help winsxs folder getting too big??

[Rheghead]

There is a folder called winsxs in the windows folder that is growing too big to manage. It is occupying 28GB on my 69GB C drive!

I've googled how to cut it back a bit but some say no too dangerous but others say you can. Not knowing much about this I wondered how I can claim some space left as I'm down to 5GB?

I'm using Vista and at the moment I can't see around the problem without doing a full reboot.

thanks in advance

[Niall Fernie]

Don't know if you've read this page: http://boshdirect.com/blogs/tech/how-to-reduce-size-of-winsxs.html

BUt it suggests that a bit can be reclaimed. However as it suggests that the folder is used to store Service Pack files in case you want to roll back your machine I'd be looking at creating a slipstream installation disk for Vista and using it to reinstall from scratch. At least you would gain all the space back until another service pack comes out.

[Rheghead]

Thanks Niall, I did get 1.5 GB back

[RecQuery]

You might also want to try issuing the following three commands in a similar manner:

vsp1cln

dism /online /cleanup-image /spsuperseded

dism /online /cleanup-image /spsuperseded /hidesp

Try opening up Disk Cleanup and clicking the button to clean system file also.