Can I move or delete my I386 directory to free up some space?

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My Vaio PCG-V505BX is a circa 2003 XP Notebook. The i386 is useless, were I to do the factory reinstall back to Aug 03 factory settings I wouldn't have any patches, no SP2 it would be a mess or at least a 4 year old OS...if it worked at all. Where I messed up was making the partitioned D: larger than C: when I bought the Vaio.

I have never been able to use i386 when prompted to "Insert Windows CD" to access a needed file.

dennis

I can tell you why I don't like this directory, because windows saves old, buggy, vulnerable copies of files in there. And then you run a tool like the Secunia PSI and get reports of this buggy files although you computer is generally perfectly patched and updated.

I have AVG free for anti virus software? When I scanned today it has taken over an hour to scan through the mediactr cabinet file inside by I386 file? Is this normal? The only thing I have recently changed is to add ITunes and about 20 G of music. (My own CDs, not downloaded items)

I was in my c drive when i mistakenly moved the I386 into another folder which I didn't create. I decided to copy it back and the prompt was it can not be copied. I entered into this folder where the new I386 was, and couldn't open the I386. Now the new I386 is with a less size, meaning some of the files in there are gone, I don't know how and the I386 in c:/ is empty. Sounds bad, what should I do?

What if the i386 folder in my C drive is, I believe, to be created from my old XP cd installation that was still there after upgrading to Vista (I know this because it has a "Tour Windows XP" shortcut in there that doesn't even work anymore, P.S. though, I am confused at why the modified date is 20/02/2008), then can I deleted?

Can you give me the path where the i386 folder is located ? Mine is located in the following path :-
rootdrive:\WINDOWS\ServicePackFiles\i386

The last comment, by Joe, May 24, 2008, raises an interesting question: why do we need two I386 folders, one in windows and one in "ServicePackFiles" under windows?

And in addition, there are other redundant files, such as dllcache, $Uninstall..., etc. Is there a guide to "Windows" directories that are safe to delete?

Many thanks for any answer.

Michael Bates

it says that the folders in my pc --C:\WINDOWS\Service Pack Files\i…, C:\WINDOWS\System32,& C:\i386---were all have virus. is it safe to delete these folders?????pls help!!thanks in advance

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?

Can I copy the i386 folder by just copy pasting it? instead of the cmd method Leo used in this answer?

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