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The folder (C:\Windows\Installer) on my Windows 7 installation holds 1GB of installers are these necessary or can these be deleted ? If so are there any other places where Windows 7 saves the installers which are used to install files and can they be removed ?

Hello71
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rzlines
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    Is 1GB really worth it these days? I mean, one can buy a 2TB drive for very reasonable prices, and 1tb drives are almost given away in cereal boxes. – Phoshi Dec 31 '09 at 16:09
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    well it does matter if my C drive is collecting clutter unnecessarily I just needed to know if those were necessary files or not – rzlines Dec 31 '09 at 18:48
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    1 GB really is a lot when it's actually 9 GB (as it is on my machine), and your boot volume is an SSD with only 112 GB capacity... – Slaggg Mar 03 '12 at 20:09

2 Answers2

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Don't delete this folder or its content.

Use the Windows Installer CleanUp Utility instead as it will properly unregister files.

  • Stay clear of that tool if you really don't need it, see http://superuser.com/questions/173981/unable-to-uninstall-visual-studio-2008-could-not-open-components-key why... – Tamara Wijsman Aug 18 '10 at 11:15
  • This utility doesn't work for Windows 7. I am unable to find the latest version that works for Windows 7. I've tried 2 downloaded versions already. – JustBeingHelpful Feb 06 '12 at 18:02
  • @Mr.MacGyver: Did you run it as administrator? Because it works for me, even on Windows 8... – Tamara Wijsman Feb 06 '12 at 18:13
  • probably not.. I'll try that. – JustBeingHelpful Feb 06 '12 at 18:20
  • I also found this won't work for Windows 7, and I can't find any way to address this for Windows 7. I have that folder taking up 9 GB of my 112 GB SSD boot volume - vexing. – Slaggg Mar 03 '12 at 20:05
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You can safely compress C:\Windows\Installer if you want to.

Tamara Wijsman
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