How to view the actual size of the Win8.1 WinSxS folder

Computer shop news: When it comes to Win7/Win8.1 redundancy, I have to mention this WinSxS special folder. This folder is located in the C:\\Windows directory path, which stores a large number of system system backups and update patch backups. Over time, WinSxS has also become the largest folder for system disks.

For the average user, the biggest concern is why the WinSxS folder continues to grow bigger? In fact, the specific function of the WinSxS folder is component storage, which stores important Windows component functions, such as the familiar C:\\Windows\\system32 directory.

Below, add an example of the use of Windows component library files:

• Use Windows Update to install a new component version. This keeps the system safe and up to date.

• Enable or disable Windows features.

• Use the Server Manager to add a role or feature.

• Migrate systems between different Windows versions.

• System recovery from corruption or startup failure

• Uninstalling problematic updates

• Using side-by-side assemblies to run programs

Windows Component libraries were first introduced in Windows XP to support side-by-side assemblies. Starting with Windows Vista, component libraries have been enhanced to track and process all the components that make up the operating system. These different operating system components track objects such as files, directories, registry keys, and services, and then specific versions of the components are collected into the package. The package is for Windows Update and DISM to update Windows. The components and packages used in a Windows installation are handled by the Windows Component Library. The process of determining the size of the Windows component library is complicated because Windows uses a number of files from a directory other than the Windows component library with a technique called hard linking. In this case, files from a component version will be displayed both inside and outside the Windows component library. By using hard links, Windows can keep multiple copies of the same file without actually taking up the extra space required for multiple copies.

Therefore, it is difficult to directly view the actual size in the resource manager, refer to the following figure:

Then how do we view the actual size of this folder? At this time, we directly use Win8.1 built-in DISM management tool to query the folder size. The specific operation reference is as follows: ——

IT Home Reminder: At present, the query method does not support Win7 platform, only Win8.1 platform.

1. For example, Win8.1 platform, we right click on the start button, select command prompt (admin);

2, in the open command prompt Enter the following query command:

Dism.exe /Online /Cleanup-Image /AnalyzeComponentStore

//Query the actual size of the current WinSxS folder

It is not difficult to see from the above picture that the actual capacity of the WinSxS folder is lower than the data display of the Windows Explorer.

In the WinSxS folder, it consists of three main parts: 1. Shared with Windows; 2. Backup and disabled functions; 3. Cache and temporary data.