Real Solutions to the Winsxs bloat.

avada

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Hello!

I'm searching for solutions for reducing the winsxs stuff. First, I'm not a layman so I don't need an umpteenth reiteration, that I shouldn't delete anything because they're backups and variants of dlls. I simply don't need it. I pretty much use the same programs for the most part and I can solve a plain dll problem if needed, I don't need old variants of my unproblematically functioning graphic driver etc... Actually I prefer having portable variants of programs that have anything they need. Dll hell is heaven compared to winsxs hell.

So basically what I want is:

1. Firstly to remove backups, duplicates of all sorts. So basically I need something to identify these compared to things that are actually used and remove them. It wouldn't hurt if I could do it selectively, but I'm not diehard for this.

2. A windows (registry) setting, hack, patch would be also nice to stop windows from doing what it does the way it does, but behave like XP with which I never had problems with. I don't have high hopes for this, but who knows, maybe someone did this.

All ideas are welcome for cutting down windows's mindless bloat.
 

My Computer

System One

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    PC/Desktop
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    Ryzen 5 1600
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    Asus Prime B350-PLUS
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    nVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 (Asus ENGTS450)
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    500w FSP
First, I'm not a layman so I don't need an umpteenth reiteration, that I shouldn't delete anything because they're backups and variants of dlls. I simply don't need it.

First, it's *NOT* backups of anything. Yes, it does handle dll versioning.

Second, Yes, you do need it. Without it, Window won't function. The entire OS depends on it, and will break otherwise.

As such, since the OS won't work without it, you DO need it.

Third, WinSxS doesn't take up anywhere near the space it seems. Many of those files are hard links to the same file. As such, many of the copies are actually taking up a single instance of disk space.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    CPU
    Intel i7 3770K
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    Gigabyte Z77X-UD4 TH
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    16GB DDR3 1600
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    nVidia GTX 650
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    Onboard Audio
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    Auria 27" IPS + 2x Samsung 23"
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    2560x1440 + 2x 2048x1152
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    Corsair m4 256GB, 2 WD 2TB drives
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    Antec SOLO II
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    Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000
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    Logitech MX
The directory only looks big to your tools which read the directory size, but do it incorrectly. There is noting to clean up here. If you want winsxs to appear to be tiny, don't install a bunch of stuff onto your machine.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Self-Built in July 2009
    CPU
    Intel Q9550 2.83Ghz OC'd to 3.40Ghz
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    Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R rev. 1.1, F12 BIOS
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    8GB G.Skill PI DDR2-800, 4-4-4-12 timings
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    EVGA 1280MB Nvidia GeForce GTX570
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    Realtek ALC899A 8 channel onboard audio
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    23" Acer x233H
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    Intel X25-M 80GB Gen 2 SSD
    Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black, 32MB cache. WD1001FALS
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    Corsair 620HX modular
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    Antec P182
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    stock
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    ABS M1 Mechanical
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    Windows and Linux enthusiast. Logitech G35 Headset.
I'm aware of the also stupid hard links wasting four gigs on my SSD is still significant.

As such, since the OS won't work without it, you DO need it.
No I don't need wasting the space pointlessly. Like when I was trying different video driver versions. Installing uninstalling, until I ran out of space because windows kept pointlessly saving the old files.

The entire OS depends on it, and will break otherwise.
The os definitely doesn't depend on multiple variant of the same darn files. I just want to get rid of the excess.

Actually I do remember reading somewhere about listing and deleting stuff from winsxs I just can't find it anywhere, because google only throws up the same unhelpful responses.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    Ryzen 5 1600
    Motherboard
    Asus Prime B350-PLUS
    Memory
    G.SKILL Trident Z 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 3000MHz F4-3000C15D-16GTZB
    Graphics Card(s)
    nVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 (Asus ENGTS450)
    PSU
    500w FSP
I know you are smart enough to make an image before trying.

It's an interesting question.

I build pe as a bit of fun.

I have quite a few things in there - explorer - themes, sound, IE, flash, MMC stuff like diskmgmt, devmgmt, wireles networking, etc.

It is nowhere near the full os of course.

I don't need much in winsxs for that - 5mb does it for 32 bit pe.

To get 3rd party programs to run properly, I add some vc80 and vc90 stuff.

Will be interested to know how you get on with that.

You will probably find dumping the contents of winsxs\backup doesn't seem to do any harm . It might affect uninstalling updates.

There was a thing originally for Vista which seemed to work well - winsxslite. It removed unnneeded files and hard linked to the newest versions.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    7/8/ubuntu/Linux Deepin
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
I know you are smart enough to make an image before trying.

It's an interesting question.

I build pe as a bit of fun.

I have quite a few things in there - explorer - themes, sound, IE, flash, MMC stuff like diskmgmt, devmgmt, wireles networking, etc.

