I've got a bazilion text documents, can I delete them w/no harm?

[wildfiredude]

 Lots of text docs in mycomputer/windows file on C drive, maybe restore points?  Looking at cleaning stuff up to get better performance.  Delete except most recent?  What does one think?

[wildfiredude]

Addition, these are labelled KB with 6 numbers after them, about 2-30 KB's each.

[Allan]

Restore points are not text documents and they are in a hidden folder (System Volume Information). Also, they are huge.

You are looking at Windows Update uninstall files - the names are probably in blue text. Yes, you may delete them. After doing so you should go to Add/Remove Programs and delete the associated uninstall entries.


Edited to clarify.

[reddevilggg]

@Allan, is it OK deleting Windows updates, what if some of them are security updates?

[patio]

They are not the updates themselves....rather the un-installer files for the updates.

[reddevilggg]

They are not the updates themselves....rather the un-installer files for the updates.

OK, so if i go into Add/Remove programs and remove all the Windows update starting with KB, then i'm not actually uninstalling the updates just the un-installer files.

I dont quite get it?

[Allan]

Once the update uninstall files are deleted the entries in Add/Remove are superfluous. When you click on them you'll see a message that the uninstall file could not be found and the entry will be removed.

[BC_Programmer]

OK, so if i go into Add/Remove programs and remove all the Windows update starting with KB, then i'm not actually uninstalling the updates just the un-installer files.

No, when you uninstall windows updates from Add/Remove you run the very same uninstallers being discussed.


Also: I should point out that deleting them will not increase performance anyway. (which was their original goal)

[Allan]

No, when you uninstall windows updates from Add/Remove you run the very same uninstallers being discussed.

Except that if the installer has been deleted you will only delete the entry in Add/Remove, not the update itself.

[patio]

Good point BC...

[BC_Programmer]

Except that if the installer has been deleted you will only delete the entry in Add/Remove, not the update itself.

yeah, I missed mentioning that, I sorta figured it was common sense, in a way.

After all, if there are separate uninstallers, and you delete one, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to think that the add/remove utility will get the magical ability to do everything the deleted uninstaller did (that is, uninstall the updates). That would sort of mean that the uninstaller was unnecessary to begin with.