WinSxS

its taken up 12 gigs on my harddrive, how do i safely remove it without
hurting the system or make it smaller.

I quote Microsoft:
All of the components in the operating system are found in the WinSxS
folder – 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. --- Let me
repeat that last point –- there is only one instance (or copy) of each
file in the OS and that instance is located in the WinSxS folder. So
looked at from that perspective, the WinSxS folder is really the entire
whole Windows OS in one location.

Vista/XP can store old DLLs and other OS library components in the
WinSxS (Windows Side by Side) folder. If an application relies on an old
DLL but a newer version is part of the operating system, Vista/XP will
spot this and divert DLL calls as appropriate to the old version while
leaving the new version in place for other software.

Changing or deleteing files in this location is I must personally say
pure stupidity! ...WinSXS contains every dll and system file from
Windows 95 to Windows 2008 Server, This is done so every application can
be used on every new version of Windows...*So, if you have lot of
application installed, that folder may be large.*

If you where to delete, rename or modify files in the WinSXS folder I
can 100% guanantee, your system will become unstable or unusable :eek:

A 500GB Harddrive is only $100 these days, the size of the WinSXS
folder is actually very miniture considering its only going to use 12GB
;)

Checkout this Post from the Windows Core Team ;)
'Ask the Core Team : What is the WINSXS directory in Windows 2008 and
Windows Vista and why is it so large?'

You DON'T it is a vital part of Vista.

Best to just leave Vista alone. For most inexperienced folks, and your
question clearly labels you that, there is no simple way to determine what
is needed and what is not. The SXS folder is where all the system and
program drivers are located.

It would be easier to move your documents to a second disk drive to get
room. Disks are awfully cheap these days. You can get 500 GB for about $80,
and forget about running out of space.

i had no plans on changing it unless it was a safe fix, 12gigs is
massive but if theres no way to safely make it smaller or change it in
anyway it looks like it gets to keep the space, thank you for your input
a google check kept saying DDL or DLL hell fix but i wasnt sure if it
could be made smaller.

I need help deleting this darn C:\WINDOWS folder. It's taking up a
TON of space, and I can't afford a hard drive made after 2001.

There's no way to really reduce its size safely; best to leave it alone!

Ok I understand clearly, but anyone has already use this great tool
WinSxSLite on Vista 64 Bits ?
Or maybe someone can tell me if there is a similar tool to replace the
SubInAcl.exe binary which does not work on 64 system ...

Or maybe, will it be possible to modify the script to use another
binary which will be compatible with 64 bits version ...?

It's unbelievable, after all that has been said you still want to crash
your system.

The tool has not been updated for 64bit because like us, the developers
know its going to kill your Windows installation :shock:

I agree, also considering 1 TeraByte (1000GB) hard-drives can be
purchased for less than $150 that anyone would care about the size of
the WinSxS folder.

I really dislike the "it's cheap, buy new"-mentality a lot of people
seem to have. Buying a new disk just because you want to have a reliable
OS? Kind of an outdated idea that we should abandon and try to minimize.
Yes, there are ecofriendly HDDs but still they need to manufacture an
HDD which consumes energy etc. And what about all those old HDDs that
people to not take time to dispose of correctly?

Today, a lot of people are online with a high speed connection; why
not, if MS cannot code space (and speed) effectively, offer an on-demand
online winsxs-folder? Much better than forcing millions of people
upgrading their computers with new HDDs filled up with lots of unused
files. I for one, do not bother about all the backgrounds, games and
addons shipped with Windows by default. I can be offered those when I
ask for them instead.

You are aware many are hardlinks and so take only a directory entry.