PatchCleaner for Windows

User Reviews

• Great worked as expected - May 2018

  schlesin14May 10, 2018

  Pros

  Fixes a problem

  Cons

  Not released by MS

  Summary

  Great worked as expected - May 2018. I will note, I have not tried to remove any software after its execution. This is a must for people with fixed space, using SSD - given the Microsoft failure here. I had a `128 GB SSD. I was out of space. I now have more than enough space - 22 GB recovered. Many thanks for creating this app, a life saver. I will note, Just deleting from c:\Windows\Installer - caused my system to fail.

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• great utility!

  jet-blackMarch 17, 2018

  Pros

  simple to use, fast and does its job perfectly

  Cons

  the UI can be developed. If user clicks to Delete button, the software should ask for a confirmation and should remind the user there is a Move option too.

  Summary

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• Removed 24 GB from my Windows 10 folder

  divenexOctober 19, 2017

  Pros

  My Windows 10 folder, which was originally 16 GB after a clean install, had grown to a size of 50 GB (!), mostly taken up by the c:\Windows\Installer folder. Microsoft seems to suggest there is nothing one can do about the junk accumulating in this folder https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/joscon/2012/01/18/can-you-safely-delete-files-in-the-windirinstaller-directory/ Luckily, I did not listen to the Microsoft recommendation, but instead I used PatchCleaner and freed up 25 GB (!) of useless files. I have been using my machine for a while and everything works as before. Many thanks and congratulations to the developers for succeeding in doing what Microsoft failed to do for so many years!

  Cons

  None as far as I can tell from my own experience.

  Summary

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• A real lifesaver!

  TheTankstoreDecember 23, 2016

  Pros

  Easy to install Easy to use Finally solved a problem I've been living with for a long time Freed up 37.2 gb

  Cons

  Pay attention when you use the software. If you move the files, make sure you pick the right folder.

  Summary

  Where do I even start? First: I registered after years of using Cnet for no other reason than to post this review. TL;DR I had a 47.24 gb Installer folder and this thing freed up 37.2 gb. The long story: I have an ultrabook which came with a 128gb SSD. I was only able to use 92gb. After a while, I upgraded to a 500gb SSD. But the problem was that I was not able to make one huge partition-instead, I had to keep the original-size partition and add a new one. That was okay for a while, except the Installer folder kept GROWING and GROWING! It was infuriating! I researched the problem, and found other people had it too. Windows support didn't care. Meanwhile, I was afraid of deleting files for fear of breaking one of my programs. I didn't know what went where. It was like this for a long time. I don't know how long, easily over a year. I found workarounds. Cloud storage, moving programs, uninstalling unnecessary files. But I was always living with a tiny sliver of my primary drive available. It came to a head today when I tried to patch a program and had only 32kb available. I began my search again, and found this program. And after just a few minutes downloading, installing, and analyzing, I moved the unnecessary files to a backup folder. I feel like I have air to breathe once again! Thank you so much for creating this software!

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• Removed 24.7Gb from Windows\installer folder

  carlapuckettNovember 27, 2016

  Pros

  took 5 minutes to download, install and run software

  Cons

  Been looking for something like this for months

  Summary

  Dell latitude Z with a 64Gb SSD. It started life as Win 7 - then upgraded to Win 8 - then Win 10. My programs folder is slightly over 2Gb as I use it mostly for web surfing due to very little room for data. NO music or videos...yet I was still running short on room. Two weeks ago I was down to less than a Gig of free space. All MS "disk cleaner" could do is gain back 4Gb. Found this download and after due diligence spent 10 minutes to regain 28.47Gb of space. Program moved all this to an accessible folder for safe-keeping until I'm ready to move it to an external HD. Keeping it around just in case its needed for a later upgrade, but no need to keep it on my SSD. Will update my review if it causes problems.

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• Cleans Windows Installer directory Quickly and Safely

  originalradmanJanuary 11, 2016

  Pros

  Allows you to delete OR move your orphaned Windows Installer files Completely free software Surprisingly fast (almost instant for my 800 files) Using the Move option - you can backup the removed files as a precaution TINY install file (less than 2 MB)

  Cons

  None found yet.

  Summary

  I was able to MOVE all the orphaned files from my Windows Installer directory to a backup folder in my profile easily and immediately. The option to delete is also there - but with the complexity of software (Microsoft Windows update system) I felt more comfortable simply moving the files to a backup folder which I then moved to a cheap usb drive. This saved me 22GB! If you have a Vista computer, updated to Windows 7 and then Windows 8 and further to 8.1... You should be looking at your windows installer directory! Thanks to the author for great software!

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