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We have a few computers wtih Literally hundreds of 1gb update MSI files downloading constantly

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Windows 11 machines, the C:\Windows\Installer folder gets dozens of 1gb .msi files every month? They keep downloading to the folder and never disappear. Some machines have filled up over 300gb of these files hitting that folder.

Any idea what might cause it? It's not a folder we can just willy nilly delete stuff from...any ideas?

General troubleshooting

D

divyap69359112Correct answer

Adobe Employee

We were able to resolve the issue by creating the following registry entries for Acrobat / Acrobat Reader. Once the registries are applied the next update for the App will remove the old Cache files

For Acrobat Reader (32-bit):
Registry path:
HKLM\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Policies\Adobe\Acrobat Reader\DC\FeatureLockdown

Create the following DWORD value:

Name: PatchCleanFlag
Value: 1

For Acrobat Reader (64-bit):
Registry path:
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\DC\FeatureLockdown

Create the following DWORD value:

Name: PatchCleanFlag
Value: 1

For Adobe Acrobat DC Pro:
Registry path:
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\DC\FeatureLockdown

Create the following DWORD value:

Name: PatchCleanFlag
Value: 1

M

magnetic_niceness575a

Participant

Hello Adobe Team,

I am experiencing the same issue, but on a much larger scale.

My Windows 11 computer has 312 Adobe-signed MSP patch files consuming 302.36 GB in C:\Windows\Installer.

I have already uninstalled Adobe Acrobat Reader, but these patch files remain.

I also checked the installed application registry entries and searched for Acrobat-related Windows Installer registrations, but the searches returned no matches.

I noticed your suggested solution using PatchCleanFlag=1.

Could you please clarify the following?

Since Adobe Reader is already uninstalled, will the PatchCleanFlag solution still work?
Do I need to reinstall Adobe Reader to perform the cleanup?
Is there an official and safe method to remove these leftover MSP files without affecting Windows or other installed applications?
Could you please provide step-by-step instructions?

My C: drive currently has only about 41 GB of free space, and I urgently need to recover storage.

I have not manually deleted any MSP files.

Thank you for your assistance.

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Meenakshi Negi

Community Manager

Hi magnetic_niceness575a,

Thank you for reaching out and providing the detailed information. We are sorry to hear that you are experiencing the same issue. I understand the concern, especially given that approximately 302 GB is occupied by MSP files and only about 41 GB remains on the system drive.

The important point in your situation is that Acrobat Reader has already been uninstalled.

The PatchCleanFlag=1 workaround previously shared is intended for an installed Acrobat/Reader product. The Adobe employee specifically states that after the registry entries are applied, the next application update removes the old cache files. Therefore, if Reader is no longer installed, there may be no subsequent Reader update to trigger that cleanup.

Since Reader has already been uninstalled, run the Adobe Acrobat/Reader Cleaner Tool. The Cleaner Tool is a last-resort utility for cleaning a machine following a failed or partial uninstall. It can remove leftover files, registry information, preferences, and other remnants following the normal uninstall process. We specifically instruct users to run the normal product uninstaller first, which you have already done.

Please ensure that you:

Back up important files/settings.
Close Adobe applications.
Run the Cleaner Tool with administrator permissions.
Select the applicable standalone Acrobat/Reader product.
Restart Windows after cleanup.

Check the Installer folder again after cleanup and restart. If the hundreds of .MSP files remain, I would not delete them manually based solely on their Adobe signature. Given the unusually large amount of space involved, the safer approach is to verify whether Windows Installer still references those patches before removing anything.

Let us know how it goes.

Thanks,

Meenakshi

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M

magnetic_niceness575a

Participant

Hello Adobe Team,

Thank you for recommending the official Acrobat Cleaner Tool.

I downloaded and successfully ran the 64-bit Adobe Acrobat DC Cleaner Tool and completed the removal procedure.

However, after cleanup, all 312 Adobe-signed MSP files are still present in C:\Windows\Installer, occupying exactly 302.36 GB.

The Cleaner Tool did not recover the storage.

Could you please escalate this issue to the Acrobat technical team and provide an official procedure to verify the remaining Windows Installer patch registrations and safely remove any confirmed orphaned patches?

Please also confirm whether this requires Microsoft Windows Installer support.

Thank you.

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D

divyap69359112Correct answer

Adobe Employee

We were able to resolve the issue by creating the following registry entries for Acrobat / Acrobat Reader. Once the registries are applied the next update for the App will remove the old Cache files

For Acrobat Reader (32-bit):
Registry path:
HKLM\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Policies\Adobe\Acrobat Reader\DC\FeatureLockdown

Create the following DWORD value:

Name: PatchCleanFlag
Value: 1

For Acrobat Reader (64-bit):
Registry path:
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\DC\FeatureLockdown

Create the following DWORD value:

Name: PatchCleanFlag
Value: 1

For Adobe Acrobat DC Pro:
Registry path:
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\DC\FeatureLockdown

Create the following DWORD value:

Name: PatchCleanFlag
Value: 1

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Dave Creamer of IDEAS

Community Expert

For the uninitiated, like myself, HKLM is listed as HKey_Local_Machine.

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David Creamer: Community Expert (ACI and ACE 1995-2023)

D

default25029510nlu198

Participant

I have the same issues and just made a post. I removed a total of 8GB of used install files, (I uninstalled Acrobat and that is the amount the folder went down), and 30GB of old unused install files, mostly .msi. How do I know this, all signed as Adobe files. The whole system used around 2.5GB of install files for all the other programs installed on the computer. It appears there is a bug that no old files are being removed after an update. 38GB of used space is ridiclous. This needs to be addressed as the only solution is to manually delete files out of a directory that you should not have to touch.

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Dave Creamer of IDEAS

Community Expert

Is there an Adobe connection here? It appears to be a Microsoft question without other info.

BTW, I don't have an Installer folder in my C:\Windows folder. Are these from a company such as Dell that might have a bunch of their own utilities installed?

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David Creamer: Community Expert (ACI and ACE 1995-2023)

C

chad_9600Author

Participant

C:\Windows\Installer is hidden by default you have to type the address in order to ge there. I just now found that uninstalling acrobat and creative cloud from one of the less affected machines removed them...I have excitement. If a fresh reinstall helps that makes me feel a fair sight safer. Thanks for your response!

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Dave Creamer of IDEAS

Community Expert

OR you could just turn on View>Show>Hidden Items...

I have a lot of files there too, dating back a few years. My entire Installer folder is slightly less than 50 GB or 0.05 TB (out of a 2 TB m.2 drive), so I'll probably look into them more about it but I'm not going to worry about 50 GB. The .msi is a Microsoft Software Installer file and I believe related to OS updates and patches, not Adobe.

Here is an article on about them:

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/msi-and-msp-files-they-are-nothing-but-the-cache/254b87e7-57fa-4a25-89f0-19bf189a072e

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David Creamer: Community Expert (ACI and ACE 1995-2023)

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