So, use another operating system. Simples.

Faciles!

In reply to a post by yarwell:

The issue remains why there is so much stuff in there that the system requirements for the OS are exceeded. I don't need a Korean grammar checker, etc etc

That's the crux of the matter. Not only does winsxs take control of what is on the system out of the hands of techs, MS are closely guarding how it's all put together (does anyone know how to edit it without breaking it?).

Power to MS, and within that might lie potential for privacy issues. If we don't understand what it's doing and how it's working, how can we know if it's safe (not now, but in ten years time).

I would like to be able to chop off as much of the content of my hard drive as possible, regardless of the software maker.

In reply to a post by yarwell:

The issue remains why there is so much stuff in there that the system requirements for the OS are exceeded. I don't need a Korean grammar checker, etc etc

There's a lot of software from numerous companies that install all the languages with no option to only install the languages you want. Some examples include Ccleaner, Defraggler, SuperAntiSpyware, Audacity, FileZilla, Malwarebytes, etc. Whilst there 's no excuse for any of them, including Microsoft, to do this, why single Microsoft out for criticism when lots of other software waste HDD space for unwanted and unnecessary languages?

I don't know whether it's lazy Installer writers or what, but it annoys me far more than the size of the Winsxs folder.

In reply to a post by AEP:

So, use another operating system. Simples.

I do, I just also get to help other people who have run out of hard disk or partition space.

Win7 and 8 appear to have the same architecture issues but less field time / service packs to create the bloat.

When I look at the file list below I feel that lots of old versions are hanging around after SP and other updates :-

316 c:\windows\winsxs\x86_wsdapi_31bf3856ad364e35_6.0.6000.16903_none_bcd054bd502d52a6
317 c:\windows\winsxs\x86_wsdapi_31bf3856ad364e35_6.0.6000.21103_none_bd59c9aa694b25b2
345 c:\windows\winsxs\x86_wsdapi_31bf3856ad364e35_6.0.6001.18306_none_beb994414d512f9c
345 c:\windows\winsxs\x86_wsdapi_31bf3856ad364e35_6.0.6001.22491_none_bedce04e66bc4c2c
349 c:\windows\winsxs\x86_wsdapi_31bf3856ad364e35_6.0.6002.18005_none_c09f05df4a786b69
349 c:\windows\winsxs\x86_wsdapi_31bf3856ad364e35_6.0.6002.18085_none_c048867f4ab94af1
349 c:\windows\winsxs\x86_wsdapi_31bf3856ad364e35_6.0.6002.22194_none_c0c6531463dfed55

I think uninstalling Windows is a pretty difficult option if you don't like the bloat. The rest can be uninstalled.

When I move to a new system, and assuming I do before this one packs up, I'll most likely tinker with winsxs. Just for fun. Not keeping my hopes up though.

I would applaud MS if they had some cleaning utility that could be run to analyse and clean out the unneeded stuff. Or even better, since we have all this cloud-based data nowadays, why not have the necessary stuff on local and everything else remote for when required?

I'd also accept it if they owned up and said "all that disk space is the sacrifice you make to get stability over previous operating systems". If they then allowed the folder to be transferable to another drive or partition, then I would really applaud them.

Win 7&8 both 10 gigs

You're obsessed! If it was in any other folder you wouldn't care!