So you're saying that (eg.) security patches 1 to 83 download eighty-three slightly different versions of file X, only the last of which is used. Presumably ver

So you're saying that (eg.) security patches 1 to 83 download eighty-three slightly different versions of file X, only the last of which is used. Presumably versions 1 to 82 shouldn't be saved -- and I don't see evidence in XP that they are for security updates. The original article -- here, by the way, http://catless.ncl.ac.uk/Risks/26.47.html#subj8 http://catless.ncl.ac.uk/Risks/26.47.html#subj8 says that the final result is 6.5GB of hard drive space for a patched XP install.