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WICleanup is an application used for scanning and clearing away the unused, unwanted Windows Installer redundancy (junk) files inside system (MSI and MSP files in the “\Windows\Installer” folder), with full name “Windows Installer UnUsed Files Cleanup Tool”.
Windows Installer is a new installation technology introduced by Microsoft, it is able to realize the fast distribution, fast repairing and many other functions which other installer programs do not have. But this installation technology has one drawback: leaves some residual files or information in the system, for example: Live Messenger will leave the installer package of previous version after upgrading each time, and WICleanup enables you to scan these residual files and supports deleting automatically.
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CCleaner is a freeware system optimization, privacy and cleaning tool. It removes unused files from your system — allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space. It also cleans traces of your online activities such as your Internet history.
- Can I delete old Windows installer files?
- Can I delete .msp files from Windows installer?
- Is Wicleanup safe?
- How do I clean up the Installer folder in Windows 10?
- Can I remove files from Windows Installer folder?
- Will deleting Windows old cause problems?
- Is it OK to delete installer files?
- Can Windows Installer patches be deleted?
- Can I delete C :\ Windows WinSxS?
- Can MSP files be deleted?
- Can I delete Windows cab files?
- How do I restore Windows Installer folder?
Can I delete old Windows installer files?
Removing old Windows installation files can’t be done by simply selecting them and moving them to the Recycle Bin. You have to use Disk Cleanup, but luckily the process is simple and won’t take long. … Type Disk Cleanup.
Can I delete .msp files from Windows installer?
C:\Windows\Installer is where Windows Installer stores cached copies of the setup packages (. … msp) used for your currently installed programs. These files are required if you want to update, modify, or uninstall a program on your computer. Do not delete them blindly.
Is Wicleanup safe?
Short Answer: No. Removing items from here could cause you to have application crashes, or worse, require the reinstallation and patching of the application. The proper way to alleviate space pressure in this directory is to uninstall any unneeded applications.
How do I clean up the Installer folder in Windows 10?
Click [System] > [Storage].
- Select the disk you want to clean up, generally C disk.
- Windows 10 will display what is taking up space. …
- In the following checkbox, check [Temporary files] and [Downloads folder], then click the button [Remove files] to delete files.
- Press [Win + R] to open the Run box.
Can I remove files from Windows Installer folder?
The C:\Windows\Installer folder contains Windows installer cache, it’s used to store important files for applications installed using the Windows Installer technology and should not be deleted. … No, You can’t just delete everything in the WinSxS folder.
Will deleting Windows old cause problems?
Deleting the Windows. old folder will not cause any problems. It is a folder that holds an older version of windows as a backup, incase any update you install goes bad.
Is it OK to delete installer files?
A. If you have already added the programs to your computer, you can delete the old installation programs piling up in the Downloads folder. Once you have run the installer files, they just sit dormant unless you need to reinstall the program you downloaded.
Can Windows Installer patches be deleted?
Only files in the C:\Windows\Installer\$PatchCache$ directory, called the baseline cache, are safe to delete. Do not, under any circumstances, delete anything out of C:\Windows\Installer; doing so may cause serious problems in the future that necessitate a reinstallation of Windows.
Can I delete C :\ Windows WinSxS?
One commonly asked question is, «Can I delete the WinSxS folder to regain some disk space?» The short answer is no. … Deleting files from the WinSxS folder or deleting the entire WinSxS folder may severely damage your system so that your PC might not boot and make it impossible to update.
Can MSP files be deleted?
If you check the folder, you will most likely find a lot of MSI and MSP files in there possibly consuming Gigabytes of drive space. Do note that the Windows Installer folder has a hidden and system attribute. … Those files should be no longer needed and can be deleted.
Can I delete Windows cab files?
The CAB-xxxx files that you see in the C:\Windows\Temp\ folder are some temporary files created by different Windows Operations, like installing Updates. You can safely delete these files off from that folder.
How do I restore Windows Installer folder?
Find the patch package and the product details for a missing . msp file
- Search for the missing . …
- Find the Patch GUID.
