I was looking through my computer for culprits of high-disk usage when I noticed two suspicious folders using 548mb + 155mb = 703mb of space:

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Apple Computer\Installer Cache
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Apple\Installer Cache

If you needed another reason to hate the Apple installer, after they tried to push their crapware Safari browser to all windows users, now you have one–it’s bloated and wastes valuable hard disk space by keeping copies of every version of every Apple update you ever download.

Update: I found another 900mb of iPhone software updates being cached here:

C:\Documents and Settings\Elliott Back\Application Data\Apple Computer\iTunes\iPhone Software Updates

4 Responses to “Apple Installer Cache Hogs Free Disk Space”

1. bene.b says:

   2/19/2009 at 5:53 pm

   Sorry I don't want to seem ignorant but what program are you using to visualize the size of the different folders (screenshot seems like on WinXP)?

   Reply
   • Elliott Back says:

     2/20/2009 at 10:52 pm

     A piece of freeware called TreeSize – http://www.jam-software.com/treesize/

     Reply
2. sugarcane says:

   3/25/2009 at 1:30 pm

   the system does this so you can ’step-back’ if something goes wrong. I used to work in a mac shop centre I’ve seen it a few times where an update has screwed something or other up so I think such a tiny amount of hard disk space is worth it in the long run.

   Reply
3. Bill Starr says:

   4/21/2009 at 10:53 am

   Is there a way to flush these cache files, short of manually deleting them via Windows Explorer or in a Command Prompt?

   Thanks, Bill Starr
   Columbus, Indiana
   Tue, 21 Apr 2009, 10:53 am EDT

   Reply