The purpose of the WinSxS folder is to hold files that come from the window
operating systems. The file comes from the moments a new operating system is
installed. That way you could reduce the folder is to deleted files or additional apps
that could cause it to get full fast. The average file capacity is can hold about several
GB which usually a windows operating system. A another way to clean up PC/laptop
is to use a defragment, this lets the a pc/laptop to break down what is need and will
adjust itself so that it can run faster and have more storage. The WinSxS file also
have the ability to do a full desktop clear up which goes into each file and remove
any blame data that was used and have nothing in them. Just like how on a cell
phone you can do a maintenance check which does the same thing as the WInSxS
file, and this can help improve the performance of the laptop/pc. Do monthly check
on the WinSxS helps keep the storage and system fresh. WinSxS is short for
Windows Side By Side. ComputerHope describes it as, “a folder in Windows XP,
Vista, 7, and 8 that stores different copies of DLL and system files.” It contains many
versions of different dll and other system files. It helps improve compatibility when
running applications. A user will notice that the size of the folder will increase in
time, especially after serious updates. When installing updates, a new and older
version of a system file will be saved in-case a user requires to return to a previous
version of Windows. There are many versions of different system files for applications
that may require it. I remember when using Windows 98 and especially with
Windows ME, I would occasionally experience dll issues. I especially remember on
my Windows ME PC, viewing several sketchy websites for assistance in fixing these
issues only to have AVG Free tell me I received a new virus. The Windows Club
states “This feature was first introduced, in Windows ME “ and that it was
Microsoft’s solution to the “issues that plagued Windows 9x.” I believe my modern
version of this experience would be the issue with dependencies I’ve had with some
Linux distributions, although not as much as I’ve used to.According to Windows
Central, the file cannot be deleted but it can be reduced. Not being able to delete
WinSxS may anger those used to operating systems with more flexibility but with
modern hard drives the file size becomes less noticeable. The easiest method for me
would be via Command Prompt, after determining it is necessary to clean the WinSxS
file, go to Command Prompt. You can then type “dism /online /Cleanup-Image
/StartComponentCleanup”. Files wasting space on your hard drive will then be
removed. It is recommended by Windows Central that one does not roll back to a
previous update of Windows afterwards. The WinSxS folder is a must have folder for
windows. It contains everything you need to edit your windows installation and every
OS system file. All of your updates go inside of this folder. This also means a lot of
older filers that you no longer need may be inside of it from previous versions of
windows. This folder allows you better performance as it keeps your OS files up to
date. It can be used to recover damaged or missing system files.To reduce the size of
the OS without corrupting or damaging anything you first want to check if the file
size is worth reducing by going to Command Prompt and running it as admin and
using the following command in side of it. dism /Online /Cleanup-Image
/AnalyzeComponentStore. You can then clear unused files from the WINSxS folder by
going to Command Prompt as admin and entering the following command. dism
/online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup.To reduce the physical size of the
WINSxs folder you want to go to file explorer> this pc > and under devices and
drives click right local disk drive and click properties>general > disk cleanup > admin
clean up system files button > windows update cleanup and then ok. Research the
purpose of the WinSxS folder. What goes in this folder and how does it get there?
The WinSxS folder contains essential operating system files, it also contains expired
OS files that have become obsolete by incremental updates. So, everything within the
WinSxs folder was at one point essential to the system, but due to frequent Windows
updates, many files are no longer needed but stay stored in the WinSxS unless
manually removed. How can the size of the folder be reduced without causing major
trouble with the OS? after some research i have noticed one common way to reduce
the size of the WinSxS folder. First one has to got to and search for "Disk Cleanup",
once opened opened, click on "Clean up system Files". In "Clean System Files" and
make sure "Windows Update Cleanup" is selected, then press OK. After that, open the
command prompt as an administrator, and enter this command without the parentheses
"Dism.exe /online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup" and this cleans up all the
unnecessary files with in WinSxS. The purpose of the WinSxS folder is to store the
Windows OS. The folder contains what is needed to run windows, and also stores
files to revert to if a problem arises. Windows 10 is already configured to store and
receive files automatically, so it needs no assistance. The best way to reduce the size
of the disk is to run disk cleanup. From what I've read, it isn't advised to try to do
this manually. If you remove or change the wrong file then one will have disastrous
results. If you do know what you are doing then you can run a dism.exe command to
get more in depth options. There are additional commands that can be ran behind the
dism.exe to explore further. I would not advise anyone to get into the file manually.
