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safe to delete XP DLLCACHE folder?

P

Prissmas

Flightless Bird
hi folks,

this folder is taking a lot of space up on a limited HD.
DLLCACHE.

can I nuke it?

thanks
 
P

Pegasus [MVP]

Flightless Bird
"Prissmas" <ok@dokee.com> said this in news item
news:uxd5n.60146$Db2.25748@edtnps83...
> hi folks,
>
> this folder is taking a lot of space up on a limited HD.
> DLLCACHE.
>
> can I nuke it?
>
> thanks


I don't think you can and I don't think you should. Delete your .tmp and
..dmp files, move the paging file to a different partition or get a larger
disk. They cost surprisingly little.
 
W

waresoft

Flightless Bird
You can safely delete the files in the folder by opening a command
prompt and typing:

sfc.exe /purgecache

However, I do recommend against doing so.




--
waresoft
 
F

FrankV

Flightless Bird
I've done this quite a few times with no problem. Why do you recommend not
to do it?

Frank

"waresoft" <waresoft.59b5b49@pcbanter.net> wrote in message
news:waresoft.59b5b49@pcbanter.net...
>
> You can safely delete the files in the folder by opening a command
> prompt and typing:
>
> sfc.exe /purgecache
>
> However, I do recommend against doing so.
>
>
>
>
> --
> waresoft
 
J

John John - MVP

Flightless Bird
waresoft wrote:
> You can safely delete the files in the folder by opening a command
> prompt and typing:
>
> sfc.exe /purgecache
>
> However, I do recommend against doing so.


/Purgecache will purge the folder and then immediately scan for
protected files and repopulate the cache, you will be asked to supply
the source files. If you want to control the size of the cache you can
use the /Cachesize=x command, but there too one should be careful to not
overly restrict the size of the folder.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310747
Description of Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 System File Checker
(Sfc.exe)

John
 
W

waresoft

Flightless Bird
FrankV;3370686 Wrote:
> I've done this quite a few times with no problem. Why do you recommend
> not
> to do it?
>
> Frank
>
> "waresoft" waresoft.59b5b49@pcbanter.net wrote in message
> news:waresoft.59b5b49@pcbanter.net...-
>
> You can safely delete the files in the folder by opening a command
> prompt and typing:
>
> sfc.exe /purgecache
>
> However, I do recommend against doing so.
>
>
>
>
> --
> waresoft -


I recommend against doing so because this is your cache of safe system
files. Unless you repopulate the cache using sfc.exe /scannow you
won't have that.

Without it you are compromising your system stability. It can't grab
the good files from the cache to replace bad system files from
installations of poorly written software or uninstallers that remove
those necessary system files.




--
waresoft
 
W

waresoft

Flightless Bird
'John John - MVP[_2_ Wrote:
> ;3370705']waresoft wrote:-
> You can safely delete the files in the folder by opening a command
> prompt and typing:
>
> sfc.exe /purgecache
>
> However, I do recommend against doing so.-
>
> /Purgecache will purge the folder and then immediately scan for
> protected files and repopulate the cache, you will be asked to supply
> the source files. If you want to control the size of the cache you can
>
> use the /Cachesize=x command, but there too one should be careful to
> not
> overly restrict the size of the folder.
>
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310747
> Description of Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 System File Checker
> (Sfc.exe)
>
> John


It looks like I stand corrected. However in the end I still recommend
not deleting the files in the dllcache folder for the reasons I stated
above.




--
waresoft
 
J

Jose

Flightless Bird
On Jan 19, 10:00 am, John John - MVP <audetw...@nbnot.nb.ca> wrote:
> waresoft wrote:
> > You can safely delete the files in the folder by opening a command
> > prompt and typing:

>
> > sfc.exe /purgecache

>
> > However, I do recommend against doing so.

>
> /Purgecache will purge the folder and then immediately scan for
> protected files and repopulate the cache, you will be asked to supply
> the source files.  If you want to control the size of the cache you can
> use the /Cachesize=x command, but there too one should be careful to not
> overly restrict the size of the folder.
>
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310747
> Description of Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 System File Checker
> (Sfc.exe)
>
> John


I experimented, made a copy of my dllcache folder (about 370K), ran
sfc /purgecache which emptied the dllcache folder (nothing else
happened), then I deleted a Windows Protected File - taskmgr.exe and
it was replaced (from you know where) and a copy was also put in
dllcache so then there was just the one file in there. /purgecache
did not magically refill the folder it just emptied.

Then I ran sfc /scannow and the dllcache was repopulated without
incident, WFP still works.

Does anyone else get different results?

XP tries to keep your system happy, but f you keep tinkering trying to
do things to fix a problem like needing more disk space in some
"unnatural" way, you might regret it later.
 
J

John John - MVP

Flightless Bird
Jose wrote:
> On Jan 19, 10:00 am, John John - MVP <audetw...@nbnot.nb.ca> wrote:
>> waresoft wrote:
>>> You can safely delete the files in the folder by opening a command
>>> prompt and typing:
>>> sfc.exe /purgecache
>>> However, I do recommend against doing so.

>> /Purgecache will purge the folder and then immediately scan for
>> protected files and repopulate the cache, you will be asked to supply
>> the source files. If you want to control the size of the cache you can
>> use the /Cachesize=x command, but there too one should be careful to not
>> overly restrict the size of the folder.
>>
>> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310747
>> Description of Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 System File Checker
>> (Sfc.exe)
>>
>> John

>
> I experimented, made a copy of my dllcache folder (about 370K), ran
> sfc /purgecache which emptied the dllcache folder (nothing else
> happened), then I deleted a Windows Protected File - taskmgr.exe and
> it was replaced (from you know where) and a copy was also put in
> dllcache so then there was just the one file in there. /purgecache
> did not magically refill the folder it just emptied.


Indeed... it runs like you say on Windows XP. The information is a bit
dated, Windows 2000 asks for the Windows CD and rebuilds the cache,
Windows XP doesn't do this. But like you say, deleting the dll cache
might cause regrets later, and if SFC does nag for the Windows CD half
the folks won't even have one to give it, that is if they even had one
to begin with...

John
 
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