Can we delete Windows update KB Files to clear disk space?

A

Ari94

Member
Hi,

I wonder if there is any possibility that we can delete Windows updated files which begins with KB and recover disk space? Or we must not touch that?

If it is possible what would be the procedure on Windows Vista 32 bit machine?

Any advice in this regard will be appreciated.

Thank you
 

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Last edited:

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You may have read that Windows 7 SP1 recently started allowing an Update Cleanup option in the Extended Disk Cleanup tool. Vista doesn't have this, yet anyway.

It's not quite the same having Windows decide what's cleanable and doing that yourself. I wouldn't try doing it yourself.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Operating System
    Win 10 Pro x64 x 2
    Manufacturer/Model
    Alienware ALX x58
    CPU
    Intel® Core™ i7-975 Extreme O/C to 4.02 GHz, 8MB Cache
    Motherboard
    Asus® P6T Deluxe V2 X58 LGA1366
    Memory
    24GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 SDRAM at 1600MHz - 6 x 4096MB
    Graphics card(s)
    1792 MB NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 295 Dual Core
    Sound Card
    Onboard Soundmax® High-Definition 7.1 Performance Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung XL2370 HD LED backlit 23" W/S 2ms response time
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    2 x 500gb SATA II 1 x 1TB SATA II 1 external eSATA LaCie 3TB (Non-RAID)
    PSU
    Alienware® 1200 Watt Multi-GPU
    Case
    Unique
    Cooling
    4 case fans @ CPU water cooling.
    Internet Speed
    1gb/s up and down
Ex_Brit said:
You never delete anything that is installed, you uninstall it, but never updates as they are cumulative. All Windows Updates begin with KB and should not be uninstalled. unless you wish to have them re-offered by Windows Update which is useful if one becomes corrupted for instance.
You can clear up a lot of stuff by using Disk Cleanup: http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/76073-disk-cleanup.html or Extended Disk Cleanup: http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/158356-extended-disk-cleanup.html
Click to expand...

Hi, Thank you for good reply.
Actually I got an e-mail and I was reading how to recover disk space by deleting windows update in Windows 7.
Therefore, I asked this question for Windows Vista and you saved me. Regarding the link for extended disk cleanup I wonder if the shortcut utility will work on Japanese windows and what should be checked and un checked?
Though I have downloaded the shortcut utility I will check if it work or not but won't use unless I get reply from you.

Thank you.
 

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Just use your best judgement on that as I'm afraid I'm not a Japanese speaker. If you Google or other search for how to do an extended disk cleanup in Vista in your own language it may help.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Operating System
    Win 10 Pro x64 x 2
    Manufacturer/Model
    Alienware ALX x58
    CPU
    Intel® Core™ i7-975 Extreme O/C to 4.02 GHz, 8MB Cache
    Motherboard
    Asus® P6T Deluxe V2 X58 LGA1366
    Memory
    24GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 SDRAM at 1600MHz - 6 x 4096MB
    Graphics card(s)
    1792 MB NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 295 Dual Core
    Sound Card
    Onboard Soundmax® High-Definition 7.1 Performance Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung XL2370 HD LED backlit 23" W/S 2ms response time
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    2 x 500gb SATA II 1 x 1TB SATA II 1 external eSATA LaCie 3TB (Non-RAID)
    PSU
    Alienware® 1200 Watt Multi-GPU
    Case
    Unique
    Cooling
    4 case fans @ CPU water cooling.
    Internet Speed
    1gb/s up and down
Ex_Brit said:
Just use your best judgement on that as I'm afraid I'm not a Japanese speaker. If you Google or other search for how to do an extended disk cleanup in Vista in your own language it may help.
Click to expand...
---------------

Hi, thank you for your answers.
I extracted the downloaded short cut utility and made a short cut on desktop from their I clicked on it and it ran in JAPANESE. It worked and showed more options to be checked which I did not because I am not sure which to check or not.

Thank you.
 

