It happens that some particularly curious users tend to look at what exactly is in the system partition with the operating system, and they meet the Inetpub directory there. What kind of folder is this - many users have no idea, considering its occurrence as a result of viruses. Some try to remove it right away. But is it necessary to do this?
Inetpub: what is this folder?
I immediately want to warn users of any level of preparation that the appearance of this directory is not a consequence of virus attacks.
The question is how to delete the Inetpub folder (Windows 10), and in general, whether it is necessary to deal with this, let us leave aside, but look at the directory itself. It may appear when you use some Microsoft services or when installing certain games.
In fact, the contents of this directory are a special set of Internet servers created by Microsoft, for which IIS (Internet Information Server) is responsible for the use of the system.
If access to such services or web development is not provided on the local computer, you can disable the service and clear the directory from contents.
Inetpub folder (Windows 10): can I delete it in the usual way?
But the main problem is that the usual technique will not help here. You can manually try to get rid of the directory. There is probably no need to explain how to delete the Inetpub folder (just perform the usual operation in Explorer or in any other file manager). But the trouble is that upon rebooting it will be restored. This is due only to the fact that IIS is in an active state, although it is disabled by default.
Disabling IIS
So, it’s already a little clear what constitutes a component of the Inetpub system, what is this folder and the service responsible for it, too. Now a few words about the correctness of disabling the Microsoft service (you need to do this at least for the reason that the service itself uses a lot of RAM).
First of all, you should use the programs and components section, where in the list of components you need to look at the line indicating IIS. If for some reason they are in an active state, you just need to remove the label from the line. After clicking the “OK” button to save the changes, you will have to wait a bit until they take effect, and after the process is completed, a complete reboot of the system is required.
After the restart, the contents of the Inetpub directory will be completely cleared. Now, if you want, you can send an empty folder to the "Trash" or bypass it when you delete, using the combination of Shift + Del. However, keep in mind that if the service is activated again, accordingly, the re-appearance of the directory just examined cannot be avoided.
Possible problems with access to some resources: editing the Hosts file
This is the state of affairs with the Inetpub directory. What is this folder, we have already figured out. Now a few words about the possible blocking of access to some resources. According to user reviews, after removing this component, such problems are sometimes observed.
However, it is worth noting that this is practically not connected with IIS and the remote folder. To begin with, it is worth checking the system for viruses, as some of them can actually implement access restrictions. However, in most cases, they make their own entries in the Hosts file. You need to find and edit it.
In the system folder, go to the System32 directory, then Drivers, and finally to the directory etc. Open the desired file and look at its contents. The ending line should be the local address of the local host, which starts with the value 127.0. All addresses below this line are blocked resources, so you should simply delete such entries.
Conclusion
From the foregoing, the simplest conclusion can be made: deleting a folder and disabling the corresponding service will not particularly affect the system’s performance. It is only necessary to approach this issue from the right side, since regular deletion will not work. However, if the use of some programs involves direct access to it in the process, shutdown is not recommended. But ordinary users are much easier, because the service itself is initially turned off by default, and this does not affect Internet surfing in any way.