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Microsoft polluted my brand new disk drive - what can be deleted?



 
 
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  #31  
Old March 25th 18, 06:54 PM posted to alt.comp.os.windows-10
Frank Slootweg
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,226
Default Microsoft polluted my brand new disk drive - what can be deleted?

[You probably will want to jump directly to 'Status update:']

On March 4, I wrote:
Paul wrote:
Frank Slootweg wrote:
Paul wrote:
[...]
Start : Run : cleanmgr

Click the system files button, which will start cleanmgr
running a second time.
[...]
Don't select "Windows Update cleanup". One of the cleanup
options starts compressing files in WinSXS, and this can take
*three hours*. Um, don't do that.

Thanks for that refresher. I had used "Windows Update cleanup" before,
but now I need it to (try to) fix [1] SWMBO's broken Windows Update (on
Windows 8.1), I had forgotten where that functionality was 'hidden'.

[1] Yes, I've already tried all the other tools/fixes, such as the
'Windows Update Troubleshooter' (both the built-in and optional
downloadable one), DISM, SFC, 'Windows Repair Free' tool, etc. to no
avail.]


First of all, thanks for your response! Highly appreciated.

It's not that kind of Cleanup.

The one you want, is the one that deletes the contents
of SoftwareDistribution. That's a typical technique used
by some people, to get an individual "stubborn" update to
install.


Deleting the contents of SoftwareDistribution does not help, neither
with the 'Windows Update Troubleshooter'(s), nor manually.

There are sample scripts here, and the "Troubleshooter" control panel
has a script similar to the ones here.

https://www.sevenforums.com/tutorial...ate-reset.html

The "cleanup" in CleanMgr.exe , doesn't appear to be that sort
of thing. I was expecting (the first time I ran it), that it
would remove out-of-date WinSXS content.


Yes, it - CleanMgr.exe aka 'Disk Clean-up' - says [1] that it "deletes
or compresses" superceded updates and it actually does delete superceded
updates (I used it to (try to) fix a botched 8.1 to 10 upgrade).

But the only thing
it seems to be doing, is using NTFS compression on the files.
After it has run, if you looked at (some of) the files in the
WinSXS folder, some of them, the color of the file entry
in File Explorer would be colored to indicate compression
had been applied. On most hard drive equipped desktops,
people are not that hard up for OS partition space, to be
waiting 3 hours to save a couple hundred megabytes of space.

Compressing files, should really not change anything.

Whereas the Windows Update Troubleshooter, the one that
cleans out SoftwareDistribution, that does make a difference.

My own favorite technique, is to download the failed update
from catalog.update.microsoft.com, double-click the .msu received,
and install manually. A lot of the time, this is sufficient to
solve minor log jams. If you've been pounding on and breaking
it, for some time, something that simple may not be
sufficient to get it working again.


My (SWMBO's) problem is not so much failing updates per se, but
updates which are reported as 'Succeeded' in the 'View update history'
list, but are not *actually* installed, because they do not appear in
the 'Installed Updates' list.

These updates are re-offered later. Also some updates which *are*
listed in the 'Installed Updates' list are re-offered/re-installed and
sometimes superceded updates are re-offered, for example the 2018-01
ones, when the 2018-2 ones are already available.

In short, it's a mess.

So I want to try the 'Windows Update Clean-up' part of the 'Disk
Clean-up' program. I will also try your suggestion to download failed
updates from catalog.update.microsoft.com.

Thanks again.


Status update:
==============

I ran the 'Windows Update Clean-up' part of the 'Disk Clean-up'
program.

The 'Files to delete: Windows Update Clean-up' size went from 9.52 GB
(!) to 1.86 GB.

The size of C:\Windows\WinSxS went from 9.92 GB to 13 GB [1].

On March 20, I installed the March monthly updates. After this:

- the 'View update history' list *does* match the 'Installed Updates'
list (except for the 'Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool', which
is never listed in the 'Installed Updates' list).

- Windows Update has *not* re-offered any updates, which (it says) were
already installed.

