winsxs-->temp... ready for deleting?

hi :)

i have found this folder on os-drive

C:\Windows\WinSxS\Temp

with subfolders

1.) inflight --> 43 folders from 08.15 to 11.15/ all empty except 4 folders with many subfolders mostly empty with possibly 3-5 files...

2.) pendingdeletes --> one file "$$deleteme.dwmcore.dll. ..." from 10.04.15 size 2,15mb

3.) pendingrenames --> is empty

is this deleteable in w8.1?

Microsoft really doesn't want people messing anything in that folder without using official tools (I assume, one of the checkmarks in windows built-in disk-cleanup tool touches this folder)

Here's a good article for you to read (especially the updates near the bottom of the article)

http://www.thewindowsclub.com/winsxs-folder-windows-7-8

Hello trium - NEVER delete any of the files in the WinSxS folder manually!!! You could do some very serious damage to your system files and probably have to re-install Windows as a result.

A much safer aproach is to use Windows Disk Cleanup and select the option to "Cleanup System Files". After it has finished scanning and has generated a list of items to delete, go through the list and find the line that's related to Windows Update files. Doing this will clean out any old updates that have been superceded by newer updates.

And in the case where you might have upgraded your machine from Windows 7 or 8 to Windows 8.1, you may also see another line offering to delete the Windows.old folder. Just keep in mind that by deleting Windows.old you will not be able to "roll back" to the previous version of Windows afterwards. See this link: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/delete-files-using-disk-cleanup#delete-files-using-disk-cleanup=windows-8

Another option in Windows 8.1 is to use the dism command as described here: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn251565.aspx

Dism.exe /Online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup

I agree with Derek and Nergal that it is much better/safer to use the built-in Windows Disk Cleanup.