- Search for the Patch GUID in the following Windows Installer Products registry subkey: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Installer\UserData\S-1-5-18\Products\
Sometimes when you install a new app or software on your desktop or laptop, the installation process fails. Also after closing the installation process, when you try to re-install it you might not get success. This happens due to the missing or corrupted files. This usually happens when you are dealing with the software or application that is built using the Microsoft Windows Installer. And so if you too are stuck in such a situation, you can get out of it, if you know how to uninstall programs using Windows Installer Cleanup Utility. You can also experience the issue while trying to perform multiple installation or uninstallation, or trying to remove some old app. And so the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility tool by Microsoft is the best tool that will help you fix your issue.
Also Read: How to Fix No Sound in Windows 10
Microsoft’s Windows Installer Cleanup Utility Tool
There are a lot of software that uses the technology called Microsoft Windows Installer to install itself on a system running on the Windows Operating system. This software thus writes hordes of registry keys and files when installing on the computer or laptop. And so if any of these registry keys or the important files go missing or become corrupt, then there are good chances of you being denied the ability to uninstall the installed applications or software. Also, you will lose the chance of updating the same. Therefore, whenever you will try to update the app, or remove it, you will receive an error message saying that the program could not be removed or updated.
Now to help you come out of the situation, you need a cleanup tool that works best with the latest versions of Windows 10. The Cleanup Utility Windows 10 is one of the best tools that will help you remove the failed installations, which used Windows Installer. The tool supports both 32 and the 64-bit version of Windows 2000, XP and even Windows 7.
Why Use the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility?
This cleanup utility tool by Microsoft is a gem when it comes to clean up tools. There are a lot of features that make it worth trying. One of it being, it helps to resolve the issue without the need of restarting the system. While some other features are:
- The tool is suitable for the repeated process of installation.
- It cleans the Windows Installer Configuration for a clean run of the system.
- It displays all the applications and software from which you can choose which one you want to remove. But be careful while selecting the app.
How to Uninstall Programs using Windows Installer Cleanup Utility
To resolve the error, you will have first to get rid of the program successfully, that is either remove or update the program in question. For this, you will have to lose all the information of Microsoft Installer that the program created after installation. This step is quite difficult, as by just uninstalling the program you cannot get rid of all the app, the files and the information associated with it. And so the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility tool by Microsoft comes into action here.
The Windows Installer folder Cleanup Windows 7 tool, is simply a tool that will help you remove, rather delete all the files and the registry settings of the program, provided it was installed on your system using the Microsoft Windows Installer technology. The actual registry settings and the installation files are not removed by the tool, but the Microsoft Installer settings of the program under consideration is removed.
Follow the given step-by-step instruction to download Windows 10, Vista or Windows 7 Cleanup utility tool and use it to uninstall the programs causing the issue.
Step 1: Open the Microsoft Download Centre. And download the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility tool. Or click on the link given below. (http://bit.ly/2DAXblH)
Step 2: Now run the downloaded msicuu2.exe file and install the Cleanup tool.
Step 3: Now on the Start menu, locate the Microsoft’s Cleanup tool. Click on it to launch it.
Step 4: Now in the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility window locate the program that you want to uninstall. Then click on the Remove option.
Step 5: The Installation files of the program will be removed. After the process completes, you can press the Exit button and close the Utility window.
After the removal of the files and information of the required program, you can now successfully uninstall, re-install and update it.
To sum up, we can say that the Windows Cleanup utility tool is an amazing and helpful tool that not only helps you to remove the problem creating programs but also helps to boost the setup process. Though it works just for the programs installed with the Microsoft Windows Installer, you can give the Windows Installer unused files cleanup tool a try. We hope that the article was of help to you guys. If you have any suggestions or query related to the article, leave a comment below.
To optimize your system’s performance and free up valuable storage space, it’s essential to use tools like Wicleanup to delete MSP files and other unnecessary data.
Solid State Drives (SATA and NVMe) are fast becoming the norm for many users to place their Windows install onto. Because prices for larger capacity drives are still quite expensive, many users have smaller capacity drives. If you have a smaller SSD or your Windows boot partition isn’t that large, you need to watch every Gigabyte that goes onto it or space can fill up pretty quickly.
Using tools like TreeSize or SpaceSniffer to find what is taking up excess space on your drive might show that the C:\Windsows\Installer folder is one of them. If you check the folder, you will most likely find a lot of MSI and MSP files in there possibly consuming Gigabytes of drive space. Do note that the Windows Installer folder has a hidden and system attribute. To see the folder, you will need to select “Show hidden files, folders and drives” and uncheck “Hide protected operating system files” from the Folder Options in Control Panel.
