i386 in my c:\windows\servicepackfiles

[betamax]

i also have an i386 right under C:\

does one get created by windows update?

[InTheWayBoy]

Probably...usually those files you are talking about are the previous file before the update. That way you can attempt to uninstall hotfixes/service packs, although I still don't trust that.

[JRosenfeld]

The C:\I386 is from your original install (was it XP, or XP SP1).

The one in C:\WINDOWS\ServicePackFiles\I386 is from the service pack you have since installed (probably SP2).

That is one of the places sfc would look for the latest version of a file if the active one in system32 folder needed replacing (when you run sfc /scannow, for example). So don't delete that folder.

The previous versions that get reinstalled if you uninstall a hotfix are in the corresponding C:\Windows\$NTUninstal...$ folders.

Edited September 16, 2005 by JRosenfeld

[Andromeda43]

To eliminate clutter, I deleted all the i386 folders from my HD.

But, if I run sfc /scannow, it asks me to insert my XP CD, which of course I can....lol

It's just a cache of install .cab files. Delete it, move it to another HD or leave it alone.

Doesn't make much difference one way or the other.