[vikram_d]

DotNet is to be blamed for multiple copies of DLL's.

[amitoj]

Originally Posted by vikram_d

DotNet is to be blamed for multiple copies of DLL's.

It should be renamed DontNet. hehe.

[vikram_d]

. Have to agree with that. Having just the latest DLL used to work out so much better than having all the old ones.

Edit: Just found out that the size of the winsxs foldr is 8.25gb on my system. What a waste of hard disk space.

Edit 2: Taken from the link posted by you. Found it a little confusing.

"There have been several blogs and even some “underground” tools that tell you it’s ok to delete the WinSxS directory, and it’s certainly true that after installation, you can remove it from the system and it will appear that the system boots and runs fine. But as described above, this is a very bad practice, as you’re removing the ability to reliably service, all operating system components and the ability to update or configure optional components on your system. Windows Vista only supports the WinSxS directory on the physical drive in its originally installed location. The risks far outweigh the gains removing it or relocating it from the system, given the data described above."

[amitoj]

Originally Posted by vikram_d

Edit 2: Taken from the link posted by you. Found it a little confusing.

"There have been several blogs and even some “underground” tools that tell you it’s ok to delete the WinSxS directory, and it’s certainly true that after installation, you can remove it from the system and it will appear that the system boots and runs fine. But as described above, this is a very bad practice, as you’re removing the ability to reliably service, all operating system components and the ability to update or configure optional components on your system. Windows Vista only supports the WinSxS directory on the physical drive in its originally installed location. The risks far outweigh the gains removing it or relocating it from the system, given the data described above."

It is meant to be confusing.
I referred the website only to find out what that folder is supposed to be doing. I dont think it is the best place for a solution though.

[vikram_d]

Another thing that I have not understood about this folder is that why is it there in the first place? All the installers for any software always carry all the required support DLL's anyways. Sheer stupidity.

[amitoj]

It is like a ticking time bomb, isnt it? Unless you freeze all software installations, over a period of time this folder will bloat up and cause pain.

[vikram_d]

It most certainly is. Unles MS comes up with a utility to clean it up every once in a while. Luckily I still have 119Gb free on my drive.

Shall monitor the size of this folder from now on.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by amitoj

It is like a ticking time bomb, isnt it? Unless you freeze all software installations, over a period of time this folder will bloat up and cause pain.

This is a feature Gateway Inc would have loved. In the 90s there used to be PC maker in USA called Gateway, they folded few years back. The made good PCs, but they had a crazy warranty clause. If you install any third party software in the PC, your warranty gets void.

[anupmathur]

Originally Posted by Samurai

In the 90s there used to be PC maker in USA called Gateway, they folded few years back.

Samurai, are you sure?
They still have their websites and data in place.
The last time I recommended this brand of laptop and the person bought it, was in 2004.

[vikram_d]

Originally Posted by anupmathur

Samurai, are you sure?
They still have their websites and data in place.
The last time I recommended this brand and the person bought it, was in 2004.

True. They seem to have a fully functioning website and a complete range of products.

[anupmathur]

Originally Posted by vikram_d

True. They seem to have a fully functioning website and a complete range of products.

Actually, much like Dell and perhaps better, this company gave amazing value for money. Gateway has been big in the US.

[Samurai]

Hmm, did some googling...

Looks like Acer bought them breathed new life into the company, the brand name of Gateway was quite well known.

But see below, my memory was right:

Gateway struggled after the dot-com bust and tried several strategies to return to profitability, including withdrawal from international markets, reduction in the number of retail stores and most significantly, entering the consumer electronics business. However, none of these efforts were particularly successful from a financial standpoint, and Gateway continued to suffer major losses as well as market share in the PC business. By April 1, 2004, Gateway had announced that it would shut down its 188 remaining stores.

Source: Gateway, Inc. - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Originally Posted by anupmathur

Actually, much like Dell and perhaps better, this company gave amazing value for money. Gateway has been big in the US.

Oh, there is no comparison. DELL sales/service/technology experience was always head and shoulders above every other PC/Server vendor. Gateway was always a nightmare after buying. Of course, all my experience is before 2004.

Ok, let's get back to Vista.

[vivekiny2k]

why do you need to install programs on a different partition, any specific reasons? User data i understand, which can be recovered if OS crashes.

@ anupmathur, You pretty much repeated what I said, so I assume we are in a greement.

if I understand "system restore" right, i.e. restoring to a previous point, say 2 days earlier, then it is not.

it is just like what you would do with an install DVD/CD. reinstall windows afresh.

Vivek, that recovery partition does not do the job of 'Go Back'. It is meant only for full recovery of the system drive. Also, if a driver goes missing or gets corrupted, Windows will automatically fetch it from there. Any OEM programs that need it, will also get re-installed from that partition.

[anupmathur]

Originally Posted by vivekiny2k

why do you need to install programs on a different partition, any specific reasons? User data i understand, which can be recovered if OS crashes.

@ anupmathur, You pretty much repeated what I said, so I assume we are in a greement.

To answer the second part first: Yes, Vivek, I'm in agreement if the purpose of the partition is system restore and recovery of lost/corrupted drivers etc..

Installing programs in another drive is something I do as a routine. Reason? To keep drive C lean & mean. Much smaller image files and much faster recovery if required.

[given2fly]

@Anup

To me, this looks like an ancient practice when the HDDs were not bigger than a few gigs. Nowadays, with Terabyte hdds, you don't need to do it. Earlier, we needed space on C Drive to manage page file & create memory dump file in case of BSOD which was used for debugging, & that is why you needed so much space on C drive. Remember, you can only make a kernel dump as long as you have page file on C drive, not any other drive.

Also, as long as you are saving the data on the same platter of the HDD, it doesn't matter where you are saving the data. It is going to go through the same I/O pipe & doesn't make much difference. The only performance gain happens when you start using Raid-0 for O/S (boot/system) partition & add multiple disks to open multiple read/write channels.

As for those who are asking why WinSxS folder is so big, here is an explanation from an Senior Microsoft Escalation Engineer :

Ask the Core Team : What is the WINSXS directory in Windows 2008 and Windows Vista and why is it so large?

I hope that they will appreciate this functionality of not requiring the installation disk time and time again whenever you want to install/uninstall a feature or any program that may cause a compatibility issue. This feature is here to stay, until they redesign it some other way.