How to clean Winsxs folder in Windows 7

[Manik]

I have a laptop which was upgraded to Windows 7 from Windows Vista and for printing options I usually connetc to the server to HP printer. Now the problem is that there are too many refrences to HP drivers and software in a folder called Winsxs. The links still remain in that folder even after uninstalling HP software and therefore I would like to know how to get rid of these refrences once and for all. Thanks for any replies.

[Calvin K]

Usually the all-in-one printer's tend to have all of this problems on the networks (as it has happened to me also). Anyways, if you open the network are yo able to see the printer? On which other boxes like XP or Vista you have it installed which might be on the same network. From there you can share and browse to the printer and then install it to your pc. Afterwards you might also have to change port of the printer IP that is in use.

[newtech]

You will have to install drivers from the cd or dvd if it is not an all in one device if you want to print from the printer which is on network I guess. In case if the drivers of the printers are already installed and shared on pc or it has a print server then you will have to browse to it and right click on it and select the option to connect and if all goes fine then it will just install for you. You can also get a pop up message asking for the drivers so just point to it. If everythinf fails then you might have to get an answer from hp support.

[EINSTEIN_007]

I think that you should never touch the WinSxS folder. WinSxS does consume some disk space by simply existing, and there are a number of metadata files, folders, manifests, and catalogs in it, it’s significantly smaller than reported. The actual amount of storage consumed varies, but on a typical system it is about 400MB. While that is not small, we think the robustness provided for servicing is a reasonable tradeoff.

More information here.

[SUpER CoP]

WINSXS directory Windows 7 is very large because all of the components in the operating system are found in the WinSxS folder – in fact we call this location the component store. Each component has a unique name that includes the version, language, and processor architecture that it was built for. The WinSxS folder is the only location that the component is found on the system, all other instances of the files that you see on the system are “projected” by hard linking from the component store. You should not remove it because it has many working dll files inside it, check here: Winsxs folder after Windows 7 updgrade

[blindhorizon]

Here is what you need to do to clean it(works in win 7 Ult, not tested in vista or other oses):

open command prompt as admin, then type:

dism /online /cleanup-image /spsuperseded

[CondemnMe]

blindhorizon - Nice response man, well done, the command you gave cleaned up about 6 gig of 'stuff' from my C drive (Where the OS is installed).
I am running Win7 x64 and it worked a treat. The winsxs is still a big directory, but now smaller than before I ran the dism commands you posted. Again, thanks.

Results:
C:\> dism /online /cleanup-image /spsuperseded

Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
Version: 6.1.7600.16385

Image Version: 6.1.7600.16385

Removing backup files created during service pack installation.
[==========================100.0%==========================]
Service Pack Cleanup operation completed.
The operation completed successfully.

Some more details and a WARNING>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>WARNING>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>WARNING>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

C:\>dism /online /cleanup-image /?

Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
Version: 6.1.7600.16385

Image Version: 6.1.7600.16385


/Cleanup-Image /RevertPendingActions

WARNING! This operation will revert pending actions from previous servicing
operations. It should be used for recovery operations only. This command
is not supported against an online image.

Example:
DISM.exe /Image:C:\test\offline /Cleanup-Image /RevertPendingActions

/Cleanup-Image /spsuperseded [/hidesp]

WARNING! The service pack can't be uninstalled after this operation is
completed. This operation will remove backup files created during service
pack installation. Use /hidesp switch to hide the service pack from Installed
Updates.

Example:
DISM.exe /Image:C:\test\offline /Cleanup-Image /spsuperseded /hidesp