Fed up with Steam DirectX redistributables taking unnecessary space?

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_PixelNinja

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Feb 12, 2011
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Many people have complained about Steam installing the DirectX redistributables every time we install a game. We know these files take up unnecessary space on our drives and there is not much we can do about Steam installing the whole package each time. However, what we can do is find the unnecessary files and remove them safely with this tool I found called Steam Cleaner:
The good old time:

When you installed a video game from a CD or a DVD, you installed some redistributable packages too : DirectX, Games For Windows Live Redist, VC Redist, Rapture3D, NVidia PhysX Redist, etc. They were installed from the CD/DVD, and those installers didn't stay on your hard drive.

Now, Steam, the problem:

The Steam application allows you to download games from the Internet and install them, but what about these redistributable packages ? You probably saw they are installed the first time you launch your game, OK, but what happens to these files when they go wasted ? The answer is very simple : Steam doesn't delete them. An example : install the first complete season of Sam & Max (6 episodes) : every episode is about ~300MB. For each of them, you can count 100MB for the DirectX redistributable package. Yes, it is about a third of the game files size, and they are not removed by Steam. For 6 episodes, you could save 600MB. Imagine what you could save for 10 or 20 games.

The solution:

A little tool that is able to list every redistributable package stored on your Steam directories, and allows you to remove them. This is the goal of TikiOne-Steam-Cleaner. This is a very simple program : set the Steam SteamApps folder (this is a sub-folder of the Steam application), click "Search", you choose what file or folder you want to remove.
Click to expand...

I have tried the application myself and it removed 3GB of files. I have friends who have had up to 6GB freed on their drives.

You'll find Steam Cleaner here. This is a free OpenSource application made by a French programmer called Jonathan Lermitage.
 
This could be useful for me.. my steam folder is 1TB :| No mods either. Will try when I get home from work.
 
Someone please try this first and let me know if it's spyware that will steal my Steam credentials and send them to a shady french guy.
Thanks
 
ObiDamnKenobi said:
Someone please try this first and let me know if it's spyware that will steal my Steam credentials and send them to a shady french guy.
Thanks
Click to expand...

If its only looking that the filesystem in itself, that won't happen.

Thanks for the find, _PixelNinja.

Edit: I did it remotely & it works perfectly. It only looks at the steamapps folder (nothing more) & I saved 1GB.
 
Last edited:
CrimsonKnight13 said:
If its only looking that the filesystem in itself, that won't happen.

Thanks for the find, _PixelNinja.

Edit: I did it remotely & it works perfectly. It only looks at the steamapps folder (nothing more) & I saved 1GB.
Click to expand...

Awesome find PixelNinja!

2.5 GB just got cleaned up here. Works perfectly. :)
 
I don't mind the space it takes up as much as the extra wait time when launching a game for the first time.
 
Saved me a solid 1.5 gigs. I always try to keep my computer clean, I'm glad people come up with programs like this!
 
Nice! I have been annoyed by this for a long time. Not that I don't have the hard drive space, it's just dumb and pointless.

Thanks!
 
I've been using that for awhile, it's safe. It is also an almost must have for those of us with their steam folders on an SSD.
 
Wow. Saved me 1.2GB. Not a huge amount of space over-all, but still surprising that there is so much.
 
Another thanks! Cleared up 964MB. This does more than DX though. OpenAL. VC, DotNet....
 
Space.png


Wowzers Bowzers! nice save on HD Space! :)
 
The day I have to worry about disk space is the day I stop using a computer. Its there to be used rather than ti be freed up by some shady 3rd party app.
 
1r6wdd.png


Which seems like lots, but it's on half full 2TB drive though (it's just for steam)...:D

Wonder how it affects cache verification, and if you'll have to download these extra files again. Might also not be good for "transporting" the steam folder to another computer where you'll have to redownload these files to reinstall it on the new system.
 
I got around 600mb since I usually delete the games I beat/currently am not playing because even my 240gb SSD fills up fast :(
 
Well I got 1.5GB back out of my 10TB total storage lol


Oh well I hate trash so it was worth it.
 
If your running out of space, I feel bad for you son.
I got 99 terabytes but Steam aint 1.

bfd_01.jpg
 
Just a note... I only have one game installed in Steam right now, only freed up 54mb. However, I started looking through the folders of other installed games and on my own removed almost 2GB worth of DirectX distros...
 
You saved 4736.55 MB

so fresh and so clean :D

My account's probably compromised by this lil hacker scam as well :)
 
Step 1: Navigate to Steam folder in winders exploder
Step 2: Type "redist OR directx" in the search box
Step 3: Wait...
Step 4: CTRL+A, Right click, Properties if you want to see how big it all is (3.something gigs in my case) or JUST BALEET THEM!

There, 3rd party app whiners appeased.
 
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