Can I delete these folders?

[bill p]

Hi
Using WinXP SP3
There are a couple of folders in C/windows named "Downloaded Programs" and
"Downloaded Installations". They are mainly .msi and .dll files . Can these
be deleted? They seem to relate to stuff I have downloaded and tried in the
past and also free virus scans.
Regards Bill

[malke]

Bill P wrote:

> Hi
> Using WinXP SP3
> There are a couple of folders in C/windows named "Downloaded Programs" and
> "Downloaded Installations". They are mainly .msi and .dll files . Can
> these be deleted? They seem to relate to stuff I have downloaded and tried
> in the past and also free virus scans.
> Regards Bill

You can delete the *items* inside the folders if you are 100% sure you no
longer have the programs installed. Do not delete the *folders*.

Malke
--
MS-MVP
Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/#FAQ

[gurpreet singh]

You should not normally delete anything inside windows folder. Some of these
..msi's and dll's may be required by your installed applications. The windows
installer service keeps a copy of the installed msi files in the msi cache
and these files may be required along with the cache. Run the following
script to check if any of these msi files are associated with installed
applications. copy the following lines in a .vbs file and save it on your
desktop. then double click the vbs file to execute the script. it will create
a csv file readable in excel which will give you a list of all installed
applications, msi cache etc

On error resume next
Dim sComputerName,WMI_Obj,WMI_ObjProps,ObjClsItem
sComputerName=InputBox("Enter Computer Name: . for local computer
","Select target computer",".")
If Len(Trim(sComputerName)) = 0 Then sComputerName = "."
Set WMI_Obj = GetObject("winmgmts:\\" & sComputerName & "\root\cimv2")
Set WMI_ObjProps = WMI_Obj.ExecQuery("Select * from Win32_Product", , 48)

Set filesys = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
Set results = filesys.CreateTextFile("Win32_Product_output.csv")
results.writeline "AssignmentType, Caption, Description, HelpLink,
HelpTelephone, IdentifyingNumber, InstallDate, InstallDate2, InstallLocation,
InstallSource, InstallState, Language, LocalPackage, Name, PackageCache,
PackageCode, PackageName, ProductID, RegCompany, RegOwner, SKUNumber,
Transforms, URLInfoAbout, URLUpdateInfo, Vendor, Version, WordCount, "

For Each ObjClsItem in WMI_ObjProps
results.writeline ObjClsItem.AssignmentType & "," & ObjClsItem.Caption &
"," & ObjClsItem.Description & "," & ObjClsItem.HelpLink & "," &
ObjClsItem.HelpTelephone & "," & ObjClsItem.IdentifyingNumber & "," &
ObjClsItem.InstallDate & "," & ObjClsItem.InstallDate2 & "," &
ObjClsItem.InstallLocation & "," & ObjClsItem.InstallSource & "," &
ObjClsItem.InstallState & "," & ObjClsItem.Language & "," &
ObjClsItem.LocalPackage & "," & ObjClsItem.Name & "," &
ObjClsItem.PackageCache & "," & ObjClsItem.PackageCode & "," &
ObjClsItem.PackageName & "," & ObjClsItem.ProductID & "," &
ObjClsItem.RegCompany & "," & ObjClsItem.RegOwner & "," &
ObjClsItem.SKUNumber & "," & ObjClsItem.Transforms & "," &
ObjClsItem.URLInfoAbout & "," & ObjClsItem.URLUpdateInfo & "," &
ObjClsItem.Vendor & "," & ObjClsItem.Version & "," & ObjClsItem.WordCount &
"," & " "


Next

Wscript.Echo "Done ! Check Win32_Product_output.csv"
--
Regards
Gurpreet Singh


"Malke" wrote:

> Bill P wrote:
>
> > Hi
> > Using WinXP SP3
> > There are a couple of folders in C/windows named "Downloaded Programs" and
> > "Downloaded Installations". They are mainly .msi and .dll files . Can
> > these be deleted? They seem to relate to stuff I have downloaded and tried
> > in the past and also free virus scans.
> > Regards Bill
>
> You can delete the *items* inside the folders if you are 100% sure you no
> longer have the programs installed. Do not delete the *folders*.
>
> Malke
> --
> MS-MVP
> Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!
> http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/#FAQ
>
>

[don phillipson]

"Bill P" <BillP@nospam.invalid> wrote in message
news:%23ypcrelmJHA.1216@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

> Using WinXP SP3
> There are a couple of folders in C/windows named "Downloaded Programs" and
> "Downloaded Installations". They are mainly .msi and .dll files . Can
these
> be deleted? They seem to relate to stuff I have downloaded and tried in
the
> past and also free virus scans.