Windows 10 will reduce the size of the folder on its own based on certain protocols.
It was interesting to learn that a lot of the files were projected instead of actually
being present which can make the folder size look bigger than it actually is.
Researching the WinSxS folder i have found that its purpose is to store files for
windows installations. It also has backups from the previous updates in the file, which
is why it can become so large. You would think that the way to reduce this would be
easy enough by just going in and deleting the previous update files in the folder after
you've updated windows, but there are files in the WinSxS folder that are necessary
for windows to run and have the ability to update. A simple way to reduce the size
of WinSxS is to launch Disk Cleanup. In Disk Cleanup you have the ability to select
"Windows Update Cleanup" which would then safely free space from the WinSxS
folder. Though Disk Cleanup is only available on versions of Windows 7 and higher,
so in the event that you're running an old version of windows, you may have to use
the command prompt. Launch the command prompt and enter the command "Dism.exe
/online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup" After running the command, it will
let you know if you need to clean it or not. If it is recommended then in the
command prompt enter "Dism.exe /online /Cleanup-Image
/StartComponentCleanup".The main purpose of the WinSxS folder that stores the files
essential during the installation process of the Windows and when updating or taking
backups to the files. The system folder keeps growing and may consume a lot of
space over time but not the entire space.The WinSxS folder contains all the installed
files, as well as the updated files. The files are actually not present physically in the
WinSxS folder. Rather, the WinSxS folder creates a hard link to the files that are
stored in different places of the system.Looking at the WinSxS folder can offer
valuable information about the system state, including the files that are installed, the
available versions, and the available updates. It ensures better servicing performance as
well as reliability.It is quite simple and easy to reduce the size of the WinSxS folder
without causing any potential trouble to the operating system. Cleaning up the folder
can reduce its size conveniently. In the case of Windows 7, the in-built disk cleanup
tool can be used for deleting the updates of the Windows that are not required
anymore. In the case of Windows 8.1 as well as Windows 10, the Command Prompt
option can be used for cleaning the Command Prompt WinSxS folder effectively. The
purpose of the WinSxS folder is to store al the files that the operating system may
need to keep functioning stably during and after various update procedures. The
WinSxS folder stores multiple copies of dll,exe and other system files to let multiple
applications run in Windows without any compatibility problem. If learned that when
you browse inside, you will see what looks like a lot of duplicate files, each having
the same name.WinSxS cannot be deleted however size can be reduced using tools
built into windows. There are different ways to reduce size and it is important to
determine the actual size of the WinSxS folder and there are different related topics
listed on the Microsoft website. The site has everything you need to understand what
you need to do and is was easy to navigate. I found that the site gives best steps to
take to reduce WinSxS depending on which Windows is used. My understanding of
the WinSxs is that it is a system folder that is used to store files that are needed for
Windows installation. It also contains backups and updates to said windows files. This
folder always takes up more memory as it gets larger each time you perform a
windows update. The way that I know how to reduce this folder size is by using the
"disk cleanup tool". You can use it to clean up unneeded windows update files. The
purpose of the WinSxS folder is to store files that are needed for your Windows
installation, as well as backups or updates to those files.It is a file that is consistently
growing and can take up a good amount of space, though not all space described
shown my not be all that is being used. All files installed are placed into the WinSxS
folder including updated files. So you'll have lots of different versions of each file
allowing you to roll back Windows updates and service packs to any previous state.
WinSxS directory is a “hard link” to the physical files elsewhere on the system,
meaning that the files are not actually in this directory. The value of this is that the
servicing platform in Windows can query the WinSxS directory to determine a number
of key details about the state of the system, like what’s installed, or available to be
installed, what versions, and what updates are on the system to help determine
applicability of Windows patches to your specific system. This functionality gives us
increased servicing reliability and performance, and supports future engineering efforts
providing additional system layering and great configurability. The question on How
can the size of the folder be reduced without causing major trouble with the OS? It is
simple cleaning up the WinSxS folder. With Windows 7 and above you can use the
built-in Disk Cleanup tool to delete older versions of Windows updates you no longer
need. With Windows 8.1 and Windows 10, you can use the Command Prompt to
clean up the WinSxS folder as well. Clean up options are Task scheduler, Dism.exe,
and disk cleanup. WinSxS (Windows Side by Side) refers to the concept of hosting
the same files in different versions in the operating system. All of the components on
the OS are found in the WinSxS folder. This location is called the components store.
