve. Others have you click on the clean up system files button on the bottomleft of the disk cleanup window and have it. Windows component clean tool compcln the windows component clean tool compcln. Ive seen some images where windows update cleanup is right on the main disk cleanup tab. I just basically want to be able to delete files off another companies server without users calling in complaining that they are missing shortcuts etcs and need a place to start. How to clean up winsxs update folder without installing. Fortunately there are ways to perform a winsxs folder cleanup in windows 7 and more importantly in. If users had noticed, after installing the vista sp2, the hard disks space had been taken up substantially.
This topic is about the different ways to reduce the size of the winsxs folder on a running version of windows 10. Make sure the server has server 2008r2 sp1 or newer. May 12, 2014 to start the download, click the download button and then do one of the following, or select another language from change language and then click change. Looking at my windows 2008 r2 server with sp1 installed, according to windows explorer, the size of my windows winsxs directory is as follows. Dec 26, 2008 to housekeep your hard disk and clean up those old and unused sp1 backup files, users probably can try the new service pack cleanup tool which is also named as compcln. How to reclaim disk space in your windows\winsxs directory on. I solved it by moving that folder to another partition. It also stores older versions of all dll and component files and can grow to be quite large. How to clean up winsxs folder on windows 2008 r2 to gain more.
Today, well see how the same can be done with dism. Clean up component store winsxs folder in windows 10. Consequently, this wizard can free up gigabytes worth of space on servers by deleting a cache. I installed and ran cleanmgr using desktop experience install, but that did not clean up anything from winsxs folder. For this reason, windows 8 added a new option that allows you to remove these uninstalled components from the winsxs folder entirely, freeing up space. You can remove these backup files to save space with the deployment image servicing.
Finding a winsxs solution for windows server 2008 nialls blog. Click start, and then in the search programs and files text box, type disk cleanup click the disk cleanup icon, and run the disk cleanup tool to determine what files you can delete, based on your configuration additional ways to conserve space on the system volume include the following. Disk cleanup is not installed by default on windows server 2008 r2. How to address disk space issues that are caused by a. Jun 18, 2011 i moved that folder to another partition. Open the disk cleanup and select the drive with the winsxs folder typically the c drive or system drive. The size of the winsxs directory will vary by server. Jun 11, 2015 use the windows component clean tool compcln the windows component clean tool compcln. Every tool, upgrade or application you install will grow the winsxs directory and. Use the windows component clean tool compcln the windows component clean tool compcln. Clean up winsxs folder in windows 10 with dism winaero. This is an issue if you have virtual machines with small system partitions.
How to clean up winsxs update folder without installing diskcleanup on 2008 server my issue is there any way to delete updates manually without installing diskcleanup on my 2008 r2 windows server or any server for that matter. How to cleanup a large winsxs folder on windows sever 2008 r2. Jan 04, 2010 a quick drill down of the largest item showed that the winsxs folder was talking up 10. Now heres a screen capture of a production 2008 server. Winsxs cleanup tool available for windows server 2008 r2. Deleting this folder may cause bsod error and os may crash permanently. I cannot obviously apply the hotfix for r2 to clean up the folder. The winsxs folder has nearly 40% of the disk space and the disk is extremely low. For more information, see dism operating system package servicing commandline options use the startcomponentcleanup parameter. On windows 7 workstation, you have the disk cleanup utility to do this. However, when the warnings like low disk space on c drive appear because of the small original partition size, it is not enough to clean up windows server 2008 r2 hard drive. It is possible to get some disk space by cleaning up hard drive on windows server 2008. The files stored in this folder are used by the third party programs as well as by windows for the proper functioning of various programs and windows. I have a server with a 60gb operating system partition.
How to reclaim disk space in your windows\winsxs directory. If you have a 2008 r2 server that runs short on the system drive, this post will definitely help you. How to clean up winsxs folder on windows 2008 r2 to gain. Hell, its an issue because install files from 3 years ago are in a security protected folder that you cant get rid of without major surgery. You may also have noticed it takes several gigs gb in your harddrive. Download and install the disk cleanup wizard addon. Download update for windows server 2008 r2 x64 edition.
Service pack cleanup tool in vista sp2 to clean up old rtm. Microsoft finally adds winsxs directory cleanup to windows. We take a look below at how to recover some of the space. Let me repeat that last point there is only one instance or full data copy of each version of each file in the os, and that instance is located in the winsxs folder. Select the windows 7 or windows server 2008 r2 system drive, and then click ok. The new wizard gets added to windows server 2008 r2 sp1 by installing an update.
The winsxs folder, also called windows sidebyside or the content. How to cleanup the winsxs folder on windows 7 sp1 windows 2008 windows 2008 r2 sp1 the winsxs folder in c. Cleaning up winsxs folder on windows server 2008 r2. So, the first step we need to do is to install disk. Premium content you need an expert office subscription to comment. The recently released windows vista sp2 has shown significant enhancement and improvement in terms of compatibility, reliability, performance, and speed compared to the earlier sp1. How to reduce the size of your winsxs folder on windows 7 or 8.
The winsxs folder is designed to replace the traditional. To start the download, click the download button and then do one of the following, or select another language from change language and then click change. On windows server 2008 r2 there is no real way to manage the growth of the folder c. After adding the winsxs directory cleanup functionality to the windows 7 disk cleanup utility last october, microsoft finally released an update yesterday that adds the same functionality to.