Bottom line: So it seems that running the 'Windows Update Clean-up'
part of the 'Disk Clean-up' *did* solve the Windows Update problems on
SWMBO's Windows 8.1 system.

[1] A bit of a lie, because I forgot check the latter number, so 13 GB
is the current size, after the March 20 update.

On Windows 10, I think only once did I need to clean out
SoftwareDistribution to stop some Windows Update looping
behavior. The rest of the time, the more mild technique
(manual install) worked.

You can see in this selected snip of the log, that I
installed '518 twice. The Windows Update one failed
(nearest the bottom). Then, when I downloaded and reinstalled
that one, both now are marked as successful. I didn't need
to purge SoftwareDistribution in this run.

https://s10.postimg.org/dmpt6ebbt/Wi...pdate_test.gif


[1]

"Description

Windows keeps copies of all installed updates from Windows update,
even after installing newer versions of updates. Windows Update
clean-up deletes or compresses older versions of updates that are no
longer needed and taking up space."

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  #32  
Old March 25th 18, 07:53 PM posted to alt.comp.os.windows-10
Keith Nuttle
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,844
Default Microsoft polluted my brand new disk drive - what can be deleted?

On 3/25/2018 1:54 PM, Frank Slootweg wrote:
- the 'View update history' list*does* match the 'Installed Updates'
list (except for the 'Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool', which
is never listed in the 'Installed Updates' list).

Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool is shown in Other Updates at the
bottom of the page not in Quality Updates.

--
2018: The year we learn to play the great game of Euchre
  #33  
Old March 26th 18, 05:57 PM posted to alt.comp.os.windows-10
Frank Slootweg
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,226
Default Microsoft polluted my brand new disk drive - what can be deleted?

Keith Nuttle wrote:
On 3/25/2018 1:54 PM, Frank Slootweg wrote:
- the 'View update history' list*does* match the 'Installed Updates'
list (except for the 'Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool', which
is never listed in the 'Installed Updates' list).


Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool is shown in Other Updates at the
bottom of the page not in Quality Updates.


Thanks for your response.

This is on a Windows 8.1 system. Sadly, 8.1 has no such updates
categories in he 'Installed Updates' list, only 'Name'd categories such
as 'Microsoft Windows'. Most updates - in this case 263 of 266 - are in
the 'Microsoft Updates' category. The 'Windows Malicious Software
Removal Tool' is not listed in this category, nor in any other.
  #34  
Old March 26th 18, 07:24 PM posted to alt.comp.os.windows-10
Paul[_32_]
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Posts: 11,873
Default Microsoft polluted my brand new disk drive - what can be deleted?

Wolf K wrote:
On 2018-03-26 12:57, Frank Slootweg wrote:
Keith Nuttle wrote:
On 3/25/2018 1:54 PM, Frank Slootweg wrote:
- the 'View update history' list*does* match the 'Installed Updates'
list (except for the 'Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool',
which
is never listed in the 'Installed Updates' list).

Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool is shown in Other Updates at the
bottom of the page not in Quality Updates.


Thanks for your response.

This is on a Windows 8.1 system. Sadly, 8.1 has no such updates
categories in he 'Installed Updates' list, only 'Name'd categories such
as 'Microsoft Windows'. Most updates - in this case 263 of 266 - are in
the 'Microsoft Updates' category. The 'Windows Malicious Software
Removal Tool' is not listed in this category, nor in any other.


IIRC, the Malicious Software Removal Tool installs, runs once, then
deletes itself.

AFAIK, it's limited to one or two specific current assaults, it's not
general purpose. For that, there's Defender and many other anti-malware
tools.


You can run MSRT manually, to learn more about it.

It scans for maybe 50 different things, which it can list.

And it's showing in my 16299.309 Windows Update history panel.

https://s17.postimg.org/byv0oozgf/MS...te_History.gif

It's meant as a survey tool for Microsoft, rather than
something we can rely on for "cleaning" or something. I've
never seen anything detected by it. Not even EICAR (which
wouldn't be on its list anyway).

And I notice mine says "FAILED" for the March one. Hmmm.
I think this means I've been naughty.

Paul
 




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