Can you delete windows xp updates

Gosh, every time I turn off my computer, it starts trying to update itself, but there are some old update files that are apparently no longer supported by Windows, and they can hang my computer up all night long and prevent it from shutting down because it keeps trying to get beyond those files.

I was in utter despair about this, not knowing what to do to resolve it, so at least now I have something I hope will help take care of this. I am always having to shut down my system by just pressing the off button, and I know that causes more problems. I do check and try to clean up the registry and do have programs to do that, but overall, those old unsupported files were still there.

I was spending a full gig on these backups on a 40 gig HD. These things really add up if your machine is old enough and you have enough MS products on it i. But this tool makes it easier now i guess :D,.

Jerry 8 years ago. Anne Copeland 11 years ago. Doug 11 years ago. Jim Walpole 11 years ago. AnotherStranger 12 years ago. B N 12 years ago. Johnny-Marshal is indeed correct that removing Internet Explorer is possible, but that doing so has its own negative repercussions. This folder contains files that are needed to determine which version of a file has been updated previously. Interestingly, while Gooling around, I ran into this very topic here on ComputerHope.

I suggest this as a way to clear up disk space: You might consider using a tool like CCleaner to help you clear out excess files and recover some disk space. When you open CCleaner, on the main screen you will see a list of programs and files which you can clear out.

Go ahead and select everything under Internet Explorer, unless you want to keep Autocomplete Form History and Saved Passwords in that case, just don't check those boxes. Select everything under System except for Windows Error Reporting, which is useful to look back on occasionally. You can switch to the applications tab and choose what you want in there as well. If you don't want to do such a thorough clean or if that seems too complicated, you might just use the Disk Cleanup tool in Windows XP.

I think either of these will help clear space, even though you have a split hard drive OS on one partition, programs on another, right? Unless of course you already run programs like this. Discover additional articles like this and more by becoming a TechProGuild member. Sign up for a 7-day free trial and join TechProGuild today! Even though the goal here is to remove the Uninstall files because you no longer feel that you need them and would prefer to have the extra hard disk space available for data and applications, you should make backup copies of the SP2 and other Hotfix Uninstall files.

That way, should you ever decide to uninstall the files, you can restore the Uninstall files and then uninstall them. In this article I'll walk you through the entire procedure for backing up and removing SP2 and other Hotfix Uninstall files.

Several folks with whom I've discussed this technique with mistakenly assumed that if you removed the SP2 Uninstall files, you would run into problems with Windows File Protection, which would no longer be able to do its job. However, that's not the case. This folder is then used by Windows File Protection in the event that a crucial system file needs to be replaced.

As such you'll need to be sure that you've enabled the Show Hidden Files and Folders option on the View tab of the Folder Options dialog box. At this point, you can investigate the folders and determine which ones you want to backup and then remove. While you're doing so, you can find out how much disk space each Uninstall folder is occupying. To do so, right-click on any folder, select the Properties command, and check out the Size On Disk section on the General tab.

If there are a lot of Hotfix folders in the Windows folder and you want to be able to quickly determine which Hotfixes were installed prior to installing SP2 and which Hotfixes were installed after installing SP2, you can quickly and easily compile a text file listing of all the Hotfix folders sorted by date with a simple command line.

Here's how:. This makes it a snap to determine which ones you want to backup and then remove. While the idea of trashing unnecessary clutter from your hard disk, on the surface sounds very appealing, when it comes right down to it and you're just about to perform the Delete operation, chances are that you'll get butterflies in your stomach and start second guessing the wisdom of such a move. As such, it's a good idea to make backup copies of the uninstall files.

That way, should you ever decide that you do want to uninstall SP2 or any of the Hotfixes, you can still do so by first restoring the Uninstall files.