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Is it safe to delete old Update Service installers?

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Hi,

 

Is it safe to delete the contents of C:\ProgramData\National Instruments\Update Service\Installers ? My PC has 7 GB of these files from 5 updates, and I'd like to remove them.

 

Does the NI software still need those installers for anything?

 

 

Thanks!

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I believe that they are needed if something needs to be reinstalled. Personally I have a USB hard drive that I use for installing updates. That way I don't have to worry about how much space they take, and I always have them if I need them.

 

Mike...


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Certain patches I will keep, like the latest LabVIEW patches.  But most updates I will not even apply since they will be in the next shipment of NI software every 6 months or so.

 

But yes, it is safe to delete those installers unless you might have to ininstall that update.


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JKSH wrote:

Is it safe to delete the contents of C:\ProgramData\National Instruments\Update Service\Installers ? My PC has 7 GB of these files from 5 updates, and I'd like to remove them.


Wow, I never noticed that folder before. Mine has over 33 GB! 😮

 

(This certainly looks like a candidate if I ever need to free up some disk space! :D)

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If I delete the installers in C:\Program Data\National Service\Update Service\Installers and after some time I decide to remove all the National Instruments products from my computer using the uninstaller, can I have problems to uninstall them or not?

For example I am using LV 2012 SP1, and one of the folders I would like to delete is LabVIEW 2012 SP1 (32-bit) 12.1.0.

 

My question arises because, for example, I checked some of the msi files and I found that they are doubled: both in the folder cited above, and in the folder C:\Program Files\National Instrumenst\Shared\Product cache

 

My feeling is that it should be completely safe to delete such installers...maybe the global uninstaller for all the NI software is pointing to the Shared\ Product cache, but I don't know...

Anyone knows for sure?

 

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As far as I can tell, they are just DVD images.  Since you can remove an install DVD, I don't see why you can't do the same with the image.  But I would keep acopy of it SOMEwhere (even make the DVDs from the images if you have to).

Bill
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@crossrulz wrote:

Certain patches I will keep, like the latest LabVIEW patches.  But most updates I will not even apply since they will be in the next shipment of NI software every 6 months or so.

 

But yes, it is safe to delete those installers unless you might have to ininstall that update.


LOL I've had this happen to me - with LV 2013!  I dl'd it from NI, created the DVDs and installed it.  Did the same with the device driver DVD.  The next day in my email: "Your 2013 discs are on the way!"  😄

Bill
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Accepted by JKSH

That folder actually holds downloads from the NI Update Service, if you go to File >> Preferences you can see the folder where it saves it's files (setting this to another drive is great for saving space on SSDs).

update service path.png

 

Deleting thesse installers often can be a problem if you are building installers for your applications and it wants to include software patches with the packages you are selecting. Patches often are released after the Disk Shipments so you can't just point at those for the media.

 

Otherwise they are just installation files and have zero effect on using your software day to day.

Craig H. | CLA CTA CLED | Applications Engineer | NI Employee 2012-2023
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