C:\Windows\Installer directory

kizzibillet

C:\Windows\Installer directory using up
hundreds of megabytes of space. Why are these install files saved? Is it
safe to delete them?\

a) What is the purpose of the Windows\Installer folder?
b) What will happen if some or all of its contents is deleted?

Windows cleanup utility

is this safe

hypnotoad

Hmm, mine is taking up about 800 megabytes. Might be a good thing to delete for making images (?) to keep size down. I'd be interested to know as well...

woodworm

I think that directory is required and is used by the msi to 'self repair', etc.

Microsoft do have a separate cleanup utility available for this directory, but I've never used it so can't comment on how good it is ...

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;290301

dynamik

Mine's over 2 gigs. I deleted one of similar size on my machine at home. No repercussions thus far (not necessarily encouraging you all to do this though). If you browse through the subdirectories, you'll see familiar programs you've installed, such as iTunes, Acrobat, etc. The Windows Installer copies everything you install to that location:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Installer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Installer#Large_footprint

blargoe

Don't delete that directory if you ever want to do maintenance (repair, uninstall, etc) on your installed programs.

dynamik

Good to know. That's why I did it on a system I didn't care about. Sometimes it's nice to wreak havoc instead of just read about it

blargoe

It's not that big of a deal of you did delete them, but they do serve a purpose. I got desparate for some space on a server one time and deleted them one time, and later on I had problems uninstalling software.

kizzibillet

much appreciated