How to Reduce the Size of the C:\Windows\WinSxS\ Folder?

Hi Swordfishx86

Swordfishx86 said:

What is your goal? Why are you so concerned about the size of the Component Store?

I was my C: drive to be small, so when I create a System Image of it, it wil also be small.
That's why I prefer to get rid of anything that Windows can live well without.

Swordfishx86 said:

Have you run
Dism.exe /online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup /ResetBase
and
Dism.exe /online /Cleanup-Image /SPSuperseded
?

/ResetBase: yes
/SPSuperseded: No, since I did not have any SP installed..
Just in case, I did run it now, and:

Swordfishx86 said:

What is the output of
dism /online /cleanup-image /analyzecomponentstore
?

Same as before:

spaceman5 said:

That's why I prefer to get rid of anything that Windows can live well without.

Well with 1.7 GB you certainly reached that point.

PS: you should probably stop posting text as pictures. post text when it's text.

Swordfishx86 said:

Well with 1.7 GB you certainly reached that point.

Swordfishx86 said:

PS: you should probably stop posting text as pictures. post text when it's text.

Why? What's so bad with a screenshot?
Sometimes when you copy and paste text to a forum, If the Width of the Target is different than the Width of the source,
then lines tend to break, and it looks bad and much less readable..
With a screnshot this can't happen..

Text is searchable, pictures are not.
Text is lean, pictures are bloat.
If you're concerned with layout put it in Code-Tags ([c]text[/c]).

spaceman5 said:

I was my C: drive to be small, so when I create a System Image of it, it wil also be small.
That's why I prefer to get rid of anything that Windows can live well without.

Most folks on here use Macrium Reflect (free), but I much prefer the AcronisBootablePEMedia.iso of Acronis True Image because the latter lets me specify which files and/or folders I want to be excluded from the image that I want to create. Granted, Macrium also gives you that option. However, with Macrium, this can only be achieved through editing the Windows registry so it is tedious, and, also with Macrium, it can only be achieved if you choose to create a live Windows image (live = while Windows is actively running on the system). Live image creation is not necessarily always without problems. For one, Macrium uses the VSS, which requires the System Reserved partition to be kept present, just like the annoying Bitlocker feature of Windows also requires this same partition. Whereas the aforementioned bootable ISO from Acronis still works, regardless of whether this partition was eliminated for the fact that it, too, can be described as bloat. (Even, if it depends on your own personal definition of the word 'bloat'.)

That being said, if speed is your only goal, then, if you haven't already, you might want to read up on how it also is possible for the DISM command in the WinRE environment to be used to create FFU images. (Personally, I, don't use the FFU because booting into Acronis lets me specify exclusions like I previously explained, and also because it adds on flexibility by giving the option to trade some speed for the benefit of choosing to use data compression.) Also note that it is possible for the WinRE partition to be eliminated, and that it is possible to create a separate WinRE bootable ISO─which you can then boot straight into after you put it on the same USB flash drive that you also use for ALL of your other bootable ISOs by using Ventoy. Ventoy also makes it possible to store personal data on this same USB flash drive so, for example, various portable apps, tools and utilities can be kept outside the ISO file, which can help to save more valuable time as it eliminates the need to rebuild the ISO each time after such an app receives another version update yet again.

On a side note, I keep hearing various many complaints from people who have experienced troubles after they had installed Acronis True Image, but you don't have to choose to actually INSTALL the thing, when the whole purpose of the discussion was to avoid unnecessary installs anyway in the first place. Just stick to the bootable ISO of Acronis, lean back, and relax. Not too long ago, in another thread there was this person who was worrying over the fact that Acronis likes to shuffle Windows partitions around. The best possible medicine against that kind of complaint, is to just go ahead and throw both the System Reserved partition and the WinRE partition off of the storage device altogether. That is, from a real technical point of view.

hdmi said:

Most folks on here use Macrium Reflect (free), but I much prefer the AcronisBootablePEMedia.iso of Acronis True Image

Do Acronis let you download that ISO from them,
or you need to download the installer of the program, install the program, and only then generate the ISO?


Regarding Ventoy:

Ventoy is an open source tool to create bootable USB drive for ISO/WIM/IMG/VHD(x)/EFI files.
With ventoy, you don't need to format the disk over and over, you just need to copy the ISO/WIM/IMG/VHD(x)/EFI files to the USB drive and boot them directly.

Wow, sounds amazing.. definitely different from the well known approach..
Thank you for this recommendation.. I will download it.

hdmi said:

Not too long ago, in another thread there was this person who was worrying over the fact that Acronis likes to shuffle Windows partitions around. The best possible medicine against that kind of complaint, is to just go ahead and throw both the System Reserved partition and the WinRE partition off of the storage device altogether. That is, from a real technical point of view.

Of course.
Getting rid of the unneeded partitions was one of the first things I did when got this laptop.
But in C:\Recovery\Customizations\ I still got a 3.61GB file, called USMT.ppkg..




I would really like to get rid of that file, if possible.
WinRE is already disabled, as indicated by reagentc /info.

The AcronisBootablePEMedia.iso file can be created by choosing the Rescue Media Builder menu option from the Tools menu of True Image 2021:
Acronis True Image 2021: how to create bootable media | Knowledge Base
Alternatively, it can also be created by using the Acronis Universal Restore Boot Media Builder, the installation package of which can be downloaded from here:
http://dl2.acronis.com/u/AcronisTrue...1_ur_en-US.msi
I suppose you will need a licensed copy of True Image 2021 for that to work, as these two Media Builder options let you create a WinRE/WinPE based ISO that is going to be your best option. Even so, there also exists a Linux based version of the bootable ISO, which does work without having a license, and that can be downloaded from here:
http://download.acronis.com/AcronisTrueImage2021.iso
...or here:
http://dl.acronis.com/s/AcronisTrueImage2021_39184.iso
With the Linux based bootable ISO if the UI freezes soon after you click on a menu item, then unplugging the ethernet cable before you boot into this ISO can help to fix this.

C:\Recovery\Customizations\USMT.ppkg is created by the ScanState command that is used with the User State Migration Tool (USMT) that is part of the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK).
Here's the short version of what it means:
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...5-62c753b8a085
Long version, see the second to last row in the table shown here:
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/win...customizations
...and then go here:
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/win...anstate-syntax

So here's how to get back the WinRE.wim file after you held the wrong belief that you would never be able to get it back.

First, start by grabbing the Windows 10 Installation ISO that correctly matches each of the various parameters that make the distinction of what Windows 10 you have installed (edition, version, bitness, and language), like so:
Download Windows 10 ISO File
Next, just follow these simple steps:
How to Extract Files from Windows 10 ISO or DVD (Install.wim) - Winhelponline
All set and done. Next question, please.

- - - Updated - - -

As for creating your own custom provisioning package, if you really want to go that far, then you might also be interested in this stuff:
Factory recovery - Create a Custom Recovery Partition
The main takeaway for anyone who just wants to debloat? You don't actually even need the WinRE in any way at all, as you can just boot into the Windows 10 Installation ISO with Ventoy, after which you will be able to do everything that's possible with the WinRE, plus more─lots more.