How to Determine Size and if you should Clean Up Component Store (WinSxS folder) in Windows 8.1

The WinSxS folder is located in the Windows folder, for example c:\Windows\WinSxS. It’s the location for Windows Component Store files. The Windows Component Store is used to support the functions needed for the customization and updating of Windows. Here are some examples of how the Windows Component Store files are used:
Why is the WinSxS folder so big? The short answer to this commonly asked question is that the component store (WinSxS folder) contains all the components that make-up Windows to allow you operate your system. These components are kept to rollback any problematic change or to repair a file that becomes corrupted.
The WinSxS folder isn’t as large as it may appear at first glance because size calculations can include Windows binaries located elsewhere which makes the WinSxS folder seem larger than it really is.
For more information about the component store, see:
This tutorial will help show you how to determine the actual size of the component store (WinSxS folder) and if you should clean it up in Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2.
You must be signed in as an administrator to be able to do the steps in this tutorial.
- Using Windows Update to install new component versions. This keeps systems secure and up-to-date.
- Enabling or disabling Windows features.
- Adding roles or features using Server Manager.
- Moving systems between different Windows Editions.
- System recovery from corruption or boot failures.
- Uninstalling problematic updates.
- Running programs using side-by-side assemblies.
Why is the WinSxS folder so big? The short answer to this commonly asked question is that the component store (WinSxS folder) contains all the components that make-up Windows to allow you operate your system. These components are kept to rollback any problematic change or to repair a file that becomes corrupted.
The WinSxS folder isn’t as large as it may appear at first glance because size calculations can include Windows binaries located elsewhere which makes the WinSxS folder seem larger than it really is.
For more information about the component store, see:
This tutorial will help show you how to determine the actual size of the component store (WinSxS folder) and if you should clean it up in Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2.
You must be signed in as an administrator to be able to do the steps in this tutorial.
Here's How:
1. Open an elevated command prompt.
2. In the elevated command prompt, copy and paste the command below, and press Enter. (see screenshot below)
Dism.exe /Online /Cleanup-Image /AnalyzeComponentStore

The information returned is:

[TABLE=class:-grid,-width:-650][TR][TD]Title
[/TD]
[TD]
Description
[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]
Windows Explorer Reported Size of Component Store
[/TD]
[TD]
This value the size of the WinSxS folder if computed by Windows Explorer. This value doesn’t factor in the use of hard links within the WinSxS folder.
[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]
Actual Size of Component Store
[/TD]
[TD]
This value factors in hard links within the WinSxS folder. It doesn’t exclude files that are shared with Windows by using hard links.
[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]
Shared with Windows
[/TD]
[TD]
This value provides the size of files that are hard linked so that they appear both in the component store and in other locations (for the normal operation of Windows). This is included in the actual size, but shouldn’t be considered part of the component store overhead.
[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]
Backups and Disabled Features
[/TD]
[TD]
This is the size of the components that are being kept to respond to failures in newer components or to provide the option of enabling more functionality. It also includes the size of component store metadata and side-by-side components.
This is included in the actual size and is part of the component store overhead.
[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]
Cache and Temporary Data
[/TD]
[TD]
This is the size of files that are used internally by the component store to make component servicing operations faster. This is included in the actual size and is part of the component store overhead.
[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]
Date of Last Cleanup
[/TD]
[TD]
This is the date of the most recently completed component store cleanup.
[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]
Number of Reclaimable Packages
[/TD]
[TD]
This is the number of superseded packages on the system that component cleanup can remove.
[/TD][/TR]
[TR][TD]
Component Store Cleanup Recommended
[/TD]
[TD]
This is a component store cleanup recommendation. Cleanup is recommended when performing a cleanup process may reduce the size of the component store overhead.
[/TD][/TR][/TABLE]
3. Based on the analysis above you can determine the overhead of the WinSxS folder by taking the sum of the backups and disabled features size with the cache and temporary data size.
In this example, the WinSxS folder appears to be 7.23 GB, but the actual overhead (the sum of the size of "backups and disabled features" and the size of "cache and temporary data") is 276.81 MB.
The actual size of Component Store in this example is 6.76 GB.
4. If Component Store Cleanup Recommended says No, then there is nothing else that needs to be done.
5. If Component Store Cleanup Recommended says Yes, then you can follow the steps in the tutorial below if you like to cleanup and reduce the size of the component store (WinSxS folder) to free up hard disk space.
That's it,
Shawn
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