If in doubt, tidy your hard drive by a two-step process.
1. Make a new folder C:\Park and MOVE into it all these files.
Reboot and run as normal.
2. If you get any error messages "file not found" you can
probably tell whether they are trying to call files you have
relocated -- and you can put them back. But if you get no
error messages after running in a couple of weeks all the
apps you commonly use you can simply remove C:\Park
and all its contents.

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

[bill p]

"Malke" <malke@invalid.invalid> wrote in message
news:%23gAQeqmmJHA.504@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
> Bill P wrote:
>
>> Hi
>> Using WinXP SP3
>> There are a couple of folders in C/windows named "Downloaded Programs"
>> and
>> "Downloaded Installations". They are mainly .msi and .dll files . Can
>> these be deleted? They seem to relate to stuff I have downloaded and
>> tried
>> in the past and also free virus scans.
>> Regards Bill
>
> You can delete the *items* inside the folders if you are 100% sure you no
> longer have the programs installed. Do not delete the *folders*.
>
> Malke
> --
> MS-MVP
> Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!
> http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/#FAQ
>
>

Thanks Malke
As an example, in the "Downloaded Installations" there are a number of
sub-folders named eg {581DFC98-4745-4215-990E-081D7F86DDD0} inside which is
a single file "WinPatrol.msi".

I do have WinPatrol installed on my machine. Is it still necessary to retain
the .msi file?

Bill

[malke]

Bill P wrote:

>
> "Malke" <malke@invalid.invalid> wrote in message
> news:%23gAQeqmmJHA.504@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
>> Bill P wrote:
>>
>>> Hi
>>> Using WinXP SP3
>>> There are a couple of folders in C/windows named "Downloaded Programs"
>>> and
>>> "Downloaded Installations". They are mainly .msi and .dll files . Can
>>> these be deleted? They seem to relate to stuff I have downloaded and
>>> tried
>>> in the past and also free virus scans.
>>> Regards Bill
>>
>> You can delete the *items* inside the folders if you are 100% sure you no
>> longer have the programs installed. Do not delete the *folders*.
>>
>> Malke
>> --
>> MS-MVP
>> Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!
>> http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/#FAQ
>>
>>
>
> Thanks Malke
> As an example, in the "Downloaded Installations" there are a number of
> sub-folders named eg {581DFC98-4745-4215-990E-081D7F86DDD0} inside which
> is a single file "WinPatrol.msi".
>
> I do have WinPatrol installed on my machine. Is it still necessary to
> retain the .msi file?

As I said:

>>You can delete the *items* inside the folders if you are 100% sure you no
>> longer have the programs installed. Do not delete the *folders*.

So if you don't have WinPatrol any more (you properly uninstalled it), then
you can safely delete the entry.

Malke
--
MS-MVP
Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/#FAQ

[anthony buckland]

"Bill P" <BillP@nospam.invalid> wrote in message
news:%23ypcrelmJHA.1216@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
> Hi
> Using WinXP SP3
> There are a couple of folders in C/windows named "Downloaded Programs" and
> "Downloaded Installations". They are mainly .msi and .dll files . Can
> these be deleted? They seem to relate to stuff I have downloaded and tried
> in the past and also free virus scans.
> Regards Bill

I presume in at least some cases you paid good money for
these installation files. If there's any doubt, such as whether
you will ever want to use the software in the future, or such
as whether you really truly know what the software is, why
get rid of it? Disk space is cheap. MHO.

[bill p]

"Don Phillipson" <e925@SPAMBLOCK.ncf.ca> wrote in message
news:%23U2q54omJHA.1172@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
> "Bill P" <BillP@nospam.invalid> wrote in message
> news:%23ypcrelmJHA.1216@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
>
>> Using WinXP SP3
>> There are a couple of folders in C/windows named "Downloaded Programs"
>> and
>> "Downloaded Installations". They are mainly .msi and .dll files . Can
> these
>> be deleted? They seem to relate to stuff I have downloaded and tried in
> the
>> past and also free virus scans.
>
> If in doubt, tidy your hard drive by a two-step process.
> 1. Make a new folder C:\Park and MOVE into it all these files.
> Reboot and run as normal.
> 2. If you get any error messages "file not found" you can
> probably tell whether they are trying to call files you have
> relocated -- and you can put them back. But if you get no
> error messages after running in a couple of weeks all the
> apps you commonly use you can simply remove C:\Park
> and all its contents.
>
> --
> Don Phillipson
> Carlsbad Springs
> (Ottawa, Canada)
>
>
>

