Q. How do I remove a component from my Windows Server 2008 R2 server core installation?

John Savill

June 1, 2009

1 Min Read
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A. The Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM) tool can permanently remove components from the file system, which means the role or feature can never be installed on the OS unless you perform a full OS reinstallation. Only remove components if you're sure you'll never need them.

  1. Goto the %windir%servicingpackages folder.

  2. Take a note of the component you want to remove (it has a .mum extension) and copy the file name (without the .mum extension)

    Click to expand.

  3. At an elevated command prompt, run the command

    dism /online /remove-package /packagename:

Note that it's generally not recommended that you remove components, because you can't reverse this operation. This function is there for specific situations, such as trying to run on a flash drive, embedded device, or other system without much disk space.

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Check out hundreds more useful Q&As like this in John Savill's FAQ for Windows. Also, watch instructional videos made by John at ITTV.net.

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