SP2 is TOO BIG TO DOWNLOAD -- where can I save space?

[Frank D. Nicodem, Jr.]

My automatic download of SP2 started this morning -- and completely wiped
out the 600MB of free space I had left on my C: drive! I was rather
started, since the only information I had from the Microsoft Web site was
that this was a 233MB download. However, after some searching around the
Microsoft site this morning, I found the following statement:
What to Expect
Hard disk space: You need at least 1.8 gigabytes (GB) of free space on your
hard disk.

Say *WHAT*??? 1.8GB???? What the *heck* is in this thing, anyway? I don't
HAVE 1.8GB of free space left. So that brings up three questions:

1) Is there any way to do this update "in steps", so that it doesn't require
all that space at once?
2) Is there any way to use another drive/partition for this download, rather
than C:?
3) What can I "clean up", that would give me more space? How many of these
files (and files from past updates) are "temporary", and are just saved on
C: for possible future reference?

Here are examples of directories that have *tons* of files, and take up huge
amounts of space. I'm wondering what they are, and if they can be removed.
(I've had my XP system for two years, and have been doing regular updates
that entire time. I suspect that's why I have do much "lying around"...)

C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution -- 6 folders, over 650MB of space!! (and
this is where the SP2 download is currently downloading, it seems)
C:\Windows\Installer -- 193 folders, almost 200MB
C:\Windows\ServicePackFiles\I386 -- over 1100 files, 260MB
C:\Windows\$NtUninstall* -- 56 folders, mostly small but some are many MB
C:\Windows\Downloaded Installations -- 3 folders, over 40MB

Are there any other areas I should look into? How about my
C:\Windows\System32 folder? Just in that folder alone there are almost 3000
files, totalling almost 500MB!!! Is there any way to "clean out" ones that
aren't needed any more?

I believe that there are a LOT of files that have accumulated over two
years -- and ones which simply aren't needed. I've always done all of the
"normal" maintenance to keep my drives clean, but now I apparently need some
*significant* help. ALL SUGGESTIONS ARE WELCOME.

 

[John Thomas Smith]

Hard disk space: You need at least 1.8 gigabytes (GB) of free space on your
hard disk.

The file is compressed, you need room for the file, the uncompressed
file, and the work files (this will vary, but very often updates also
create backup files in case the update fails, then deletes the backup
or temporary files once the update is complete)

If you can wait a bit, you may order on CD
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/updates/sp2/cdorder/en_us/default.mspx


John Thomas Smith
http://www.direct2usales.com
http://www.pacifier.com/~jtsmith

 

[frodo]

My automatic download of SP2 started this morning -- and completely wiped
out the 600MB of free space I had left on my C: drive! I was rather
started, since the only information I had from the Microsoft Web site was
that this was a 233MB download. However, after some searching around the
Microsoft site this morning, I found the following statement:
What to Expect
Hard disk space: You need at least 1.8 gigabytes (GB) of free space on your
hard disk.

well, you read right, you had better have at least 2 GB of free space. I
realize that sounds like a lot, but in todays world of $50 80GB hard
drives that's only a little. If this is truely a problem, I'd suggest you
don't need SP2 - just wait until your next computer comes w/ it already
installed.

The SP2 installer itself is around 200-300 Meg, in a compressed file. It
unpacks itself to a temp folder to run (on a different disk if possible),
that takes almost 500 MB. It makes a backup/uninstall of everything
before it begins, that takes up about 500 MB. Then it makes a System
Restore Point, that takes up about 300 MB. Then it installs itself, that
takes about 200 MB more than the stuff it replaces. And then it leaves a
copy of itself on the HD so that it can be accessed if/when you run sfc or
add/remove windows components sometime in the future. Plus there's
another copy of the critical DLLs in the dllcache folder too. Finally it
deletes the temp install directory. So, when you're all done your HD will
have about 2 GB less free space, until you delete the uninstall directory
(assuming you're happy and feel you won't ever want to uninstall the
beast).

In prep for SP2, run Disk Cleanup, and use its options to remove excess
system restore points. Delete/uninstall any unused programs, and archive
to cd-r any large downloads, music, and videos that you can to free up
space. I would recommend AT LEAST 2 GB of free space on the windows
partition, plus another partition w/ at least 1 GB avail to hold the
install run-time if possible. [Side note: if your disks are getting close
to 70% full then they are exacting a performance hit that you should be
concerned about].

#1 bit of advice for SP2:
-------------------------

DONT BE IN A HURRY!! SOMEDAY YOU'll HAVE SP2, BUT IT DOESN'T NEED TO BE
TODAY. REALLY! IT'S NOT THAT WONDERFUL, YOU CAN GO ON FOR MONTHS WITHOUT
IT. YOU WILL BE HAPPY WITHOUT IT! BUY A NEW DRESS INSTEAD!

IF YOU MUST PLUNGE, BE SURE TO: disable any 3rd party firewall before
running the install. If you're connected to broadband, disconnect it
during the sp2 install process (press cable modem's standby buttion, or
unplug the lan wire).

Run AV and spyware scanners to ensure your system is not compromised in
any way.