Thanks Don, I'll do that.
Regards Bill

[bill p]

Thanks Gurpreet but that is far far too complicated for me .
Regards Bill




"Gurpreet Singh" <GurpreetSingh@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:75103E17-D189-4F54-B39B-94E33A4AA4AB@microsoft.com...
> You should not normally delete anything inside windows folder. Some of
> these
> .msi's and dll's may be required by your installed applications. The
> windows
> installer service keeps a copy of the installed msi files in the msi cache
> and these files may be required along with the cache. Run the following
> script to check if any of these msi files are associated with installed
> applications. copy the following lines in a .vbs file and save it on your
> desktop. then double click the vbs file to execute the script. it will
> create
> a csv file readable in excel which will give you a list of all installed
> applications, msi cache etc
>
> On error resume next
> Dim sComputerName,WMI_Obj,WMI_ObjProps,ObjClsItem
> sComputerName=InputBox("Enter Computer Name: . for local computer
> ","Select target computer",".")
> If Len(Trim(sComputerName)) = 0 Then sComputerName = "."
> Set WMI_Obj = GetObject("winmgmts:\\" & sComputerName & "\root\cimv2")
> Set WMI_ObjProps = WMI_Obj.ExecQuery("Select * from Win32_Product", ,
> 48)
>
> Set filesys = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
> Set results = filesys.CreateTextFile("Win32_Product_output.csv")
> results.writeline "AssignmentType, Caption, Description, HelpLink,
> HelpTelephone, IdentifyingNumber, InstallDate, InstallDate2,
> InstallLocation,
> InstallSource, InstallState, Language, LocalPackage, Name, PackageCache,
> PackageCode, PackageName, ProductID, RegCompany, RegOwner, SKUNumber,
> Transforms, URLInfoAbout, URLUpdateInfo, Vendor, Version, WordCount, "
>
> For Each ObjClsItem in WMI_ObjProps
> results.writeline ObjClsItem.AssignmentType & "," & ObjClsItem.Caption &
> "," & ObjClsItem.Description & "," & ObjClsItem.HelpLink & "," &
> ObjClsItem.HelpTelephone & "," & ObjClsItem.IdentifyingNumber & "," &
> ObjClsItem.InstallDate & "," & ObjClsItem.InstallDate2 & "," &
> ObjClsItem.InstallLocation & "," & ObjClsItem.InstallSource & "," &
> ObjClsItem.InstallState & "," & ObjClsItem.Language & "," &
> ObjClsItem.LocalPackage & "," & ObjClsItem.Name & "," &
> ObjClsItem.PackageCache & "," & ObjClsItem.PackageCode & "," &
> ObjClsItem.PackageName & "," & ObjClsItem.ProductID & "," &
> ObjClsItem.RegCompany & "," & ObjClsItem.RegOwner & "," &
> ObjClsItem.SKUNumber & "," & ObjClsItem.Transforms & "," &
> ObjClsItem.URLInfoAbout & "," & ObjClsItem.URLUpdateInfo & "," &
> ObjClsItem.Vendor & "," & ObjClsItem.Version & "," &
> ObjClsItem.WordCount &
> "," & " "
>
>
> Next
>
> Wscript.Echo "Done ! Check Win32_Product_output.csv"
> --
> Regards
> Gurpreet Singh
>
>
> "Malke" wrote:
>
>> Bill P wrote:
>>
>> > Hi
>> > Using WinXP SP3
>> > There are a couple of folders in C/windows named "Downloaded Programs"
>> > and
>> > "Downloaded Installations". They are mainly .msi and .dll files . Can
>> > these be deleted? They seem to relate to stuff I have downloaded and
>> > tried
>> > in the past and also free virus scans.
>> > Regards Bill
>>
>> You can delete the *items* inside the folders if you are 100% sure you no
>> longer have the programs installed. Do not delete the *folders*.
>>
>> Malke
>> --
>> MS-MVP
>> Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!
>> http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/#FAQ
>>
>>
>