Installer directory structure on Windows
Installer directory structure on Windows
I tried to figure out what eats away my precious c:\ storage and found the Windows folder to be almost 113Gb, in there is a folder called "Installer" that is 80Gb in size. I followed THIS question on the microsoft folder and cleaned up the WinSxS folder but that didn't change the installer folder in any way. Can't find anything on that, since all that is covered is "do a WinSxS Cleanup" but that does not change the huge installer folder. Maybe someone has some more information on this and is willing to share
This process is required for Windows to remove applications. Certain poorly constructed large programs mistakenly treat their entire installer as the uninstaller, rather than a compact version without the full content.
Thank you for your input. @fuzz0r I attempted Disk Cleanup and everything else as well, following the instructions in the link I shared with @Kilrah. From several Microsoft articles, it seemed that many of these files were likely orphaned and Windows doesn’t have an internal tool to remove them automatically. About the size... you’re correct, the file size was quite large. @SimplyChunk mentioned this in their response and it resolved the issue. I was fortunate to discover a workaround: moving all orphaned installers to a backup folder on my internal HDD just in case. That freed up 60GB! It looks like a Windows internal utility should be the solution. https://www.homedev.com.au/Free/PatchCleaner
It's worth noting, that's helpful. I've checked that folder several times before, but I haven't found anything substantial outside of the installed programs. Each of my three systems only showed a few hundred MB, mostly from the same two apps that seem to be causing issues. It looks like it's not common, but if you're unlucky with a big app that doesn't clean up properly and leaves large updates, it could grow quite quickly.