# folders "Assembly" and "native Images"



## br945 (Sep 9, 2013)

My Windows folder has suddenly bloated by nearly 500 mb.

I find that a folder "Assembly" added 200 mb under "native Images" last week.

what is the function of these folders/files.

can they be simply removed?

thanks

OS is win Xp


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## alpenadiver (Jul 31, 2007)

The 'assembly' folder is for .net framework, as is the Native Images.
Assembly Cache Viewer (Shfusion.dll)

From MSDN; "Native Image Cache is a special area in GAC (Global Assembly Cache)".

It would say it would be a bad idea to move the folder. You may have had a .Net Framework update


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## br945 (Sep 9, 2013)

thanks for the response.
1. i expected that it was due to Paint.net program and uninstalled the same. still the assembly folder retains the size.

i attach a screenshot of the "assembly" folder. please see items 5 and 6.
item 5 shows a Native Images file created on 9th sep.2013 with a large size of 199 MB and item 6 with a size of 245 MB created on 1/31/2013.
Note: please see the screenshot of "nativeimages" content dated 9th sep 2013. (attached).
surprisingly, while the size of this shown in "assembly" folder shows 199 MB, the details show an addition of hardly 7 MB on 9th. (items 1 to 9)

I am unable to understand why suddenly this file was created on 9th sep.2013 or how is it created.

is there any way in which i can manage this assembly folder to retrieve space and also prevent these files from being created in future?

thanks


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

http://www.techsupportforum.com/forums/f10/c-windows-assembly-folder-373786.html


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## alpenadiver (Jul 31, 2007)

If your looking to free up some space, why not uninstall some programs that aren't used, run CCleaner to clean up your file system (don't use the registry cleaner)

I can't answer how the .Net software works, or why your Native Images increased in size. 

Check out Google:
https://www.google.com/search?q=C:\...z:distributionID}:{moz:locale}:{moz:official}

https://www.google.com/search?q=C:\...z:distributionID}:{moz:locale}:{moz:official}


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

> If space is a problem, have a look in:
> C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download
> 
> The contents of that folder are Windows Updates. They serve no purpose after installation and can safely be deleted. You could claim quite a bit of space by deleting those files.


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## br945 (Sep 9, 2013)

alpenadiver said:


> If your looking to free up some space, why not uninstall some programs that aren't used, run CCleaner to clean up your file system (don't use the registry cleaner)
> 
> I can't answer how the .Net software works, or why your Native Images increased in size.
> 
> ...


thanks.
1. the URLs dont work. 
2. I have cleaned up with CCleaner (do it from time to time)

I referred the problem specifically only because it has just occurred last week when the assembly folder suddenly bloated, leaving me with a huge problem of space.


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## LMiller7 (Jun 21, 2010)

The contents and size of the windows\assembly folder can change with a Windows Update or installation of a new application. I have the same folders on Windows 7 but both are larger than yours. On Windows XP I have the same v2.0.50727_32 folder and it too is larger. I don't consider this a problem.

For anyone but a real .NET expert any modification of these folders is very risky.

The concepts of folder size and last modified date can be complex and don't always mean what might seem apparent. There are multiple possible explanations for what you are seeing. I will not attempt to explain them.


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## br945 (Sep 9, 2013)

LMiller7 said:


> The contents and size of the windows\assembly folder can change with a Windows Update or installation of a new application. I have the same folders on Windows 7 but both are larger than yours. On Windows XP I have the same v2.0.50727_32 folder and it too is larger. I don't consider this a problem.
> 
> For anyone but a real .NET expert any modification of these folders is very risky.
> 
> The concepts of folder size and last modified date can be complex and don't always mean what might seem apparent. There are multiple possible explanations for what you are seeing. I will not attempt to explain them.


Thanks
perhaps, the reason for my query is not clear.
there was never any problem so far.
the size has increased only last week which suddenly reduced my free space/ no windows updates in these days/


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## AdmiralRob (Oct 12, 2015)

I know this thread is old but it's the only place closely related to the problem I found myself in.


Windows\assembly\NativeImages temp directory was the problem for me on file size.

the C:\Windows\assembly\NativeImages_v4.0.30319_32 folder had a temp directory in it that was 8gigs in size. I cut that directory and pasted it to another drive so I would have enough space on my 60gig SSD drive to install win10.

Just thought I'd throw that out there, so far everything has worked fine. 

But this is the place Google took me to so I figured i'd put my results here for future generations.


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