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The question others are asking is probably "OK, so what's a C:\I386 directory?"
In a nutshell, it's a copy of Windows, and yes, you can move it, but I don't recommend deleting it completely. It's just too darned useful.
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First I'll bore you with a little trivia: the "I386" name originated as a way to identify what CPU the operating system was for. "I" stands for Intel, and "386" stands for the "80386", the minimum processor required. (The 80386 is an older version of what we now know as the Pentium processors.)
So the I386 directory tree contains a copy of Windows targeted for Intel's 80386 and later processors.
The I386 directory is not the directory that Windows actually runs from, but rather it contains a copy of Windows that you can setup from. Originally it was simply a copy of the I386 directory from your installation CD. You'll probably find "setup.exe" there, which is the Windows XP initial setup program.
Since Windows doesn't run from that directory, it's actually not required to be around at all. You can delete it, and Windows will still continue to run. But Wait! You still, really, don't want to delete it. At least not without saving a copy of it somewhere, somehow. You see, when you install new hardware, Windows will try to install the drivers for it, from your original Windows installation CD-ROM. If you have a copy of the I386 directory from that CD-ROM, Windows can look there instead - much quicker and much more convenient than inserting the CD each time.
And of course if your computer didn't come with a Windows CD-ROM (as I believe it always should, though not all manufacturers do), the I386 directory may be the only place these files are available.
So don't delete it. Move it somewhere else instead. If you have a second hard disk that has room, great. If you have another machine on your local network that has room, it's ok to copy it there too - just keep straight which machine it belongs to.
As an example, let's copy all of C:\I386 to a new directory on the D: drive. We'll do it using the Command Prompt. Press Start, Run, enter CMD and press Enter. In the resulting box, we'll enter the following commands:
- D: - this will make the "D:" drive the current drive.
- MKDIR D:\I386 - create a new "I386" directory at the root of the D: drive.
- CD D:\I386 - make D:\I386 the current directory
- XCOPY C:\I386 /s/h - copy C:\I386 to the current directory. "/s" means copy the contents of all subdirectories, and "/h" means copy all hidden and system files as well.
Here's what that might look like:
The exact files being copied may differ slightly, and there will be several hundred files copied before it's all done. Once it is done, you can delete the original on c:\I386.
Related:
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Ask Leo! - I don't have an installation CD for Windows XP - what if I need one?
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Ask Leo! - How can I install hardware if I no longer have my Windows XP CD?
Article C2453 - November 4, 2005
When I try to copy I386, as you describe, I get the message: Cannot copy or create I386. Access denied. How do I get around this?
Posted by: Sharen Malone at December 23, 2008 11:28 PMCan I copy the i386 folder by just copy pasting it? instead of the cmd method Leo used in this answer?
Posted by: Jin at January 25, 2009 7:56 AMi dont have the I386 folder in the root of c:\(c:\i386) and i want to reinstall my computer
Posted by: vaishnav at February 23, 2009 6:21 AMmy laptop is 3 years old and i somtimes feel like to throw my computer out of my window!!
reply to MY E-MAIL please
regards
-vaishnav
unfortunately i deleted i386 folder, please tell me how can i get it back?
Posted by: sunking at June 23, 2009 5:52 AMI recently purchased a new PC with Windows 7. I used the Easy Transfer program to move files from my XP computer to the new one. It copied the whole I386 directory. Is there any point in having it ona Windows 7 computer?
Posted by: Dave at January 31, 2010 3:58 PM