Can I delete the System32 and winsxs folders from Windows? [duplicate]

No!

The winsxs folder is used for keeping previous versions of files that are replaced during setups. For example, in previous versions of Windows, if you installed an application that required changing abc.dll, it would just do it. In Windows Vista and 7 it will keep a copy of the original and changed abc.dll and keep a version in winsxs so that each application can keep its own version.


You shouldn't mess with the contents of winsxs under any circumstances.

See this blog post to get an understanding of what it's for.