Disk Cleanup is so slow after Windows Updates!

Discussion in 'other software & services' started by ArchiveX, Nov 11, 2014.

  1. ArchiveX

    ArchiveX Registered Member

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    Today, it is Patch Tuesday.
    I downloaded Windows Updates without any problem.
    I use Windows 8.1 x64.

    But when I run the Disk Cleanup Utility, it takes a lot of time to clean the Windows Updates!
    Almost 30 minutes!
    Every time, the same story.

    Do you face the same problem?
    I hope Microsoft will improve the Disk Cleanup Utility of Windows 10...
     

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  2. Masterblaster

    Masterblaster Registered Member

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    I never use the built in Windows file cleaner. There are a ton of free alternatives which work much better and are 10X faster. For example https://www.piriform.com/ccleaner
     
  3. Minimalist

    Minimalist Registered Member

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    CCleaner won't remove unneeded system update files.
    I have the same slow cleaning when removing those files. This problem started with Windows 8. Windows 7 would clean it faster but would perform the cleanup during restart...
     
  4. Robin A.

    Robin A. Registered Member

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    In my experience, Windows Cleaner is always very slow in Windows 8.1, much faster in Windows 7.

    And I think it may be not a good idea to use Windows Cleaner right after updating with Windows Update, because after the cleaning it may be impossible to uninstall problematic updates, if necessary.

    CCleaner is fast, but not comparable to Windows Cleaner. The latter can clean unnecessary Windows Updade files (when executed in Administrator mode), and this results in large amounts of disk spaced saved.
     
  5. Brian K

    Brian K Imaging Specialist

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    Yes. 15 minutes on a fast computer. Over 2 hours on a slow computer.
     
  6. allizomeniz

    allizomeniz Registered Member

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    If by "uneeded update files" you're talking about all the leftovers in the SoftwareDistribution>Download folder, you can simply add a custom inclusion in CCleaner and they're gone in seconds.
     
  7. Minimalist

    Minimalist Registered Member

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    No it's about WinSxS folder and you can't do it using CCleaner since you don't know which can be removed...
     
  8. anon

    anon Registered Member

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    Yes.
     
  9. ArchiveX

    ArchiveX Registered Member

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    Exactly!

    -After installing the Windows Updates, I used CCleaner (with Winapp2.ini) and rebooted my system.
    -Then, I used the Disk Cleanup Utility which found 160 MB (due to the Windows Update Cleanup)
    that CCleaner could Not clean!
    -Finally, the Disk Cleanup Utility spent almost 30' to finish.

    Microsoft needs to do something about it...
     
  10. roger_m

    roger_m Registered Member

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    While I've yet to run it in Windows 8, I do find the time it takes to do a cleanup annoying in Windows 7. But it should not be much of an issue on your own computer if you start cleaning when you're going to be away from your computer for a while. It is an issue when you're cleaning computers for others and don't want it to take forever.
     
  11. prius04

    prius04 Registered Member

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    Exactly, and that is why I use the command line options after updates, as outlined in the link below.

    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn251565.aspx
     
  12. Minimalist

    Minimalist Registered Member

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  13. prius04

    prius04 Registered Member

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    I believe you're correct in terms of the speed comparison between the two methods. I have SSDs in a couple of desktops so maybe that ameliorates the speed issue a bit.

    Regardless, when I use Disk cleanup and then the "Clean up system files" option, it doesn't seem to reduce the WinSxS folder a whole heck of a lot, if at all. Therefore, I use the command line with the /ResetBase option since doing so reduces the size of my WinSxS folder almost to the size it was prior to the updates. Of course, I do full images of my systems beforehand.
     
  14. Robin A.

    Robin A. Registered Member

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    The actual cleaning requieres a reboot.
     
  15. Minimalist

    Minimalist Registered Member

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    I tested cleanup after yesterday's updates and it removed 218 MB of data. The cleanup took 7 minutes on SSD.
     
  16. Minimalist

    Minimalist Registered Member

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    That true for Windows 7 but not for Windows 8 AFAIK.
     
  17. prius04

    prius04 Registered Member

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    Yep. I have 8.1 on desktops and a laptop with 7. Rebooting the desktops does nothing in terms of reducing the size of the WinSxS folder.
     
  18. ArchiveX

    ArchiveX Registered Member

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    No matter how many times I run the Disk Cleanup Utility and then reboot my system,
    the Disk Cleanup Utility will always find 9 MB when it comes to the Windows Update Cleanup!

    - What about you, guys?
     

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  19. Minimalist

    Minimalist Registered Member

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    I'm using Windows 8.1 x64 and don't experience that.
     
  20. TairikuOkami

    TairikuOkami Registered Member

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    Well, it is working as it is supposed to, calculating and checking, if all those files are not needed is not as an easy task. If you run it regularly, it does not take that much time. Just like you can not speed defragmentation, if you did not run it for months, it will take much more time either. I run dism command along with WiseCare, I believe, that it cleans "C:\Windows\Installer\$PatchCache$" and I can not complain, 10GB HDD usage for Windows is not that much, about 1GB other software. :cool:
     

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  21. ArchiveX

    ArchiveX Registered Member

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    Do you also run CCleaner with Winapp2.ini ?
     
  22. Minimalist

    Minimalist Registered Member

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    No, I use Ccleaner without winapp2.ini
     
  23. prius04

    prius04 Registered Member

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    @ArchiveX:

    Perhaps another member will chime in here, but it appears to me that you already have everything you need to create your own file.

    1) Open Notepad
    2) Copy Dism.exe /online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup /ResetBase and paste that line into Notepad.
    3) Save the file anywhere convenient on your PC with the .bat extension (e.g., name it something like "ResetBase.bat").
    4) When you want to run the file, right-click on the file and select "Run as administrator" from the dropdown.
     
  24. subhrobhandari

    subhrobhandari Registered Member

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    I got a BSOD while running cleanup (Driver IRQL Not Less Or Equal, the culprit in my case was ntoskrnl.exe+75BC0). Will try again and see what happens. The update cleanup was 1.53 GB before and right now its 817 MB.

    EDIT: Ran cleanup again, and this time it finished without any problem.
     
    Last edited: Nov 16, 2014
  25. Osaban

    Osaban Registered Member

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    Win 8 here, when I ran it the first time (no admin) it deleted 9MB, and it took a few minutes . The second time as 'admin', it deleted more than 1 GB (windows updates cleanup), but it took 50 minutes.
     
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