Mimicking the "Resetbase" DISM Switch on Windows 8

[Jody Thornton]

Hey Folks:

On Windows 8.1, there is the /resetbase switch that was designed to remove all older replaced components in the WinSxS folder.  Windows 8 cannot do this.

Now I tried DISM++ (sorta like Ccleaner) which can do this for the component store, but only if you have Windows 8.1 or higher.  Does anyone know of a tool or method that CAN reset the base components to the latest installed? on Windows 8?

 

[HarryTri]

The only thing I know is that the Windows Update cleaning of the Windows 8 Disk Cleanup utility removes all the superseded Windows Updates. I don't know if this is what you want or it is something else.

There is also this:

Quote

/Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup
  Use /StartComponentCleanup to clean up the superseded components and reduce
  the size of the component store.

    Example:
      DISM.exe /Image:C:\test\offline /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup

I don't know if the /resetbase switch does really something more.

[Jody Thornton]

It does.  It sets the currently installed components as the new "base" components, and removes everything else.  The Start Component Cleanup command will delete older updates but not replace older components that came with the system initially that have been replaced.

Thanks for helping me though.

 

[HarryTri]

What are these other "components"?

[Jody Thornton]

4 hours ago, HarryTri said:

What are these other "components"?

Oh OK.  I'm simplifying the process a lot, so this is how I understand it:   Let's say the component "shell32.dll" is initially released in October 2012.  There are three updates for colour rendering problems, and two for security holes (I'm making this up of course ...lol).  The way Windows 8 removes components, is that it keeps the original version, the newest colour-fixed one, and the newest security-fixed one.   Then Windows 8 uses hardlinks to point to the correctly matched version to support whatever program you run.  In the Windows 8.1 /resetbase option will remove all but the newest version, and JUST use that.

I hope I have that correct.  It appears that DISM++ calculates that (if I were able to use /resetbase) I could rid of an additional 1.46 GB.

 

 

Edited September 24, 2017 by JodyT

[HarryTri]

Oh, I see.. Anyway, 1.46 GB aren't so much for today's disks (personally at least I can live with it.)

[Jody Thornton]

Oh no I realize that.  I just wanted to see if I could clean it completely.

To me, even though 1.46 GB is perhaps piddly, I still think like the rich millionaire who still realizes the worth of a dollar.  Every gigabyte counts.

 

[HarryTri]

I totally agree but I still prefer Windows 8.