The WinSxS folder is the only location that the component is found on the system.
There is only one instance (or full data copy) of each version of each file in the OS
and that instance is located in the WinSxS folder. The WinSxS folder is located at
C:/Windows/WinSxS and it is not abnormal for the size of the folder to be several
gigabytes.If you're trying to free up space, you won't be able to delete the WinSxS
folder. However, its possible to reduce it's size by deleting those files that are no
longer required for the operation of Windows 10, and you can accomplish this task by
using the Command Prompt, Storage Sense, and even the legacy disk cleanup tool. I'll
start off by stating probably the obvious here and say if you think 7gb is excessive
you're probably going to need to upgrade how much storage you have on you
computer. SSD's and Hard drives are constantly getting bigger and decreasing in
value. That being said you don't really want to mess around to much the the WinSxS
folder it stores critical information. The WinSxs folder is used during installations,
updates and patches, and hot fixes. Due to how this folder works, over time it can
get larger and larger in size. To free up the space you are going to want to use the
built in tool windows has made called Disk Cleanup. In the search bar type in disk
clean up right click and run as administrator. It will run and calculate the space and
give you the options when it is finished. Click on clean up system files and wait for
the process. There could be issues with this if there are updates that you have not yet
installed so be sure to install those before you do anything. The WinSxS folder, Is
how the OS can recover damage or missing system files, and pretty much everything
else that makes up OS.There are many different ways to clean the folder. Either with
Command Prompt, Storage sense, or Disk cleanup. Are some of the main ones I
found from Windowscentral.com. While other sites like Microsoft Docs, have mostly
different ways to achieve the same finally result which is it will save you some space
on your Hard Drive. Microsoft has more professional friendly options like Dism.exe.
which provides advanced users more options to further reduce the size of the WinSxS
folder. One of the last sites I looked through, was an easier source to understand each
steps in my opinin. Tenforums.com with an article from Shawn Brink He makes every
step easier to see by adding bullets, different colors and bolding. One of the first big
points he wanted to point out was. So the purpose of the WinSxS folder is to save
your backups, updates and to save the files that are needed for Windows installation.
Having these files saved on this folder takes up a lot of space. Also each time there
is an update with Windows, it keeps taking up more space. That can be a problem.
And you can't just delete the file, deleting the file can mess up your computer. In
order to free up some space you must clean the disk. So you can search up Disk
Cleanup on your settings to be able to do this. You want to make sure you clean up
the Windows Updates files. Also you if you are not sure how to do it, you can go
through Microsoft. On the Microsoft support, you can find how to reduce the size of
the WinSxS file and how to properly delete files. I think Microsoft system support
would be the best option to help with this process especially if you are not sure how
to this. WinSxS is a folder where Windows installation, updates, and backups go. It
gets bigger with each Windows update. Deleting the whole folder Windows will crash.
To delete some of the files you no longer need you can run Disk cleanup, task
scheduler, and Dism.exe. To use Disk cleanup; Open the disk cleanup tool, click clean
up system files, and check the Windows Update Cleanup. If Task scheduler is set to
automatic, it will wait 30 days to delete the old Windows update. The Dism.exe is an
administrative command prompt. To start the task scheduler is in the control panel
under System and Maintenance, then click on administrative tools and double click
Task Scheduler. There are many ways to use the Dism.exe command prompt. One is
DISM.exe /online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup. That allows you to delete
all components without the 30 day scheduled maintenance. Another command prompt
is DISM.exe /online /Cleanup-Image /SPSuperseded. This deletes files needed for
uninstallation of service packs. The other command prompt is DISM.exe /online
/Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup /ResetBas. It will remove all old versions of
every component. The WinSXS folder is a system folder created by windows, this
folder contains files that are needed for windows installation. The WinSXS folder also
contains back ups, and updates to those necessary files, meaning that this folder
increases as time goes on and updates are installed. Since these files are key to the
operating system, it almost goes without saying deleting some of these files can cause
major trouble for a computer. Some notable problems it can cause include crashing,
and even may cause the system to fail booting up. It is important to be careful when
making changes, or cleaning up the WinSXS folder, because you don't want to cause
problems with the system, while still making space.
