Resolved Windows folder is bloated by 50 + GB of non referenced space.

I'm trying to assist a friend with a older homebuilt computer with Windows XP Pro, equipped with 1 gb Ram, with a 80 GB Samsnug Spinpoint P SP0842N hard drive. The problem is the size of the C:\Windows Folder. It is reporting that its using 57.3 GB of disk space in that folder when is should be around 5 to 9 GB at the most. I have checked each sub-folder under Windows and could not see anything taking up abnormal disk space. I have unchecked the box to see hidden files & folders so I assume I'm seeing everything on the hd.

The problem came to light when she could not do a defrag of the hd. I observed that the analyzed graft of the fragmentation was about 80 % red with less then 12% free space left so the defrag wouldn't work.

I checked the disk partitions and there is no hidden partitions or unallocated space just C: drive with 74.5 GB total space formatted as NTFS and 16.7 GB free space (after the cleaning below was done).

I have uninstalled all unessential programs from her computer. Total used space should take up no more than 20 GB at the most. AVG antivirus was run with no problems....

I disabled the Page file and turn off the System Restore Points, I also deleted all the C:\Windows/$NTUninstallKB******* files. I changed the Recycle Bin properties from 10% to 1% maximum size allowed. Than ran ATF Cleaner, CCleanner, & RegSeeker to clean up what I could. Finally manually emptied the Recycle bin just for kicks...

I than ran the defrag program and after a reasonably expected time all the red fragmented files turned to blue but it didn't recover much free space to speak of. Defrag program now shows the free space to be 21%. (still have 57.3 GB showing in the Windows folder using 50.5 GB of disk space with 23,603 files & 1973 folders). (I can't explain the differences in size of 50.5 GB of "disk space" and the total reported "size" above it in the "Windows" "Properties" screen).

I downloaded the utilities disk from Samsung and ran the program to check the HD. No problems were found.

Later vie the landline I was unsuccessful in verbally getting her to... ( Go to Start > Run > and type CMD (press enter) When the command window opens, type: cacls "C:\System Volume Information" /e /g owner:f ) as found in this forum at http://www.windowsbbs.com/windows-xp/70921-hard-drive-disc-space-unaccounted-2.html.

So I ask....... Which would be the most effective? Doing a "Repair" using the Windows install disk or should I try a simple backup... then format HD.... then restore from the backup? My thinking is that somehow the data is written to the disk and taking up too many sectors thereby consuming many GB in error and the backup might restore correctly after a fresh format... Doing a Disk Image... format hd... then restore the image would be useless in my opinion and I'm out of any other ideas... anybody got some thoughts on this problem?

Scratch above paragraph... just got a call & further investigating by the owner revealed that there was 53 GB of files in the "C:\Windows\Installer" folder were found by unchecking the option box to "Hide protected system operating files ". Comparing two different computers found that one computer shows just over 1 GB of "Installer" files as opposed to the 53 GB on hers... So now I ask is it ok to delete the files in the "Installer" folder & copy the files from another computer or maybe a cab file from the Windows disks? At this point I wouldn't want to do fresh install..
thanks,
denny
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Denny, The tool of choice for dealing with the situation you mention is the Windows Installer Clean-up Utility.

Download and install it on the computer in need. Run the program and use great caution in selecting what to dump. Do not dump any program listed that is still installed on the computer. Confine you cleaning strictly to any items listed that you are sure are no longer installed on the computer.

This tool, when used properly, will remove any orphaned uninstall files. That's probably all that you need. Those files have no value since the program no longer exists on the drive.

Unfortunately, if misdirected, it will also remove the uninstall files for programs that you may want to uninstall later. That's why I caution you. Actually it would be OK to remove all uninstall files if you are absolutely sure that you would not want to uninstall any of the programs, EVER. That's not normally the case and I don't recommend it.

The usual precautions apply. Backups are indicated.

 

Surferdude2, Thanks for the reply.. We used the Windows Installer Clean Up Utility but there were only 4 entry's that we were able to say for sure that were removed from the computer. (1ea Neroxml, 2ea VC 9.0 Runtime 1.0, & 1ea VCRedistSetup 1.0). Still have 53 GB left. Everything else in the Clean Up Utility looks like it would belong there.

