Windows XP update folders - safe to delete ?

bonzodog2

C:\WINDOWS\$hf_mig$ contains 101 folder all named KBnnnnnn, total size 367MB. There are also folders (compressed) in \windows named like $NtUninstallKBnnnnnn$ size 219MB (size on disc 149MB)

Are these just backups/uninstalls, and is it safe to delete them ?

Munster Blogger

I wouldn't delete these. These files are used when windows add an update or fix. As I understand it these files and folder may need to be used in future updates.

Folders that have uninstall as part of the name (for example $NtUninstallKB282010$) can be deleted. These are only used to uninstall the updates

Capt'n Midnight

it's poorly documented , I've not seen a clear answer on Microsofts site to that in the 10 years since XP was released so leave them there.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;824994

When a security update, critical update, update, update rollup, driver, or feature pack installs GDR version files, the hotfix files are also copied to the %windir%\$hf_mig$ folder. This supports migration to the appropriate files if you later install a hotfix or service pack that includes earlier versions of these files.

use ccleaner to remove the low hanging fruit

if you system is totally stable you could try reducing the size devoted to system restore to clean down stuff but then increase it again , but it won't change that folder

PCrepairman.ie

Any of those files with KB*uninstall can be deleted, the problem is you remove the option to rollback the patches if you do it.
I do it all the time on systems with low disk space.

Joe