Get rid of unnecessary language files and folders

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bitcoin
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Joined: Sun Dec 31, 2017 6:32 pm

Get rid of unnecessary language files and folders

#1 Post by bitcoin »

I found this interesting, says he got rid of 1.5 GB of useless files:


Blex's Simple Seven-Step Guide to Deleting the Useless Foreign Language Files in the Windows 7 C:\Windows Directory and Sub-Directories

http://www.blex.org/deletingguide.html
Here are the simple 7 steps:

Some notes before I get started:

I completed this guide on an AMD 64-bit system. Obviously, Intel based systems will have the same foreign language files but the first part of the folder and file names will not start with or contain the letters AMD64. Also, if you are NOT confident doing this, just leave this page. Hard drives (other than solid-state ones) are so huge now that not deleting the files won't present a problem. But, if you're anal about useless crap being on your hard drive (like I am) continue on.

1: Before going on the deleting spree, you MUST download and install TWO COMPLETELY FREE programs Explorer++ and Unlocker.

2: Once installed, run Explorer++, use the details view method, and (using this folder as an example, you are free to start in the root directory) navigate to the C:\Windows\winsxs directory (looked upon by many as the most fearful folder to mess with in the Windows directory).

3: Click Tools and then Search in the menu bar (wow, I devoted an entire step to two clicks).

4: Almost all useless non-English files contain a two-character letter combination. To locate the useless foreign language files, I use the two-letter combination which hunts down all the Chinese files and consequently brings you to your starting point. Therefore, in the filename field type in (WITH the *s included) *zh* and click search.

5: You will get a list of folders and files in the search results.

Right-click on one of the lines and then left-click and select the Open Folder Location option. You will then see a gigantic list of folders containing the same folder name but with these different charactersat the end:

ar-SA, bg-BG, cs-CZ, da-DK, de-DE, el-GR, en-US, es-ES, et-EE, fi-FI, fr-FR, he-IL, hr-HR, hu-HU, it-IT, ja-JP, ko-KR, lt-LT, lv-LV, nb-NO, nl-NL, pl-PL, pt-BR, pt-PT, ro-RO, ru-RU, sk-SK, sl-SI, sr-Latn-CS, sv-SE, th-TH, tr-TR, uk-UA, zh-CN, zh-HK, zh-TW

6: Highlight all of the folders and/or files but be certain to UNSELECT the ones containing the characters EN and/or EN-US. Then right click on one of the selected folders, left-click Unlocker, then select the delete option.

7: Repeat over and over again until all the folders and files are gone. Watch as the useless files and folders are deleted off the hard drive !!!

Here are the folders and all sub-folders therein that contain the language files safe to delete.

C:\Boot
C:\Windows\BitLockerDiscoveryVolumeContents
C:\Windows\Boot
C:\Windows\servicing\Packages
C:\Windows\System32
C:\Windows\SysWOW64
C:\Windows\winsxs
C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download

There is no need to delete the files individually in this directly. The entire folder is safe to delete. Why? It only contains the files downloaded when Microsoft Updates are downloaded. Useless! How often do you need to uninstall a service pack? Never! Keep the folder itself but select all the folders and files in there and delete them all. After a format, SP1 update, and all Windows updates downloaded, the total size and file count I had (it will vary in size depending on what options you select when installing windows) was 80,573 files totalling 1,535,490,111 bytes !!! DELETE !!!

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