How can you reduce the size of the winsxs in Windows 7 located in the C:\Windows\winsxs directory?

i would not try and delete windows files if i were u…. if u try to and actually delete them ur computer wont boot up.

Well they have the same file on 2008 server and this is what I am after. these servers are logged on by quit a few users, but there sole function my be SQL, or a web server, etc. This file continues to grow on these server to as much as 20 or 30 GB, and I really don’t see the point. This is why I ask and so far I think this is a horrible ideal from Microsoft making me want to learn more about Linux.

If you’re trying to clear up space on your Windows, here are some tips, number 5 really worked well for me!

1. Disk Cleanup Use Disk Cleanup to perform any of the following tasks to free up space on your hard disk:

   • Remove temporary Internet files.
   • Empty the Recycle Bin.
   • Remove downloaded program files.
   • Remove optional Windows components that you are not using.
   • Remove Windows temporary files.
   • Remove installed programs that you no longer use.

You can start Disk Cleanup, by doing any of the following:

* Click Start, and then click Run. Then in the open box, type ” cleanmgr ” without quotes and then click OK.
* Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Disk Cleanup.
* In Windows Explorer or My Computer, right-click the disk in which you want to free up space, click Properties, click the General tab, and then click Disk Cleanup.

2. Remove %temp% files

Even though Disk Cleanup is great, sometimes for whatever reason it doesn’t get stuff out of the TEMP folder. I recommend you try to delete the TEMP folder. To open the TEMP folder do the below steps.

* Click Start, and then click Run. Then in the open box, type ” %TEMP% ” without quotes and then click OK.
* press ctrl+a in the keyboard and press delete

  It’s obvious to get warnings that this file cannot be deleted. Because it may be used by some other programs. So please close all your programs before doing this and delete one by one. 

This method will remove the temporary files used by installers and other applications.

3. Clean up System Restore

Actually Windows 7 and Windows Vista store a lots of files for backup especially during driver installation, some software installations, etc. Initially it seems not so important but as days passes and when you install too many software this can take up lots of space. It uses a service/subsystem called ShadowCopies and they can reduce your system performance.

Alternatively, you can use the vssadmin tool from an admin command prompt to to do important things. One, you can set a max size for the System Restore to get. Two, you can set an alternative drive. For example, you could have the D: drive be responsible for System Restore for the C: drive.

-How to cleanup restore from [link removed] (2 options): A. Deleting all System Protection Points (This is what I did, but read below to delete all but the last backup)

1. Click Start, right-click (My) Computer and click Properties

2. Click System protection link in the left pane

3. In the System Protection options, select a drive-letter and click Configure

4. Click Delete, and click Continue when prompted.

5. Click OK, OK. B. Deleting all but the most recent System Protection point

6. Click Start, type Cleanmgr.exe and press ENTER

7. Select the drive-letter from the list and click OK

8. Click Clean up system files

This restarts Disk Cleanup to run in elevated mode.

4. Select the drive-letter from the list and click OK

5. Click the More Options tab

6. Click the Clean up… button under System Restore and Shadow Copies.

7. Click OK.

8. VSP1CLN- For Vista Users

After you install Vista SP1, it leaves around the original files so you can uninstall the Service Pack if you want. After a few months with the Service Pack, I’ve decided for myself that it’s a good thing and decided I don’t need the option. Open up an administrative command prompt. That means, click the Start Menu, type cmd.exe, then right-click on it and click “Run as Administrator.” Alternatively, you can press Ctrl-Shift-Enter to run something as Administrator. Next, type “vsp1cln” at the command prompt. If you select yes, you’ll get back around 2 to 3 gigs. The only thing, again is that you can’t uninstall SP1.

5. Disable Hibernation

The Hibernate feature in Windows Seven and Windows Vista takes upto 8 Giga bites (GB) in your hard disk.

* Click Start, and then click Run. Then in the open box, type ” cmd ” without quotes and then click OK.
* From an administrative command prompt, type “powercfg -h off” to get that space back.

So this trick will help you to increase up to 8GB hard disk space.

6. NTFS Compression

While NTFS file system compression can save disk space, compressing data can adversely affect performance. NTFS compression has the following performance characteristics. When you copy or move a compressed NTFS file to a different folder, NTFS decompresses the file, copies or moves the file to the new location, and then recompresses the file. This behavior occurs even when the file is copied or moved between folders on the same computer. Compressed files are also expanded before copying over the network, so NTFS compression does not save network bandwidth. But if you are not going to move your compressed files to other folders in your PC its a best option to save disk space.

* Just right click a folder, hit Properties
* Go to Advanced option
* Hit Compress

7. Remove unwanted programs

You may have some unwanted programs which may not be useful now. You can remove them to free some extra disk space.

* Click start then go to Control Panel
* Just go into Add/Remove Programs and remove old stuffs

8. Clear browser cache and wasteful cookies

Often referred to as the cache, the Temporary Internet Files folder contains a kind of travel record of the items you have seen, heard, or downloaded from the Web, including images, sounds, Web pages, even cookies. Typically these items are stored in the Temporary Internet Files folder. Storing these files in your cache can make browsing the Web faster because it usually takes your computer less time to display a Web page when it can call up some of the page’s elements or even the entire page from your local Temporary Internet Files folder , but it will consumes hard disk space. So you can remove these cookies using the following methods :

* In Windows 7 and Vista, click Start
  , type inetcpl.cpl in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER
* On the General tab, click Delete under Browsing History in the Internet Properties dialog box.
* In the Delete Browsing History dialog box, click to clear all of the check boxes except for the Cookies check box.
* Click Delete.

9. Use disk analyzer Though you might have tried all the above steps , there is chance that you may be still have the low disk space error. So at that time , its better to use a free disk analyzer to know which files have consumed lots of space. I would prefer Disktective a freeware which can analyze the disk and will show the disk usage. This will certainly help you to remove unwanted bulk files.

10. Use CCleaner Download and install freeware CCleaner. I suggest you download it from MajorGeeks as it is a non-Yahoo toolbar version. It is a good and a safe utility which will help you remove your unwanted junk files in a few clicks.