Viewing the Property details of MSI and MSP files in the Installer folder could show that they are connected to software currently installed. Others might be from software you have uninstalled or old versions that have since been replaced. Those files should be no longer needed and can be deleted. The problem is identifying them because just deleting any MSI or MSP file is a bad idea as it could be required for updating, patching, or uninstalling existing applications.
Below is an MSP file from an old installation of Microsoft Office 2003 even though that version of Office was uninstalled from the system some time ago.
Here are a few ways in which you can more safely identify and delete redundant MSI and MSP files from the Windows Installer folder.
Use the IObit Uninstaller Tool
The IObit Uninstaller is a powerful third-party program that allows users to wipe files from the installer folder. This feature is particularly useful since computer owners usually cannot remove the Windows install folder through the built-in Windows Control Panel. First, the program uses a “Powerful Scan” to identify any left-over entries and files that are in the install folder. Once the scan is complete, the application prompts the user to uninstall these files.
Additionally, you can open the IObit software > click on Tools > and choose Easy Uninstall as an easier alternative. After choosing easy uninstall, drag the icon to the open folder you wish to delete and watch the app automatically erase that file. The IObit Uninstaller is a great tool for users with little technical know-how and users who want to save time. Furthermore, this Uninstaller can uninstall residual files in batches for free. Users can also look through their uninstall history to check on the progress of their uninstallation.
Download IObit Uninstaller
Patch Cleaner is specifically designed to clean redundant files from the Installer folder and the tool actually took its inspiration from this very article! Attribution to Raymond.cc is on the about page (thanks HomeDev for the mention). Patch Cleaner appeared in 2015 but there’s been no updates since 2016, so it’s safe to say the program is no longer in development. Both portable and installer versions are available.
Simply launch the tool and it will run a scan and show the results in the window of what has been found. The files still used result is what it believes should be kept and the orphaned files are what can be removed because they are no longer required by any installed software. A Windows install that’s been in use for several years could show several Gigabytes of orphaned files.
If you have adequate space on another drive, it’s best to use the included option and move the files instead of directly deleting them. That way, if you run into a problem, you still have a backup as this process is by no means foolproof. Use the Browse button to locate a destination folder. If you want to ignore MSI or MSP files connected to specific software, an exclusion can be created in the Settings.
Patch Cleaner requires .NET Framework 4.5.2 or newer so Windows 7 users will need to make sure their installed .NET versions include it. Patch Cleaner works on Windows 7, 8, 10, and Server 2008/2012.
Download Patch Cleaner | Patch Cleaner Portable
Use an old Microsoft Utility
One of the old tools that could do this was MsiZap which was developed by Microsoft. The tool is available with The Windows Installer Clean Up Utility (Msicuu) which is basically a frontend for some of MsiZap’s commands. Microsoft discontinued both MsiZap and Msicuu some time ago after saying they were causing too many issues, but many users still use MsiZap with some success. Download the Windows Installer Clean Up Utility and then extract it with 7-Zip to use the MsiZapU.exe.
Open a Command Prompt, type MsiZapU.exe G and press enter. The G command tells the program to remove any orphaned cached Windows Installer data files. While testing we got an error on both Windows 7 and XP similar to the following although it did say it had cleared some orphaned files out.
MsiZapInfo: Performing operations for user S-1-5-21-598190838-2299067166-971484642-1000
Removing orphaned cached files.
Error enumerating Products key for S-1-5-21-598190838-2299067166-971484642-1000 user. Error: 6.
FAILED to clear all data.
MsiZap is definitely a tool to be used with caution because Microsoft usually doesn’t pull utilities unless there’s a valid reason to do so.
The Windows Installer UnUsed Files Cleanup Tool (WICleanup) by KZTechs is able to scan for orphaned MSI and MSP files in the WindowsInstaller folder and offers you an option to delete them from the comfort of a graphical user interface. For scripts and command line usage, WICleanup also includes a command line version in the archive (WICleanupC.exe).
All you need to do is extract the downloaded ZIP file, run the WICleanupUI.exe and click the Scan button. All the entries that show in the window are orphaned files and manually check the boxes for what you want to delete. Although it has no option to automatically select all files for deletion, you can use the Shift key to multi-select, i.e; click the first file, hold Shift and click the last file, then click one of the selected tick boxes. It would have been useful if this tool offered an option to backup the unused files instead of deleting them in case of any potential problems. Note the website is in Japanese.
