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The folder (C:\Windows\Installer) on my Windows 7 installation holds 1GB of installers are these necessary or can these be deleted ? If so are there any other places where Windows 7 saves the installers which are used to install files and can they be removed ?

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Is 1GB really worth it these days? I mean, one can buy a 2TB drive for very reasonable prices, and 1tb drives are almost given away in cereal boxes. – Phoshi Dec 31 '09 at 16:09
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well it does matter if my C drive is collecting clutter unnecessarily I just needed to know if those were necessary files or not – rzlines Dec 31 '09 at 18:48
possible duplicate of Is it safe to delete from C:\Windows\Installer? – techie007 Aug 11 '11 at 20:12
1 GB really is a lot when it's actually 9 GB (as it is on my machine), and your boot volume is an SSD with only 112 GB capacity... – Slaggg Mar 3 at 20:09
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2 Answers

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Don't delete this folder or its content.

Use the Windows Installer CleanUp Utility instead as it will properly unregister files.

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Stay clear of that tool if you really don't need it, see superuser.com/questions/173981/… why... – Tom Wijsman Aug 18 '10 at 11:15
This utility doesn't work for Windows 7. I am unable to find the latest version that works for Windows 7. I've tried 2 downloaded versions already. – MacGyver Feb 6 at 18:02
@Mr.MacGyver: Did you run it as administrator? Because it works for me, even on Windows 8... – Tom Wijsman Feb 6 at 18:13
probably not.. I'll try that. – MacGyver Feb 6 at 18:20
I also found this won't work for Windows 7, and I can't find any way to address this for Windows 7. I have that folder taking up 9 GB of my 112 GB SSD boot volume - vexing. – Slaggg Mar 3 at 20:05
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up vote 4 down vote

You can safely compress C:\Windows\Installer if you want to.

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if you do, will the uninstall or repair options still work in Programs and Features in Windows 7? – MacGyver Feb 6 at 18:03
@Mr.MacGyver: Yes, they will. – Tom Wijsman Mar 3 at 20:10
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