I have a folder called WinSxs in the Systemroot that is chewing up 4GB of space and growing. Can any of the files in this folder be removed to conserve space?

The Windows Side by Side folder (WinSXS) stores shared assemblies for the roles, features and programs of your Windows Installation.More information here. A 4GB WinSXS foldercan considered to be normal on a Windows Vista / Windows Server 2008 Full Installation. More information here.WinVistaClubhas some useful information. The conclusion of which is, don't mess with this folder and you can try uninstalling applications.

Unininstall what? The server has only updates on it. I think this is a huge oversight on Microsoft's part and they should adjust their recommendations for required storage for their OS. It is rediculous that there will be no means of reducing the size of this folder and it will just grow and grow with every patch tuesday.

So microsoft chooses to fix one POS (Piece Of Sh*%) programming issue by creating and even bigger POS programming issue. Should we expect anything less?