Can you delete downloaded driver files

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You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly. You should upgrade or use an alternative browser. Can I delete the unzipped driver files after I've installed the new drivers? Thread starter Elliah Start date Jul 3, Status Not open for further replies. If you installed them you can delete but it wouldn't hurt to have them tucked away if you ever need to reformat. I'm sort of a pack rat, and I save the. Not better or worse, just my preference.

Since the files inside this folder are critical for system functioning, it is advisable not to touch the folder. Over time, Windows will keep on installing device drivers for all new hardware plugged into the PC like printers, USB devices, monitors, etc. If new drivers are available for a particular device, Windows will automatically try to download and install the latest version through Windows Update. There is one caveat to this.

While Windows keeps on adding and installing new drivers, it will not delete the old ones. The old drivers keep on taking up hard drive space and eventually will fill up the system drive. This is when you should worry about deleting old drivers from the system to free up disk space from the system volume.

There are a few ways to clean up the old drivers safely. We will discuss each method step by step. Windows 10 comes with Storage Sense option which can automatically remove unnecessary files from the system drive.

You can also schedule the cleanup process to keep your system tidy. Downloaded setup files are the new installation media. Once used, they can be deleted without harm to the application. Like installation media, though, you should keep them somewhere safe, in case you need to run setup again and the download is no longer available from the original source. Setup files and packages downloaded from the internet are just like the original installation media you received back in the day when you purchased software in physical form.

Almost all software used to be sold and distributed on CD or DVD media or floppy disks, if you go back far enough. You would run the setup program from the disc , and the software was copied onto your computer.

After setup was complete, you removed the discs and began using the new software on your machine. When you run the downloaded setup program, it copies the software onto your hard disk. I recommend you save that downloaded setup program somewhere before you delete it from your hard drive. When you have physical media, like an installation DVD, you can keep it somewhere and grab it when needed.

If you routinely delete set-up files before saving them somewhere else, when it comes time to set up that program again, you might be out of luck. The most common scenario for needing that download again is getting a new machine. The second most common scenario? The instructions for a complete reinstall are pretty simple: reinstall Windows and then reinstall all your applications.

It varies, of course, depending on how you organize your life. That could be a different machine, an external hard drive, your backup drive, cloud storage, or some other storage location dedicated to the task. When I download software to my machine I currently 1 :. I can also save space in OneDrive by making the folder, or just the file, cloud-only.

In my case, since I have several computers, this practice allows me to avoid downloading the same thing multiple times. Subscribe to Confident Computing! Less frustration and more confidence, solutions, answers, and tips in your inbox every week. Download right-click, Save-As Duration: — 8.

It might be different yet again by the time you read this. I have some OLD downloads that are 10 to 15 years old, some of those are bough softwares, from now out of business vendors, that I still use regularly. Doing it twice, or more, a year is only for peoples that are doing researches, testing and other things that may corrupt the OS or worst or that demand a clean slate state.

He just said that he, given his very special use of his computer, regularly did clean reinstalls. Not twice a year, no, but periodically is indeed a good idea.