Windows 10: Windows Installer folder and CSC folder taking an insane amount of space on drive

Ahoy!

And good day to you.


My overall Windows folder takes 80.8 Go of space on my hard drive, a ludicrous amount (I have a 256 Go SSD as primary drive C


According to TreeSize(Free):

- Windows Installer folder takes 37.5 Go of space

- CSC folder takes 23 Go of space, almost entirely due to what seems like an old copy of large files I had stored on my NES - as a "shortcut" maybe??

exact location is CSC\v2.0.6\namespace\[NameofNES]\[bunch of subfolders]


About the files in the CSC folders, I have tried to manually delete them but keep getting a "You must possess Admin rights to delete this file" error. I have followed all the tutorials regarding ownership of system folders and my user account does have all the rights for this folder and subfolders. Yet error message remains.


According to another topic on this forum, it is not possible (strongly advise against) to manually files in Windows Installer folder.


Last week I constacted the Microsoft support and they set me up for a "Windows repair" session, which, once completed, had cleared something like 15-20 Go. But less than a week later I'm back to the same space usage I had before.

I have also properly deleted the Windows.old file created following this "repair".


Has anyone experience anything like this and would have some tips/hints on how to get rid of these problems?

I would very much appreciate any help, before I resolve to a complete re-installation.


Thank you,

Lucas


PS: not sure if related to the Windows Installer folder size, but my current version of Win 10 is a free upgrade from a WIndows 7 pro version I had installed.

:)

 

Windows installation folder

A couple of years ago, I read that Windows has a special folder that contains files used during the installation process. Also, I heard there's another folder that Windows uses as a back-up of every system file, just in case the user wants to do a system restore. Where can I find both folders and are they safe to delete?

 

Removing Windows.old folder

I recently had to reinstall my OS (don't ask). Once I did there were files that I couldn't delete. Basically SecuROM files. Anyway long story short I found this workaround that I wanted to share with my fellow newbs. This will work for any file and works like a charm. Just follow the directions. *Toast :toast:
Note: there is no space between "Administrators: (F)" I just had to but one in because it kept giving me an "unhappy face"

When installing Windows Vista, Windows stores any existing installation of Windows on the install partition inside a hidden folder called windows.old. This folder could take up a large amount of disk space.

Note: Please check the contents of the windows.old folder before deleting it to make sure there are no files stored there that you may wish to keep.

Deleting the window.old folder using the disk cleanup wizard
Click start
Type: disk cleanup
Press enter
Select "Files from all users on this computer"
Follow the rest of the instructions listed on the wizard and select the option to delete the windows.old folder
Deleting the windows.old folder manually
1) Open an elevated command prompt

Click start
Type: cmd
right-click it under programs
click Run As Administrator
2) Take ownership


Change the directory to the windows.old folder (e.g. cd c:\windows.old)
Type: takeown /F . /A /R /D Y > NUL
3) grant yourself permission

Type: icacls . /grant:r Administrators: (F) /T /L /Q
4) Delete everything

Make sure you close any explorer or command windows that are looking at or inside the windows.old folder (except for the command window you are using). If you don't, you will receive an error while performing this step.

Type: cd ..
Type: rmdir /S /Q windows.old

 

C windows installer folder - Delete?

He can do symbolic link redirection and move the files in it to a different location. *Wink
Better try it out in a virtual of first. Just a suggestion.

Like:
First move everything in c:\windows\installer to d:\installercache
Then delete c:\windows\installer folder
Then type this in command mode as admin
mklink /d c:\windows\installer d:\installercache

Removing those installer files is a bad idea. it might prevent you from updating or uninstalling apps.