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You're welcome and good luck ;-)
 

My Computer

System One

  • Operating System
    Win 10 Pro x64 x 2
    Manufacturer/Model
    Alienware ALX x58
    CPU
    Intel® Core™ i7-975 Extreme O/C to 4.02 GHz, 8MB Cache
    Motherboard
    Asus® P6T Deluxe V2 X58 LGA1366
    Memory
    24GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 SDRAM at 1600MHz - 6 x 4096MB
    Graphics card(s)
    1792 MB NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 295 Dual Core
    Sound Card
    Onboard Soundmax® High-Definition 7.1 Performance Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung XL2370 HD LED backlit 23" W/S 2ms response time
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    2 x 500gb SATA II 1 x 1TB SATA II 1 external eSATA LaCie 3TB (Non-RAID)
    PSU
    Alienware® 1200 Watt Multi-GPU
    Case
    Unique
    Cooling
    4 case fans @ CPU water cooling.
    Internet Speed
    1gb/s up and down
You can delete the contents of "C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download"
 

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System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Vista
    CPU
    Intel E8400
    Motherboard
    ASRock1333-GLAN R2.0
    Memory
    4gb DDR2 800
    Graphics card(s)
    nvidia 9500GT 1gb
  • Operating System
    win7/vista
    CPU
    intel i5-8400
    Motherboard
    gigabyte b365m ds3h
    Memory
    ballistix 2x8gb 3200
Yes, I do it all the time.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Vista
    CPU
    Intel E8400
    Motherboard
    ASRock1333-GLAN R2.0
    Memory
    4gb DDR2 800
    Graphics card(s)
    nvidia 9500GT 1gb
  • Operating System
    win7/vista
    CPU
    intel i5-8400
    Motherboard
    gigabyte b365m ds3h
    Memory
    ballistix 2x8gb 3200
I would research it if I were you. There are numerous entries on Microsoft's own forums about the pros and cons of doing that. Basically you will be wiping out Windows Update history.
I wouldn't do it but then in my case the folder isn't that big plus my drive has lots of room.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Operating System
    Win 10 Pro x64 x 2
    Manufacturer/Model
    Alienware ALX x58
    CPU
    Intel® Core™ i7-975 Extreme O/C to 4.02 GHz, 8MB Cache
    Motherboard
    Asus® P6T Deluxe V2 X58 LGA1366
    Memory
    24GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 SDRAM at 1600MHz - 6 x 4096MB
    Graphics card(s)
    1792 MB NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 295 Dual Core
    Sound Card
    Onboard Soundmax® High-Definition 7.1 Performance Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung XL2370 HD LED backlit 23" W/S 2ms response time
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    2 x 500gb SATA II 1 x 1TB SATA II 1 external eSATA LaCie 3TB (Non-RAID)
    PSU
    Alienware® 1200 Watt Multi-GPU
    Case
    Unique
    Cooling
    4 case fans @ CPU water cooling.
    Internet Speed
    1gb/s up and down
The biggest gain would be from deleting shadow copies and old restore points
 

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    Internet Speed
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    Other Info
    Weakest part of my computer is the graphics chipset. Only ever used a laptop. Also use USB Freeview TV Card Lenovo Docking Station External Speakers Other bits a pieces as needed
You can delete those without any issues. After the updates have been installed, you don't need them. Has no effect on update history, or the ability to uninstall updates. You may save a few hundred mb.

Good point by ilikefree. From memory Vista allocates 15% to shadow copies. I recommend keeping shadow copies ( sometimes called restore points ), you may find reducing it to 5% will be enough for a few shadows and still release quite a bit of space.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Vista
    CPU
    Intel E8400
    Motherboard
    ASRock1333-GLAN R2.0
    Memory
    4gb DDR2 800
    Graphics card(s)
    nvidia 9500GT 1gb
  • Operating System
    win7/vista
    CPU
    intel i5-8400
    Motherboard
    gigabyte b365m ds3h
    Memory
    ballistix 2x8gb 3200
SIW2 said:
You can delete those without any issues. After the updates have been installed, you don't need them. Has no effect on update history, or the ability to uninstall updates. You may save a few hundred mb.

Good point by ilikefree. From memory Vista allocates 15% to shadow copies. I recommend keeping shadow copies ( sometimes called restore points ), you may find reducing it to 5% will be enough for a few shadows and still release quite a bit of space.
Click to expand...
-----------
Hi,
Thank you for the reply.
Regarding shadow copies I will check that. Good idea.
 

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