There are a few ways to make space in the WinSXS folder without deleting any
essential files in the folder, I think the most common and simplest is with Storage
Sense on windows 10. Storage sense is used to clean up temporary files and anything
deemed unnecessary to the system, it can be run for many other components of
storage, like hard drives and cloud storage.
To do this you will need open Settings > system > storage
then under Under your local disk click temporary files, check the "windows update
cleanup" and remove the files. WinSxs is where the files go that are needed for
Windows to function and where updates are stored. You should not delete this file
because your system will not function properly without it. It is also not advisable to
use a third-party cleanup tool as it may mistakenly delete a necessary file. If you
need to reduce the file you can first start with the Disk Cleanup tool but this will
only reduce it by a very small amount. You also have the option of using command
prompt by entering - Dism.exe /online /Cleanup-Image /AnalyzeCleanupStore. It will
take a minute for it to analyze and determine the file size that can be removed. Then
you will enter - Dism.exe /online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup. Then the
Windows Update Cleanup files that are unnecessary will be deleted. The purpose of
the WinSxS folder is to store files that are needed for your Windows installation, as
well as backups or updates to those files. I believe the folder serves as the heart of
the software used to function your computer like without that folder your PC may not
even be functional. After more research I found that the power could severely affected
along with the potential of updates being added to the PC. When Windows installs
updates, it drops the new Windows component in the WinSXS folder and keeps the
old component in the WinSXS folder. This means that every Windows Update you
establish raises the bulk of your WinSXS folder. I found through research that you
can reduce the size of the folder in the settings by checking the Windows Update
Cleanup option and removing files from there. The WinSXS, alternatively called the
"Windows Side By Side" folder is a directory that Windows uses to store files for
Windows installation, backups and upgrades, among other things. The WinSXS folder
at C:\Windows\WinSXS is massive and continues to grow the longer you have
Windows installed. The folder builds up two types of files, some are operational
necessary and some are unnecessary, such as old versions of system components. You
can't just delete the folder because Windows also stores files needed for reliability and
future upgrades within the folder. Since the release of Windows 7 you can use the
built-in disk utility to clean up old versions of Windows updates that are no longer
needed. With Windows 8.1 and Windows 10, you are able to use the command
prompt to clean up WinSxS file. If using the disk cleanup method search for Disk
Cleanup in the Windows taskbar and open it. Click the "Cleanup system files" button.
Then check the box next to"Windows Update Cleanup". Click OK and your done. If
you choose to use the command prompt option, search CMD in the Windows taskbar.
Open a command prompt and enter the command: Dism.exe /online /Cleanup-image
/StartComponentCleanup. It will then recommend if cleanup is necessary or not. If
recommended, type in the command: Dism.exe /online /Cleanup-Image
/StartComponentCleanup. The C:\Windows\WinSxS folder is used to contain Windows
installation and backups files. You have to be sure to be careful when clearing out
this file because it is important to the maintenance of the operating system. There is a
disk clean up tool that is relatively user friendly in some versions of Windows that
can be used to clean up space that has been mentioned a few times in our reading.
Another thing that was mentioned in the reading was our ability to track down and
find older backup files to remove them from the file system and clear up space. It is
important to keep at least 15% of hard disk space clear for things like System
Protection and updates and applications. It would be good to ensure when you set up
automatic backups to also setup when Windows should start clearing out and deleting
older backups that would go unused automatically, rather than manually. I also found
a Command Prompt entry that can be used on Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 to
perform disk clean up by entering: Dism.exe /online /Cleanup-Image
/StartComponentCleanup. WinSxS store files that are needed for your Windows
installation, as well as backups or updates to those files. It's a space hog, however,
taking up several gigabytes of space and growing with each Windows Update you
perform. Older versions of windows had a built in disk clean up tool. Reclaiming
space and decreasing size can be done with some simple steps. Reducing the size of
WinSxS open settings>click on system>click on storage> under local disk section click
on local files items >clear default selection>check the windows up date cleanup
option> click the remove files option .WinSXS contains every OS file When there is
an update available on Windows, Windows drops the update in the the WinSXS
folder, because that is where it is told to put that file. Over time the file grows with
ever update. Following the procedures above are a sure way to decrease without harm,
You certainly want to follow protocol while preforming this procedure. If you just hit
delete as if you were free up space then your system will have difficulties restarting.
