Solved Windows 10 & 11 create tons of empty folders in System32

The Pool Man · Nov 4, 2021

Wisewiz said:
Once again, for our West Coast audence: Not impossible at all. They just don't give a flying f---.

Haha.

Dear Ontario CANADA. Invite you to a town that's 30 minutes East of me --

Home | City of Ontario, California

www.ontarioca.gov

They have better weather! (And otherwise it's a cultureless hellhole.) Please visit and ask WTF IS THIS PLACE.

Wisewiz · Nov 4, 2021

The-Hive said:
I think it was an installer for their other products, I may be wrong on that as I haven't used it for years

Hey, Hive, we love ya, but you're wrong, but only because your long-term memory is failing. :eek:

Years? I have trouble remembering what I had for breakfast.

Nirsoft's software is almost without exception free of the need to install anything.

And it's -- without exception -- good stuff. Good stuff.

Wisewiz · Nov 4, 2021

The Pool Man said:
Dear Ontario CA. Invite you to a town that's 30 minutes East of me -- (Ontario, California link here)

They have better weather! (And otherwise it's a cultureless hellhole.) Please visit and ask WTF IS THIS PLACE.

Yeah, the CA thing for my huge nation and your huge state has always been a source of confusion.

They have better weather??? Every-effing-body has better weather than Southern Ontario!

But we do have Summer, and we enjoy both days of it thoroughly.

Ghot · Nov 4, 2021

Wisewiz said:
But we do have Summer, and we enjoy both days of it thoroughly.

Cracked me up. Almost fell out of my chair.

Winuser · Nov 4, 2021

This is a very interesting thread. I just used NirSoft TaskSchedulerView to disable cellular. I'll wait awhile before I delete any empty folders. The downloaded version of NirSoft that I used tonight is a portable version and nothing else was included.

Wisewiz · Nov 4, 2021

@Winuser. That's standard for Nir Sofer's programs. Good coder. Good guy. Useful stuff.

AddRAM · Nov 4, 2021

I killed all the files and turned off the Task on both PC`s, if anything funny happens I`ll post it.

Singleton · Nov 5, 2021

Ghot said:
Correct... they don't occupy much space. But... my OCD doesn't like them. :)

LOL, well then if your OCD can tolerate the occasional Blue Screen or CTD, then by all means start deleting things in the Operating System directory if they annoy you.

On a serious note, stash this link on another computer so you can find it when needed:

Recovery options in Windows - Microsoft Support

Learn about the recovery options in Windows. Find out how to reset your PC, go back to a previous version of Windows, or use media to reinstall Windows.

support.microsoft.com

Or as an alternative, there is a radio button for Explorer Options->View Tab to "Hide protected operating system files. (Reccomended)" if you are able to ignore things you can't see.

And while I am poking a bit of fun, I'm a bit OCD myself, these are actually serious alternatives.

Stigg · Nov 5, 2021

Just disabling the Provisioning Logon task worked for me.
I am not sure why some others are saying that they had to disable other tasks to stop the empty folders.
I am sure someone will enlighten me.

Ghot · Nov 5, 2021

Singleton said:
LOL, well then if your OCD can tolerate the occasional Blue Screen or CTD, then by all means start deleting things in the Operating System directory if they annoy you.

On a serious note, stash this link on another computer so you can find it when needed:

Uh... I don't GET blue screens. :)

/edit Well, I did have one in 2012, when I was overclocking a lot.

The-Hive · Nov 5, 2021

Wisewiz said:
Hey, Hive, we love ya, but you're wrong, but only because your long-term memory is failing. Years? I have trouble remembering what I had for breakfast. Nirsoft's software is almost without exception free of the need to install anything.

And it's -- without exception -- good stuff. Good stuff.

Thanks @Wisewiz I think your'e right, I get Nirsoft, NCH mixed up along with others who offer free software. I removed the post as is was incorrect Thanks for the heads up.

The-Hive · Nov 5, 2021

On this machine I deleted all the empty folders, didn't touch task scheduler and nothing has reappeared for 2 days now. I wonder if it is to do with machine being idle after startup. on the other machine I deleted all the empty folders, stopped the cellular task and they reappeared after a restart and waiting 10 mins. I re-enabled cellular and disabled local and that machine is fine now.

The-Hive · Nov 5, 2021

A little update, It looks like the logon task ran but didn't create any .tmp folders

Winuser · Nov 5, 2021

Wisewiz said:
@Winuser. That's standard for Nir Sofer's programs. Good coder. Good guy. Useful stuff.

I was referring to the earlier post from The-Hive.

Singleton · Nov 6, 2021

Ghot said:
Uh... I don't GET blue screens. :)

Ok, well keep deleting random stuff in the OS folder and let us know how that record stands in a few weeks.

Ghot · Nov 6, 2021

Singleton said:
Ok, well keep deleting random stuff in the OS folder and let us know how that record stands in a few weeks.

1. It's not random stuff.
2. I have full OS image backups.
3. Even with my tweaking, I don't get blue screens.
4. If I was just running around deleting random stuff you might have a point.

Feuer · Nov 7, 2021

Singleton said:
Ok, well keep deleting random stuff in the OS folder and let us know how that record stands in a few weeks.

But they are temporary folders, they are not necessary for the system anymore.

Also I erase tons of language folders from OS after clean installs.

The-Hive · Nov 7, 2021

@Feuer exactly what I said earlier about a .tmp file being just that temporary, if it was needed it would have a different extension. Good idea on all the language folders

The-Hive · Nov 10, 2021

Just updated to 22000.318 and I can report the "Logon" task remains disabled

Wisewiz · Nov 10, 2021

@Feuer

Where are these "tons of language folders" that you delete? I don't think I've ever encountered tons of language folders.

Thanks.

Solved Windows 10 & 11 create tons of empty folders in System32

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