Delete files inside $hf_mig$ ?

[CriCri]

I'm not particularly bothered personnally by $hf_mig$ (600MB) - although
I _do_ clean up a lot of other stuff (including '$NTUninstall KBnnnnnn$'
folders). I don't like keeping a lot of totally unused programmes and
data on my hard disk, and all that lets me keep complete ASR backups of
the 'C:' system and programmes partition of a very wide-ranging
professional system (XP SP2 with Visual C++, DreamWeaver, PhotoShop and
many other database, spreadsheet, graphics, publishing, video editing
and multimedia programs) all on one DVD. Since I keep 4 such backups in
rotation that's worthwhile.
Good housekeeping typically reduces the total disk space used by around 50%.
(I should have put Windows and the programmes on separate partitions,
but since everything started from 3.11 then Win95 it was too much effort
to change.)
I got interested in reducing the 'footprint' of '$hf_mig$' when a second
client asked me what could be done (for their own reasons) - like 'Lady
D' and 'Joey O'. There are clearly many people interested and we always
try to find solutions (even if only workarounds) for good clients ;-)
I'm pretty sure I will find one (we rarely fail) - and people that just
say "it isn't possible" only encourage our efforts!

[MowGreen]

*Anything* is possible but is it worth the time ? That all depends on
the size of the HD.

Here's a detailed, outstanding article on the intricacies of deleting
content of the $hf_mig$:

How to delete unused folders and files located within the $hf_mig$
folder – Part 1
http://www.pagestart.com/hfmigpart1.html

How to delete unused folders and files located within the $hf_mig$
folder – Part 2
http://www.pagestart.com/hfmigpart2.html

Pay special attention to JS' conclusion:

" With PCs purchased within the last 5 years hard drive sizes range from
160GB on up to 500GB or more. The exceptions being laptops and entry
level desktop computers where a PC only a few years old may still have a
40GB or smaller hard drive. For users who are limited by smaller size
hard drive sizes freeing up 2GB or more space can make a difference. For
the rest of us who have one or more large hard drives it most likely not
worth your time or effort. "

The Typical Home User does not have the technical acumen required to
delete content from the $hf_mig$ subfolder.
And, they should never touch content in CatRoot. Ever.

[QWICKY]

I'm trying to clean my hard drive up since I installed XP about 8 years ago
on a 12 gig partition (BIG mistake!). Anyway, I'm down to about 300megs free
on C: with hibernation enabled and need space BAD!

I'm a little tired and trying to understand what folders I can delete out of
my $hf_mig$ folder. I've provided a screen shot of my folder and highlighted
what folders seems to be duplicates. Which their weren't many. I'm assuming
any updates that are older aren't needed anymore by the branch or whatever?
Let me know if you would. Thanks. Can I delete the folders I have highlighted
without messing up windows updating system?

[Leffrey]

It seems ridiculous that we would need to have 10 copies of shell32.dll (8MB
each) and 10 copies of IEFrame.dll (6MB each), etc on our system. After
every few KB installs, a new version of these dlls is added while none of
the previous versions in the KB subfolders is removed. Ok...keep 1 or 2
versions - but 10 is ridiculous. This folder has grown to over 1GB now and
the space on the 12GB C: Partition (originally recommended by MS) has less
than 400 MB left. Microsoft, where are you? Can someone offer a simple
answer to getting rid of so many of these duplicate drive space hogging files?