Can't Delete LCU Folder

In Windows 10 I like. to delete the large contents of the LCU folder after each update here C:\Windows\servicing\LCU

Windows 11 won't let me delete the file since I get the message shown below. How can I force this deletion?

Update - I used the reg file fix on Ten Forums to add Take Ownership to the right click menu, took ownership then was able to delete the file.

Steve C said:

In Windows 10 I like. to delete the large contents of the LCU folder after each update here C:\Windows\servicing\LCU

Windows 11 won't let me delete the file since I get the message shown below. How can I force this deletion?

Update - I used the reg file fix on Ten Forums to add Take Ownership to the right click menu, took ownership then was able to delete the file.

View attachment 4773

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Took ownership of the package.

Fabler2 said:

Your edit and my post posted at same time.

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I would have deleted the post but don't seem to have the power to delete my own post

Steve C said:

I would have deleted the post but don't seem to have the power to delete my own post

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Deleting the thread (or the post 1) is not possible so you should ask on the administrators here.

Fabler2 said:

Took ownership of the package.

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There is an easier solution that, now we have just had another CU, I've been able to test.

The trick is, before the next CU, to change the permissions of the LCU folder itself and give Administrators Full control (by default they only have read/execute/list).

From then on you no longer need to take ownership of each new package, they inherit permission from the LCU folder so can be deleted with your existing admin permissions.

System / Storage / Temporary files / Remove files (disk cleanup) doesn't work for you?

Just tested, and it cleaned the LCU folder from 1 GB to 300 MB

Edit: and these files and folder can usually be deleted from inside Treesize

LCU folder keeps only the latest CU. I tried to clean it twice. I always ended up with broken windows updates.

AndreTen said:

System / Storage / Temporary files / Remove files (disk cleanup) doesn't work for you?

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That will remove all but the latest CU package. Some of us like to keep or systems even smaller to save on system image space and time, so delete the latest one manually. The longer a Windows version has been around, the larger its CUs will be. In W10 a single CU package is now about 1GB.

Bree said:

That will remove all but the latest CU package. Some of us like to keep or systems even smaller, so delete the latest on manually. The longer a Windows version has been around, the larger its CUs will be. In W10 a single CU is now about 1GB.

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TairikuOkami posted above, that it can affect Windows update...

TairikuOkami said:

LCU folder keeps only the latest CU. I tried to clean it twice. I always ended up with broken windows updates.

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AndreTen said:

TairikuOkami posted above, that it can affect Windows update...

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I routinely delete the latest CU package from LCU on all my half dozen or so machines. Been doing that for more than a year now without any problems. The only downside of deleting the latest one is that you can no longer uninstall it in Control Panel.

Do you delete all CU's backups? There are usually ~3 copies in those locations as well:

Bree said:

I routinely delete the latest CU package from LCU on all my half dozen or so machines. Been doing that for more than a year now without any problems. The only downside of deleting the latest one is that you can no longer uninstall it in Control Panel.

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OK, so should I?

TairikuOkami said:

Do you delete all CU's backups? There are usually ~3 copies in those locations as well:

Code:

%WINDIR%\Installer\$PatchCache$
%WINDIR%\SoftwareDistribution\Download
%WINDIR%\WinSxS\Backup

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No, just the copy in the LCU folder, that's the only one that I know to be safe to delete.

AndreTen said:

OK, so should I?

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That's entirely up to you. As I said, with 6+ machines to image, and keeping at least two previous system images, an extra GB in each image soon adds up to a lot to be stored on my external backup drive. W10 CUs are now at least 1GB, W11 are smaller at present, but will only get larger (they are called 'cumulative' for a reason). I need all the help I can get to fit all my machine images onto one drive