• I decided to use Patchcleaner instead of WICleanup, since it gave me more confidence it wouldn't mess up my system. It worked great. Dism didn't change anything regarding the file size of WinSxS.
• As the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility did what it was designed to do. There also could be a lot of orphaned (no longer needed) files which the GUI interface can not identify or remove, this is where the use of msizap can help.

I found wicleanup and I am not sure if it is safe to use. When I open the program and press scan, I get about 17GB of files that it says are UnUsed. By selecting all these files that it suggests, then deleting them, is it safe or should I use another tool?

Download PatchCleaner for free. Windows Installer Directory Cleaner. Cleans your windows Installer directory of orphaned and redundant installation (.msi) and patch (.msp) files.

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4 Answers

By selecting all these files that it suggests, then deleting them, is it safe?

Short Answer: No.

Removing items from here could cause you to have application crashes, or worse, require the reinstallation and patching of the application.

The proper way to alleviate space pressure in this directory is to uninstall any unneeded applications.

Can you safely delete files in the %windir%Installer directory?

The following was written by joscon who works at Microsoft:

This is a hidden system directory; it is used by the Windows Installer service to cache installer data files for various applications. Over time, this directory will grow and can eventually take up an amount of space that might cause pressure on thinly provisioned storage, such as virtual hard disks.

So, the question usually asked is: Can I safely remove the files in this directory? The answer is flatly: No. So let's talk about why this is a bad idea.

1. It is not supported.

   • If you remove files from this directory and have issues, you may need to reinstall the application to get back to a good state. Therefore, that would suck for both you and the engineer that needs to deliver that message.

2. The overall idea that you really should not remove items in the Windows directory.

   • We build and test our software based on the existence of specific files and directories. When those files and directories dont exist, bad things can and will happen. However, that is a generalization that usually upsets many people so let's be more specific.

   • This particular directories job is to act as a cache location for Windows installer based applications. It holds stripped down versions of the Windows installer data files. During application install, update of the application or application removal, this directory is used by the application to confirm the existence of previously installed items to determine the next steps the installer needs to take.

   • The files are different from machine to machine, so if you expect to delete the files in the directory and then copy them over from another machine, that would be incorrect.

   • Removing items from here could cause you to have application crashes, or worse, require the reinstallation and patching of the application.

The proper way to alleviate space pressure in this directory is to uninstall any unneeded applications.

Source Can you safely delete files in the %windir%Installer directory?

Related SU questions

DavidPostill♦DavidPostill

MSI/MSP files for programs not currently installed can safely be deleted. However, if it is for a program still in use you have have download updates or reinstall.

Wicleanup is NOT a safe program. It has been flagged a virus by several AV programs. It may have been safe at one time but has been corrupted.

Try Patch Cleaner. homedev.com.au/Free/PatchCleaner

Ramhound

Make small test just run some msi file and figure if you have uninstalled this software before. In my case some of this software was still installed on my PC. If you delete installer you will be not able to un-install this software or upgrade without this msi file.

Generally speaking, no, this s not safe. I am not sure what algorithm uses to determine what is 'used' and unused, but traditionally you want to use Msizap.exe, but that is no longer supported on Vista and up, so I would refer to this microsoft article

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Otherwise, you can simply compress it, assuming you are using NTFS by right clicking on the folder, going to properties > advanced > compress contents to save disk space.

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