I looked inside my WINDOWS folder on drive C:\ tonight.
In the past I've seen a lot of crap folders in there, all with roughly the same name. I think they come and go with each round of Windows Update, but I'm not sure. Tonight there's a whole ton of the little buggers in there. They're all first in line, at the top of the folder.
The first one is called $hf_mig$ It is 1.62Gb in size, and it is chock full of folders called variations of: KB834707. The numbers differ but they all start with KB. Each folder varies in size a bit, from around 800 kb in size to upwards of 4 Mb. I didn't count how many of these subfolders there are in that folder, but it is a LOT.
Next in line in the WINDOWS folder, are 469 folders named with a blue colour. They all have similar names to: $NtUninstall...
if you highlight one of these blue named folders you see numbers at the end of its name. Each one of these 469 folders has a subfolder called Spuninst inside of it, plus a whole lot, or a few, icons most of which usually seem to be .dll files.
The spuninst folder itself always has four icons in it, one of which is always spuninst.exe, and 1 txt file, 1 dll file, and 1 inf file.
Last but not least before the usual suspects contained inside a typical WINDOWS folder is the folder $xpsp1hfm$
Inside this little bugger is a whole bunch of stuff, all related to spuninst.exe and friends.
My question is:
WTF is this stuff? WTF is spuninst? And is there a safe way to remove it all? Or is it supposed to be there, and I should ignore it?
(But 469 folders??? That can't be right???)
p.s. I also found a number of text files sitting in the WINDOWS folder, called KB1234567.log
So there's even MORE carp related to all this spuninst nonsense.
wtf is "Spuninst"??
- a nameless entity
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wtf is "Spuninst"??
I'm a man........but I can change........if I have to........I guess
- Terraniux
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Re: wtf is "Spuninst"??
These are left-overs / trashcanned files from updates such as SP2 and 3. You can delete them, it is safe. But if you ever need to restore your computer using system restore, it is wise to keep them, in case they are needed (even though it is pure garbage).
I googled a bit your for you:
http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/in ... 614AABaqCO
I googled a bit your for you:
http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/in ... 614AABaqCO
- Hermskii
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Re: wtf is "Spuninst"??
blue files mean they have been compressed. the KB files are knowledgebase log files. needed if you ever uninstall certain updates. You are in a danger zone here being suspect of and willing to nuke file that you don't know what they are. Google each one if you want but don't just delete them because the naming convention scares you.
~Peace~
Hermskii
Hermskii
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Re: wtf is "Spuninst"??
The backed-up service-pack files are only any use if you want to un-install them.
Un-installing service-packs that have been in-place for a while, tends not to work anyway.
If Widows gets that trashed, it's time for a clean install.
You should never have any reason to go backwards in that way.
It is only worth keeping the files for a week or so, until you are satisfied the update went well.
We can assume you are by now happy with service-packs 1 and 2, as you are using 3.
Ask your self "how often do I un-install a monthly hotfix, let-alone a service-pack ?"
I recommend you use CCleaner to remove things like the hotfix uninstallers.
Newer Windows got an upgrade to do it last "patch-tuesday", so they now have the option in the Windows disk-cleanup tab.
You should see the option to remove the service-pack backup files in all versions of windows disk-cleanup tab (Right-click on a drive).
It would be worth getting hold of a normal copy of someone elses XP-SP3 and re-using your existing key. You should avoid starting from a v1 XP if you can.
http://www.magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder/
Microsoft have a tool for swapping keys
https://www.microsoft.com/genuine/selfh ... tions.aspx
Un-installing service-packs that have been in-place for a while, tends not to work anyway.
If Widows gets that trashed, it's time for a clean install.
You should never have any reason to go backwards in that way.
It is only worth keeping the files for a week or so, until you are satisfied the update went well.
We can assume you are by now happy with service-packs 1 and 2, as you are using 3.
Ask your self "how often do I un-install a monthly hotfix, let-alone a service-pack ?"
I recommend you use CCleaner to remove things like the hotfix uninstallers.
Newer Windows got an upgrade to do it last "patch-tuesday", so they now have the option in the Windows disk-cleanup tab.
You should see the option to remove the service-pack backup files in all versions of windows disk-cleanup tab (Right-click on a drive).
It would be worth getting hold of a normal copy of someone elses XP-SP3 and re-using your existing key. You should avoid starting from a v1 XP if you can.
http://www.magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder/
Microsoft have a tool for swapping keys
https://www.microsoft.com/genuine/selfh ... tions.aspx
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