How to reclaim space after applying Windows 7/2008 R2 Service Pack 1

An often asked question is how to reclaim space after a service pack installation.  We've talked about VSP1CLN and COMPCLN for Windows Vista and 2008.  Now that SP1 is out, it's time to talk about how to do this on Win7/R2.  It's a DISM command now:

DISM.exe /Image:C:\test\offline /Cleanup-Image /spsuperseded /hidesp

NOTE: This command is from the help file and might not be the command you need.  For example, if you're running against an online installation, the command is dism /online /cleanup-image /spsuperseded

You can also use the disk clean up wizard to remove the service pack files.

Of course, either of these will make the service pack permanent which means that you cannot uninstall it from the system once you do this.  So, use this with caution.  As in previous cleanup commands, this will remove any superceded package from the system on the next scavenging pass and reclaim your space.  Feel free to ask questions if you have them.

--Joseph