In this post I will cover some steps you can perform to cleanup a Windows 7 Image to save space or prior to running Sysprep or other image capture software.
Make sure all updates are installed and any unnecessary software or files are removed.
Run the Disk Cleanup Utility by clicking the Start, type Disk Cleanup, click Disk Cleanup.
Go to the “More Options” tab and select cleanup all System Restore and Shadow Copies.
Then back on the main tab, select all everything except “Setup Log Files” and click the OK button.
Clear the any other browser history information (Chrome, FireFox, IE, etc.).
Clear out the Problem Reports:
Open Control Panel, under System and Security, click “Review your computers status”.
Click “Maintenance”, under Check for solutions to problem reports, click “View reliability history”.
Click “View all problem reports”.
At the bottom of the page, click “Clear all problem reports”.
Clear System Restore Data
Go to My Computer Properties.
In the left pane, click “System protection”.
Under Protection Settings, click “Configure”.
Under Disk Space Usage, click “Delete”.
Click “Continue”, and then click “OK”.
Delete all downloaded Windows Updates:
Stop the Windows Update Service – open a command prompt and type “net stop wuauserv”.
Delete the contents of the following folders:
C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\DataStore
C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download
Re-start the Windows Update Service in the same command prompt type “net start wuauserv”.
Optional: Delete these files and folders if you want:
C:\PerfLogs
C:\Temp
C:\Windows\Temp
Empty the Recycle Bin.
Now you can use your new drive space or run Sysprep or other Image capture software you use.