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Thread ID: 39047 2003-10-25 23:21:00 Safe to remove John W (523) Press F1
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186584 2003-10-25 23:21:00 Hope you can assist .

When I choose to delete Window XP Hotfix SP (X . . . . ) I get a warning suggesting this will remove the Hotfix and restore the PC to a Previous Configuration . Naturally I want to retain the Service Pack changes, but want to start trimming down the 16 S/Packs at 20Mb a peice .

The same thing with Windows Media Player, Skin Importer, Tray Control, Playlist import to Excel, etc . .

Can I safly remove these Service Packs ?

Thanks in anticipation . . . .

John W
John W (523)
186585 2003-10-25 23:57:00 If you remove those Microsoft Hotfixes it means your computer will no longer have the patches required to fix security holes and other issues. Why would you want to remove all your updates? You normally only remove an individual patch if it has been causing problems with your system stability or performance.

>Naturally I want to retain the Service Pack changes

Well removing them via add/remove will lose them completely.

The XP Hotfixes are normally only 0.27 MB in size each, not 20 MB as you have stated. Are you trying to regain some hard drive space?
Jen C (20)
186586 2003-10-26 00:29:00 There is a tool available (www.dougknox.com) for removing Hotfix Backup files and the Add/Remove Programs Registry entries which may be what you are after. I have not used it myself so cannot offer any advice regarding it. Susan B (19)
186587 2003-10-26 09:01:00 Hello Susan & Jen

Well, there are 32 of these Hotfix's, each taking 20.18Mb or so. They will eventually take over the PC if I continue to leave Auto Update ON.

Naturally I want to take advantage of the Fixes, )I hoped removing them was similiar to removing a zipped file, once the Files had been unzipped) to reclaim some disk space.

Thanks John W
John W (523)
186588 2003-10-26 09:24:00 Hi John,

I am not sure where you are getting the figure of 20MB for each Hotfix from as none of mine are that large, but then I do not have auto update unabled, I download the updates manually. Not sure if that makes a difference or not but I cannot see how it could.

Anyway, other than creating a restore point, backing up your data and giving the utility I linked to a whirl I am unable to suggest anything else. If it all turns to custard you should be able to restore your computer back to how it was with the Restore feature.
Susan B (19)
186589 2003-10-26 10:12:00 The hotfix backup files are all the system files replaced by the updated files . They vary in size from 200 MB (SP1) down to a few KB in size . Most are under 1 MB .

You can remove them, as long as you never want to uninstall a hotfix .
To uninstall one, you would need to reinstall Windows in most cases, and start from fresh . Applying all the patches anew, and as you are using auto-update that means downloading everything again .

You would be wise to use a free removal tool available however, and backup everything important to you .

Personally, if you are using automatic updates, I would leave them .

You are not applying any rationale to the updates applied (leaving it to Bill Gates), but you want to apply a blanket rule to the removal of the ability to undo them? Its an unbalanced equation .
godfather (25)
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