It is nowhere near the full os of course.

I don't need much in winsxs for that - 5mb does it for 32 bit pe.

To get 3rd party programs to run properly, I add some vc80 and vc90 stuff.

Will be interested to know how you get on with that.

You will probably find dumping the contents of winsxs\backup doesn't seem to do any harm . It might affect uninstalling updates.

There was a thing originally for Vista which seemed to work well - winsxslite. It removed unnneeded files and hard linked to the newest versions.
Hi!
Can you link a guide for buildeng a PE.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    Ryzen 5 1600
    Motherboard
    Asus Prime B350-PLUS
    Memory
    G.SKILL Trident Z 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 3000MHz F4-3000C15D-16GTZB
    Graphics Card(s)
    nVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 (Asus ENGTS450)
    PSU
    500w FSP
Search on "Widows Lite" and "Windows 8 Lite." You may find something that interests you
 

My Computer

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    Win7 Ult on DIY; Win8 Pro on MBP/Parallels; Win7 Ult on MBP/Boot Camp; Win7 Ult/Win8 Pro on HP
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    DIY Rig; MacBook Pro (MBP)/Parallels/Boot Camp; HP Pavilion dv6500t Laptop
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    ASUS P8P67 Deluxe Rev B3
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    Dual Boot:
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    Cooler Master Silent Pro 1000W
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    Pioneer Blu-ray Burner/DVD Burner
So isn't there an alternative to winsxs lite that works on Windows 8?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    Ryzen 5 1600
    Motherboard
    Asus Prime B350-PLUS
    Memory
    G.SKILL Trident Z 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 3000MHz F4-3000C15D-16GTZB
    Graphics Card(s)
    nVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 (Asus ENGTS450)
    PSU
    500w FSP
If you want a small windows footprint, uninstall as many actual programs and windows features as you can and don't install anything else.

Get rid of the hyberfil file by disabling hybernate or moving it to another drive, that''ll save you as much space on your root drive as you have ram.

Every DLL there is either used by windows itself or by a program you installed. If you go deleting entries you WILL break something somewhere in your system. You may just not know about it for a day or a week or a month till you try to do something special and some crazy error happens and you'll be back here saying "XXX doesn't work!" and that is a guarantee!

Creating a PE can be "fun" but is probably a huge amount of work for no real purpose as your desktop OS. It's meant to be a small portable USB stick version of windows to be used as an emergency tool, not as your actual desktop.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7/8
You can uninstall some of the bloatware from 8.

Might as well do it manually. Rt click the crapps on the start screen and uninstall them all.

Then take ownership of the Apps folder and delete the nuisance.

Or you can remove them with dism.

There is also a dism command which may clean up leftovers.

Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    7/8/ubuntu/Linux Deepin
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
Actually, believe it or not, 32 bit Windows 7 and 8 can occupy only 8 gigs of hard drive space.

You can try to partition your drive for 8 or 9 gigs, install Windows, then increase the partition size some.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS
    CPU
    AMD FX 8320
    Motherboard
    Crosshair V Formula-Z
    Memory
    16 gig DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS R9 270
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Seagate Barracuda (starting to hate Seagate)
    x2 3 TB Toshibas
    Windows 8.1 is installed on a SanDisk Ultra Plus 256 GB
    PSU
    OCZ 500 watt
    Case
    A current work in progres as I'll be building the physical case myself. It shall be fantastic.
    Cooling
    Arctic Cooler with 3 heatpipes
    Keyboard
    Logitech K750 wireless solar powered keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Touch Mouse
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender, but I might go back on KIS 2014
But in Windows 8, it's better than 7 space wise. My 64 bit install only occupies 12 gigs versus about 16 with Windows 7.

Hmm, I may need to test out how low I can go to install Windows 8.... :think:
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS
    CPU
    AMD FX 8320
    Motherboard
    Crosshair V Formula-Z
    Memory
    16 gig DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS R9 270
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Seagate Barracuda (starting to hate Seagate)
    x2 3 TB Toshibas
    Windows 8.1 is installed on a SanDisk Ultra Plus 256 GB
    PSU
    OCZ 500 watt
    Case
    A current work in progres as I'll be building the physical case myself. It shall be fantastic.
    Cooling
    Arctic Cooler with 3 heatpipes
    Keyboard
    Logitech K750 wireless solar powered keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Touch Mouse
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender, but I might go back on KIS 2014
Well, I tried winsxs lite. Whatever you do don't try to apply it twice if some links are remaining.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    Ryzen 5 1600
    Motherboard
    Asus Prime B350-PLUS
    Memory
    G.SKILL Trident Z 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 3000MHz F4-3000C15D-16GTZB
    Graphics Card(s)
    nVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 (Asus ENGTS450)
    PSU
    500w FSP
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