Also disable as many startup items as you can, especially AntiVirus stuff;
don't use msconfig to do this, use the individual program's options
feature, or get Mark Lin's Startup control panel. Reboot several times to
make sure your system boots as cleanly as possible, w/ no extraneous
things running. The system tray should be empty except for the clock and
volume control, and task manager should show only the minimal number of
process running after a reboot (about 20 or so on a typical system).

And make sure the Server and Workstation services are running, just to be
safe. If they are not, install the File and Printer Sharing layer in
Network connections (but don't bind it), you can uninstall it again after
the upgrade.

Give yourself 2 hours to do this task (prep, install, checkout/retweak),
and w/ a little luck it'll go smoothly. For the most part the upgrade
preserves your user preference settings, I only found about half a dozen
things that were "reset to their defaults" by the upgrade. Things in the
Startup folder were most effected, their pif files were reset and needed
tweaking. And review your services and IE settings, there are several new
things you should become familiar with. Exercise all the system tools and
your programs to make sure they still work. Pay attention to/review all
the settings/info in My Computer | Properties and My Computer | Manage.

If performance seems sluggish, don't blame SP2, blame the after-effects of
the upgrade process. Give it time to gel, for the boot-time-defrag to
kick in, and for the HD to optimize. After several reboots and a couple
of days of satisfactory operation run disk cleanup again to get rid of
junk, review your services settings to keeps unneccessary things in
"manual" startup, and rerun the disk defrag. Performance should return to
normal. [Some have said SP2 is "much faster". I have not noticed that,
but it is definately not slower. Boot-up and shutdown are as snappy as
ever now that it has settled.]

Good Luck to all brave souls...

================

My observation since installing it: not much different really, in everyday
use you don't notice much other than the IE popup blocker and new IE "info
bar". [Mozilla is still better]. I do not use Outlook Express, which did
have many things changed, so if you use that you'll notice a lot more than
I did [again, Mozilla Mail is better]. But for the most part it's little
changed after all the brew-ha-ha. The new firewall is improved [but ZA is
still better; stick w/ ZA 4.5.594.000 Personal for home users, ZA 5 is
still more trouble than it's worth].

 

[Donald McDaniel]

My automatic download of SP2 started this morning -- and completely wiped
out the 600MB of free space I had left on my C: drive! I was rather
started, since the only information I had from the Microsoft Web site was
that this was a 233MB download. However, after some searching around the
Microsoft site this morning, I found the following statement:
What to Expect
Hard disk space: You need at least 1.8 gigabytes (GB) of free space on your
hard disk.

Say *WHAT*??? 1.8GB???? What the *heck* is in this thing, anyway? I don't
HAVE 1.8GB of free space left. So that brings up three questions:

1) Is there any way to do this update "in steps", so that it doesn't require
all that space at once?
2) Is there any way to use another drive/partition for this download, rather
than C:?
3) What can I "clean up", that would give me more space? How many of these
files (and files from past updates) are "temporary", and are just saved on
C: for possible future reference?

Here are examples of directories that have *tons* of files, and take up huge
amounts of space. I'm wondering what they are, and if they can be removed.
(I've had my XP system for two years, and have been doing regular updates
that entire time. I suspect that's why I have do much "lying around"...)

C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution -- 6 folders, over 650MB of space!! (and
this is where the SP2 download is currently downloading, it seems)
C:\Windows\Installer -- 193 folders, almost 200MB
C:\Windows\ServicePackFiles\I386 -- over 1100 files, 260MB
C:\Windows\$NtUninstall* -- 56 folders, mostly small but some are many MB
C:\Windows\Downloaded Installations -- 3 folders, over 40MB

Are there any other areas I should look into? How about my
C:\Windows\System32 folder? Just in that folder alone there are almost 3000
files, totalling almost 500MB!!! Is there any way to "clean out" ones that
aren't needed any more?

I believe that there are a LOT of files that have accumulated over two
years -- and ones which simply aren't needed. I've always done all of the
"normal" maintenance to keep my drives clean, but now I apparently need some
*significant* help. ALL SUGGESTIONS ARE WELCOME.

This is my suggestion: If you're looking for space in 40mb chunks,
you definitely need a new, bigger HD. Hard drives are cheap these
days.

XP was not created for 2gig hard drives, it was created for 40gig+
hard drives.

By the way, the reason SP2 needs at least 1.8gig free space is that it
is delivered in compressed form, and needs the space to uncompress the
installation files. It also needs the space for copying, moving, and
deleting other files. It needs space for backing up your current
system files. It needs SPACE.

Donald L McDaniel
Keep the thread intact
Post reply to original newsgroup
=======================================================

 

[frodo]

Here are examples of directories that have *tons* of files, and take up huge
The above dir you DO NOT want to delete, it's where the system looks for
"original files" when you do an SFC command, or run the Add/Remove Windows
Components tool. SP2 will backup this dir and place its own originals
here.

these you can delete, they're the uninstall info for all the hotfixes
you've downloaded from winupdate over the years. the SP2 install will
delete these, you can delete them yourself before the download. there's
also a tool that makes this easier:

http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_hotfix_backup.htm