blue directories?

first let me express my thanks to those who go out of their way to help folks here. I am really grateful.

Now....another question that's been bugging me for a long time. When I open the windoes directory I have a list of directories that are in a blue text rather than black. Many of these start with "$' and end with "$ "--the dollar sign. A few are just so0mething like $hf_mig$ but most are $NtUninstallKB973339$ or something similar.

In the past I have moved these directories (and their contents) to a temporary folder and eventually deleted them, but I'd really like to know what these folders are, and why they're there and why they keep piling up. If they are temporary files why doesn't Windows delete them?

 

They are from Windows Update and represent backups of files and other settings changed by the KB (Knowledge Base article) Hotfix or patch Number that was applied.

If you are happy with things, go ahead and delete them. Two exceptions: do not delete Service Pack entries. And do not delete the IE 7 installation folder if you have happen to find it.

MS-MVP Doug Knox has a nice utility for handling these folders: http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_hotfix_backup.htm