We are running low on disk space on a couple of our Windows 2000 Servers. Both contain i386 and INETPUB directories. One of them is a webserver but the other is not. Can I delete the INETPUB directory from the server that isn't a webserver? Can I delete the i386 directories from both servers if I have the original installation CD? I don't want to screw up anything but I need to recover as much disk space as possible. INETPUB just has the default directories and files.

INETPUB could be deleted but it takes up very little space anyway so it won't help you much. I wouldn't delete i386 if I was you!

Wizard ICT. Microsoft Certified Professional

Strange suggestion from an MCP.
There is no reason why you cannot delete the i386 directory to recover space since you state you have the original CD's.
What you can do is to patch the registry to look at the CD rom instead of C:\i386 (or wherever the directory was.) If you run Regedit & search for SOURCEPATH you can alter it to look at the CD Rom instead of the directory which you have removed. Apart from that I see no problems.

Bob Mitchell.

The statement is based on the fact that:
1) although the disks may be available now, they are generally lost when it actually comes to needing them!
2) Windows will look for the i386 folder in certain situations. As you rightly point out this can be changed, however it depends on the expertise of the user and the reaction they may have when the "unable to find..." message appears!

Either way the amount of space gained is not going to be great for a server and is a short term fix to a long term problem. A long term solution will eventually be needed (i.e. an extra HDD) so the problem may as well be addressed now rather than waiting until there are no more "unneeded folders" to delete!!
I agree that I should have explained this more in my first post, I just didn't have the time.

Wizard ICT. Microsoft Certified Professional

It MAY be a short term measure but in a commercial environment where losing a server for lack of space can be a "pink slip" error & you can't take the server down till the weekend it does the job usually, although it does suggest a lack of oversight.

Bob Mitchell.