Download WICleanup
Deleting the Unused MSI Entries Manually
Before you simply go into the C:\Windows\Installer folder and start deleting files on your own to free up some space, there is a way to determine which files are orphaned and should be safe to delete. Because the patch files still registered will have a corresponding entry in the registry, those that are missing aren’t necessary anymore.
Heath Stewart over at blogs.msdn.com wrote a small VBScript a few years back that checks the system for registered patch files, and lists those that are. This way you will be shown the files that you SHOULD NOT delete from WindowsInstaller as they are the ones still in use, those not in the list are safe to remove.
Download WiMsps VBScript
Do note that this download isn’t the original VBScript found on the website as that has an annoying OK popup on every registered entry it comes across which can be very annoying because there’s often loads of them. We’ve made a minor modification to output the registered entries to a text file instead.
Don’t forget, these are the currently registered patch files and the ones to not touch. We would recommend you don’t manually delete files from the Installer folder anyway without some experience, and moving them to another folder just in case a problem occurs is more preferable.
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If you have ever installed a program and realized you didn’t need it or the app installation failed, you might be aware of the Windows Installer Cleanup utility.
This tool was available in earlier versions of Windows, but we show you how you can still download it in newer versions.
What does Windows Installer Cleanup Utility do?
Windows Installer Cleanup Utility is a tool that helps you to remove invalid registry entries and other system garbage. Such files can cause your PC to run extremely slow and other performance issues.
By using this utility, you can scan your computer for known issues and repair them. The utility also provides a way to uninstall programs that were installed on your computer by using Windows Installer technology.
Other beneficial purposes it may serve include:
- Clears out any orphaned registry keys related to previous installations of applications that use Windows Installer technology.
- Uninstall applications from your PC that cannot be uninstalled normally, such as those where the uninstaller is corrupted or missing altogether.
- Cleans up temporary files after uninstalling an application and recovers the disk space.
How can I download the Windows Installer Cleanup utility?
Before you download the Windows Installer Cleanup utility, there are a few things to note:
- Microsoft has shelved the tool and stopped offering it for download.
- The tool is free to download, and you can still use the utility, but Microsoft will no longer update it.
- The utility was built for earlier versions of Windows, so if you’re downloading it for newer versions, such as Windows 10 and 11, it may be incompatible or have some glitches.
- For newer Windows users, such as Windows 10 and 11, Microsoft replaced the Windows Installer Cleanup utility with the Microsoft Fixit tool but later discontinued it.
- Since the tool was discontinued, it is no longer available on the official Microsoft site, so you’ll have to download it from third-party sites.
- Because a lot of these sites are untrustworthy, ensure your system is backed up by a reliable antivirus before downloading it.
Now, to download it, follow the steps below:
- Launch your browser and download the Windows Cleanup Utility tool.
- Open the file location, right-click on it, and select Open to launch the .exe file.
- Click on Run.
- Hit Next.
- Check the I accept the License Agreement box, then click on Next.
- Hit Next again and wait for the wizard to complete the installation.
- Finally, click on Finish.
- Locate the installed tool and start cleanup.
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Is it safe to delete the Windows Installer folder?
The Windows Installer folder is a hidden folder that contains all the Windows Installer data for your system. It can get pretty large if you have a lot of programs installed on your computer because it includes files and registry keys.
If you delete this folder, you’ll lose access to many applications. Instead of deleting the entire folder, we recommend performing a Disk Cleanup or finding other ways to free up space on your hard drive.
The good news is that other options are still available if you want to clean up your PC. Windows 11 has many built-in repair tools at your disposal. The program install and uninstall troubleshooter for Windows 11, for instance, is a replica of the Windows Installer Cleanup utility.
However, you may feel these tools are insufficient, so we recommend you reach out for uninstaller software. These tools will allow you to delete unnecessary files from your computer without worrying about causing future problems with your PC.
Let us know whether you still use the Windows Installer Cleanup utility and your experience thus far, especially in newer Windows versions.
Claire Moraa
Windows Software Expert
Claire has a knack for solving problems and improving the quality of life for those around her. She’s driven by rationality, curiosity, and simplicity, and always eager to learn more about Microsoft’s products.
With a background in teaching and reviewing, she breaks down complex topics into easily understandable articles, focusing mostly on Windows 11, errors, and software.