I did notice that there are 57 pages of *.msp files with 66 files on each page (Total of 3762 msp files) that make up the 53 GB of space in the C:Windows\Installer folder.

There are many, many files of the exact same size. One example is 264 different msp files each with (117,166 KB). On page 33 all 66 msp files are the same size of 8239 KB, by page 66 they get smaller 177 KB.. They are all "Windows Installer Patch" files (very few are MSI files). What if we just delete them? There are some other folders with long numbers also in the installer folder.

I did find this and wonder if it would remove any old installed programs not listed on the Windows Installer Utility..

It is a command-line tool of interest: MsiZap.exe. (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa370523(VS.85).aspx)

To use executed: vie the "RUN" window and typing "CMD" to get the dos window. (Put the file in the c:\ directory for easy of use. Type CD C:\ to than run the command C:\MsiZap.exe G!

Type "exit" to get out of dos window without the ( " )..

Here's where the file is if you installed the Windows Clean Up Utitily program.
C:\Program Files\Windows Installer Clean Up\MsiZap.exe
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Msizap.exe uses case-insensitive command line options shown in the following table.
* Removes all Windows Installer folders and registry keys, adjusts shared DLL counts, and stops Windows Installer service. Also removes the In-Progress key and rollback information.
a Only changes ACLs to Admin Full Control for any specified removal.
g For all users, removes any cached Windows Installer data files that have been orphaned.
p Removes the In-Progress key.
s Removes Rollback Information.
t Removes all information for the specified product code. When using this option, enclose the Product Code in curly braces. This option may be used with either the full path to the .msi file or with the product code.
w Removes Windows Installer information for all users. When this option is not set, only the information for the current user is removed. Use of this option requires that the user's profile be loaded so that the user's per-user registry hive be available.
? Verbose help.
! Forces a 'yes' response to any prompt.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
denny

 

I have run the MsiZap.exe G command before. Actually I ran it as "C:\Program Files\Windows Installer Clean Up\MsiZap.exe" G (quotes necessary) since the executable isn't on the normal PATH. It does no harm to run it so long as you use the G modifier. I suspect it may help dump some garbage for you.

 

That did the trick.. removed around 50 GB of *.msp files. Now have only 672 MB in the C:\Windows\Installer folder.. & 82% free space on the hard drive. I than ran ATF Cleaner, CCleanner and Defrag the drive. Will manually get latest updates from MS web site and wait and see if problem returns by monitoring the size of the C:\Windows\Installer folder.
Thanks Surferdude2 for your assist..

denny

Added note I did use the ! after the G in the command line file as it Forces a 'yes' response to any prompt. example is.. "C:\Program Files\Windows Installer Clean Up\MsiZap.exe" G! (quotes necessary).. I didn't want to take the chance of having to responding to many prompts... if the program required me to..

 

Update note... When attempting to get the latest updates from Windows vie the Windows Update page 98% of the updates failed to install. Did not find any clues for this specific situation but came close with this. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/943144 Might need to do a "Repair" in order to get Windows to allow updates using the fix at this link. Anybody got anything better to try?
thanks,
denny

 

I suggest you try Dial-A-Fix. It has a tool that can repair some problems with Windows Update. I have used it on several computers without ever doing any harm. I generally tag the "Check All" button and let it finish. Then click on the Hammer icon and proceed to tag any particular boxes that may apply to the problem at hand.

I consider it a great tool at best and chicken soup at worst.

If that doesn't work, start a new thread to get the proper attention. This one is marked Resolved.

 

What causes/creates the .msp files in the installer directory?

Google tells me it's a file for Paint... But in the install directory? Just trying to learn something new, some of that "behind the curtain" stuff...

 

In your case, they were orphaned installer patch files. They likely resulted from some crashed download of a MS Hotfix. Perhaps repeated crashes.

When searching for bloat, I generally look in the System Volume Information file for orphaned Restore Points and next I check the Windows\Installer folder. It's not uncommon to find some garbage in either or both of those but it isn't generally large enough to worry about.

In your case, it was!