The XP SP2 upgrade is soooo SMALL!

IT AIN'T BIG! Sure, the number of changed files is huge, and the number of changed bits is huge, but the bottom line is that the difference in size between XP SP1 and XP SP2 isn't enough to blink at.

Here's the scoop:

I imaged the OS drive on one of my machines just before I did the SP2 upgrade. Then I ran the upgrade and did the required reboot and then another reboot and then a defrag. Then I tested my software, internet connections, utilities, and everything else I could think of, and discovered that SP2 had only hurt a single program (an antique that I love, so I set it to run in Win 98 compatibility, and it runs beautifully) out of 100 programs on this machine.

OK, so then I used System Restore to create a new Restore Point. Then, I deleted the $NtServicePackUninstall$ file from my Windows folder, used Reg Cleaner to dump the SP2 entry in Add-Remove Programs, and then did a single run of the native Windows Disk Cleaner utility to get rid of "All but the latest Restore Point." (That means it took out the Restore Point that had been made by the installation program for SP2, and everything before that, and left the Restore Point I had just created.)

Then, I Rebooted and ran my imaging software (Acronis TrueImage). When that was done, I compared the sizes of the images. The sizes of the images (uncompressed): XP SP1 (with all my stuff): 2,962,000KB; XP SP2 (with all my stuff unchanged): 2,987,000KB.

I don't think that calls for any fireworks, so I think that if you're happy with SP2, you should delete the Uninstall File ($NtServicePackUninstall$) in Windows, delete the entry in Add-Remove programs, and MOST IMPORTANTLY delete the Restore Points up to today's Restore Point, so that you get rid of that HUMUNGOUS 800 MB-plus of backup files.

The total size of what I deleted amounted to more than a GIG and a QUARTER on my hard drive.

Now. If you're suffering from more than a Gig and a Half of bloat from SP2, we should talk, cuz what's causing your bloat ain't SP2.

 

Thanks for that, Mr. H, but I DO hope you meant 38 MB; not 380 MB.

Now, 380 MB would be a big question. I'd have to know what the size of that SoftwareDistribution folder in Windows was, in order to comment. If you turned on the Auto Updates system at any time before you installed SP2 from the CD or the Network Install download, it probably filled up with a LOT of stuff you didn't want.

And I have no idea whether it's okay to delete the OSFolder\SoftwareDistribution folder. None. But I've read lots of reports that it varies in size enormously, depending on whether you had Auto Updates enabled or not after the release of SP2 for your system.

 

NOTE - I'm bumping this from a September post because I saw a reference to it in another post and I do have a question:

Wisewiz...I faithfully followed STEP-BY-STEP your guidelines on installing SP2 on 5 computers and have had great success (thanks). In these guidelines you said to do some of this (delete all but last restore point, and also clear cache, temp files, defrag before & after, etc.) I cleared out MB of data on some of the systems.

1) Now, I don't understand imaging or any of that so thanks also for doing all that work. Should I take the time to go back into these systems and see if there's still some "bloat" or would the steps I did beforehand have taken care of that?

2) I do know if all is well I'm supposed to go in and delete the uninstall folder (Locate it under C: Windows and find $NtServicePackUninstall$ and hit delete?)