Improvements for the Hotfix uninstaller delete

[Provolino]

Hello,

I really like the CCleaner feature that deletes hotfix uninstallers, they are useless and waste hdd spaces.

 

I noticed that CCleaner doesn't delete all the folders used by hotfixes and more in general windows updates.

 

I think that it's safe to delete also uninstallers of wmp, ie, net framework and all folders starting with "$" like $hf_mig$ because they come with "WindowsUpdate" and they can be considered like hotfixes.

 

I think this behaviour can be applied on all updates / programs installed by WindowsUpdate website.

 

I always deleted them manually for years with no problems at all.

 

I can understand that not all users want to get rid the ability to return to ie6 or wmp10 (even if I don't see any good reason for that) so maybe it can be added as an option in the advanced section.

 

Thanks for the help

[JDPower]

all folders starting with "$" like $hf_mig$

This has been discussed before and is not safe (and caused issues for users before when Hotfix uninstallers was added to CCleaner and did just that).

[Provolino]

Thanks for the info JDPower... I know this behaviour can cause issues for some users and this is the reason why I suggested to have it as an advanced option (not enabled by default)

 

 

btw: what kind of problems did they cause? I mean, if you remove ie7 uninstaller, the only problem I can guess you have is to not be able to return back to ie6 but this is not a real issue since most of users prefer to always have latest version of programs

[pwillener]

Do not delete the $hf_mig$ folder! WindowsUpdate, or any explicit hotfix installs need it to synchronize with already installed updates. See http://support.microsoft.com/kb/824994 for details.

[Provolino]

Do not delete the $hf_mig$ folder! WindowsUpdate, or any explicit hotfix installs need it to synchronize with already installed updates. See http://support.microsoft.com/kb/824994 for details.

 

Hi pwillener and thanks for the info

 

I made some tests on my pcs and I found that WindowsUpdate is still able to recognize hotfixes already installed on the system even if I deleted $hf_mig$ folder.

So I think that the check is elsewhere.

 

I also red the kb you linked and, if I undestand it correctly, it just says that $hf_mig$ folder is used by the system to store a backup of some dlls in case another hotfix overwrite them with older versions (very rare case I think)

 

here is a quote from it:

When a security update, critical update, update, update rollup, driver, or feature pack installs GDR version files, the hotfix files are also copied to the %windir%\$hf_mig$ folder. This supports migration to the appropriate files if you later install a hotfix or service pack that includes earlier versions of these files. For example, consider the following scenario:

1. You apply a security update that installs a GDR version of File.dll with a version number of 5.2.3790.1000 and copies a hotfix version of File.dll with a version number of 5.2.3790.1000 to the %windir%\$hf_mig$ folder.

2. You apply a hotfix that includes a hotfix version of File.dll with a version number of 5.2.3790.0000.

In this scenario the hotfix installation in step 2 installs the hotfix version of File.dll (version number 5.2.3790.1000) from the %windir%\$hf_mig$ folder instead of the hotfix version of File.dll (version number 5.2.3790.0000) from the hotfix package.

[CarstenSchuette]

I also red the kb you linked and, if I undestand it correctly, it just says that $hf_mig$ folder is used by the system to store a backup of some dlls in case another hotfix overwrite them with older versions (very rare case I think)

 

Hotfixes will never overwrite files with older versions. So the $hf_mig$ is a folder which is only to "support" the hotfix installation. If the folder is missing and a hotfix has an older DLL version, it will simply ignore that file.

 

Carsten

[joelsplace]

I understand some shouldn't be deleted and I would like to leave any that are still applicable.

After SP3 your registry cleaner gives a whole list of "Uninstaller reference issues" which I assume are hotfixes that are replaced by SP3.

How about an option that deletes all $NtUninstallKB******$ files that are no longer valid?

Thanks for a wonderful product at an even better price!

[CeeCee]

I have no idea why CCleaner added this "Hotfix uninstaller" feature. I think it's not really 'temp file cleaner programs' business to deal with those files. But atleast it seems to be safe. It wasn't at first. I always delete those folders manually, every now and then. Only $NtUninstallKBnumber$ folders, nothing else.

[YoKenny]

I understand some shouldn't be deleted and I would like to leave any that are still applicable.

After SP3 your registry cleaner gives a whole list of "Uninstaller reference issues" which I assume are hotfixes that are replaced by SP3.

How about an option that deletes all $NtUninstallKB******$ files that are no longer valid?

Thanks for a wonderful product at an even better price!

CCleaner already deletes those files with Hotfix Uninstallers checked in the Advanced area