frapper Posted April 7, 2012 Share Posted April 7, 2012 I run MSSE on four computers, 3 desktops and a netbook. 2 Win7 and 2 XP. I'm very happy with it. It just does what it's supposed to. My only concern is that when you look at your Windows Update History in Win7 (not sure about XP) it lists every MSSE definition update going back to last September. Is there any way to remove these? Are they like un-do files? Or do you just accumulate these from day one until you recycle the box? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NICK ADSL UK Posted April 7, 2012 Share Posted April 7, 2012 (edited) All updates are kept in the directory C/ windows/software distribution and can be Safety deleted from that folder only if needed The directory however will be rebuilt Edited April 7, 2012 by NICK ADSL UK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zlim Posted April 7, 2012 Share Posted April 7, 2012 Which sub directory? AuthCabs DataStore Download PostRebootEvent cache SelfUpdate WuRedir and last a log file ReportingEvents.log Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mac Posted April 8, 2012 Share Posted April 8, 2012 The only subfolder showing a relatively large amount of data on my WIN7 Pro 64bit is the "Download" subfolder with 8MB of data in 26 files. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tushman Posted April 8, 2012 Share Posted April 8, 2012 (edited) The only subfolder showing a relatively large amount of data on my WIN7 Pro 64bit is the "Download" subfolder with 8MB of data in 26 files. That is the folder used by Windows to download updates. You can think of it as a temporary bucket/placeholder that contains the relevant updates for your computer. Once the updates are installed, those package files are deleted from the hard drive. I don't know for certain if the definition updates for MSSE are kept in the folder that NICK ADSL UK mentioned. I've always thought that definition updates are installed to the default program files directory, (i.e. C:\Program Files\Microsoft Security Essentials) and removed afterwards from the software distribution folder automatically. Edited April 8, 2012 by Tushman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zlim Posted April 8, 2012 Share Posted April 8, 2012 The main problem is that all these def updates show up online (XP) and on the computer (7) with all the other security updates. When I need to search for the date I installed a particular update, there are all these def. updates in there making the searching so much harder and lots of extra pages. I do keep notes for each month but sometimes I install something later and forget to edit my monthly note. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frapper Posted April 8, 2012 Author Share Posted April 8, 2012 Where's Corrine when we need her? Eating a big chocolate egg maybe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kkehoe Posted April 9, 2012 Share Posted April 9, 2012 Those are not "uninstallers" taking up drive space. I suspect it's an XML file of some sort and it's only purpose is to "list" the updates. As far as having to fish through the list to find "real" Windows Updates, just look in Control Panel > Programs and Features > View Installed Updates. You won't see the definition updates there as they cannot be uninstalled. Kevin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zlim Posted April 9, 2012 Share Posted April 9, 2012 Thanks Kevin. That works great for Win 7. Does this show patches that can't be uninstalled? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kkehoe Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 It does. If you highlight one of them (say KB976902), the "Uninstall" option disappears. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corrine Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 Where's Corrine when we need her? Eating a big chocolate egg maybe. Not a chocolate egg but rather "paska" (Ukrainian Easter bread). ps why do we want to uninstall virus def updates?? No, not to uninstall the def updates but rather the length of the list with MSE updates included when looking at Control Panel > Windows Update > View update history. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.