Can winsxs be moved and if so how?
Solution 1:
Yes, you can. Read this.
Be warned: If you move it, Windows can get unstable, and BTW they'll be regenerated at some point.
That 18 GB isn't real since a lot of those files are hardlinks to files elsewhere and are counted twice.
I've been obsessed with winsxs starting with Windows Vista and after with Windows 7 until I gave it up.
If you want to do it, I recommend to read blog post Disk Space before.
Don't delete it!
Solution 2:
Moving the WinSxS is not advisable because doing so can severely break your system.
In short, Winsxs, which stands for ‘Windows Side By Side’, is Windows native assembly cache. Libraries which are being by multiple applications are stored there. This feature was first introduced, in Windows ME and was considered as Microsoft’s solution to the so-called ‘dll hell’ issues that plagued Windows 9x.
In that folder are all the dlls that can be used by various different applications, the only way to reduce its size is by uninstalling applications.
There's more information on the WinSxS folder here.
As mentioned, Windows stores the old dll’s and library components in the WinSxS folder. Now if a newer version of this file is a part of the OS, but a particular application requires a particular older version for running, then the older version from the winsxs folder will be used, leaving the newer version in its present place, for other applications which may require it.
So obviously you cannot delete this directory or move it elsewhere. Nor is it advisable to delete anything here, as such a step could probably make your applications un-workable or even break your system! If you have many applications installed, you can expect to have a jumbo sized winsxs folder.
Solution 3:
You can move WinSXS. I have done it before, but it's not easy. The best way is to attach the SSD to another computer, and use that computer to establish the junctions.
However, there is no reason to move the WinSXS folder. WinSXS is, most likely, not much bigger than a few hundred megabytes. This discussion talks about WinSXS and the misconception that its taking up a lot of space. As it turns out, the problem is with Windows Explorer incorrectly reporting the size of the folder, not the size of the folder itself.
Solution 4:
It's a bad idea. It's like asking to move the old System32 folder to a different folder. I wouldn't dare do that on an older version of Windows.
If anything, I'd try moving the %Windir%\Installer directory.
That directory holds all the files necessary to reinstall your programs. WinSXS folder is heavily integrated into the system while the \Installer folder is used less often.