$NtServicePackUninstall$ folder

Discussion in 'Software' started by Hockey Is Erick, Oct 24, 2008.

  1. Hockey Is Erick

    Hockey Is Erick Private E-2

    Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 1 was pre-installed on my computer, but I upgraded to Service Pack 2 and own an official Microsoft XP Service Pack 2 CD. A while ago I deleted the $NtServicePackUninstall$ folder and left it in the Recycle Bin until I knew it was safe to delete.

    I later restored the $NtServicePackUninstall$ folder and noticed it was much smaller than before I restored it (multiple hundreds of MBs to 16.4 MBs), making me think I lost some required files to uninstall XP Service Pack 1 and/or 2. I also noticed that the Windows XP Service Pack 2 Remove entry is no longer in my Add/Remove Programs list.

    Can I uninstall Windows XP Service Pack 1 and 2 using my XP Service Pack 2 CD if I lost any files in the $NtServicePackUninstall$ folder that are required to uninstall either service pack?
     
    Hockey Is Erick, Oct 24, 2008
    #1
  2. DavidGP

    DavidGP MajorGeeks Forum Administrator - Grand Pooh-Bah Staff Member

    Hi

    A big peril of deleting the $NtServicePackUninstall$ folder is loosing the ability of uninstalling specific hotfixes and service packs, at times restoring these files doesnt always work as in the interim from deleting them or backing them up new updates as per the ones each months hotfix update ( aka Patch Tuesday ) they create new ones, so recovering the old ones overwrites the new and messes their uninstaller up.

    That would be a no on uninstalling SP1 and 2 from your XP SP2 CD, a couple of questions if I may?

    1. Is this XP SP2 CD a full version of XP and SP2 incorporated or just an SP2 update CD?
    2. Are you experiencing any issues with you PC at present that you need to uninstall a hotfix or service pack?
    If you are not then I would not worry too much as you are lucky and all the updates are working ok.
    3. Did you follow by any chance someone tweak guide to deleting system files?
    TBH in this day and age of large 100GB+ HDs the space these hotfix files take up is not worth the trouble of deleting, they can cause more trouble than the space they save, personally while if your PC is working good they are not an issue to delete but you loose the ability to uninstall any hotfix thay serviced as a result so I advise users to leave them be.

    Service Pack 3 is out for XP and if you install that as its a rollup of the older SPs then this will create a new set of $NTServicePackUninstall$ files, and give you a SP3 uninstaller.

    Only way to get back to a default $NT etc folder is to do a repair install, but this if your PC is running fine at present overkill IMHO.

    But if your PC is running ok then youve got no major issues with these being missing.
     
    DavidGP, Oct 24, 2008
    #2
  3. Hockey Is Erick

    Hockey Is Erick Private E-2

    I'm here to ask and answer questions, so yes you may.

    1. An official Windows XP Service Pack 2 CD
    2. No
    3. Yes

    I understand the consequences of deleting the $NtServicePackUninstall$ folder. Other members from another computer forum informed me that I'll never need to uninstall XP Service Pack 1 or 2, so I deleted the folder to finish the job. Thanks for the attention.
     
    Hockey Is Erick, Oct 25, 2008
    #3
  4. Hockey Is Erick

    Hockey Is Erick Private E-2

    Mark, it was not misguided to excercise the tweak guide. The tweak guide didn't mention to delete the $NtServicePackUninstall$ folder; that was my decision.

    That's your opinion. Some computer users are less or more aggressive; I'm most aggressive. I've been deleting files, folders, and registry entries for years without a major complication; so I'm obviously doing all things right. My computer's the Bentley of computers; and until my style fails me, I'll continue with it.

    It's not the forum, it's the members. Think about it.... Why would I keep a folder on my computer that's safe to delete and I'll never need? I put great thought into every deletion. For example, I just deleted a couple hundred XP files. After I restarted my computer, I could no longer access the Windows Firewall Control Panel applet and noticed its Service Status was not showing. Well, it took half a day; but I isolated the needed files, restored them, and all is well.
     
    Hockey Is Erick, Oct 26, 2008
    #4

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