Unknown Windows Folder

I just tried to "safely remove" my external hard drive and I got an error message telling me that "the generic volume cannot be stopped right now". I open up the external drive and I notice a folder titled "Windows" The file hierarchy is as follows: Windows > winsxs > Policies > x86_policy.8.0.Microsoft.VC80.CRT_1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b_x-ww_77c24773 >8.0.50727.163.cat and 8.0.50727.163.policy What the heck is this stuff? Can I delete the Windows folder? Do any of my programs depend on this?

Hello, Sxs stands for side by side versioning. This was an feature first introduced, oddly enough, in Windows ME and of course improved in XP. It was Microsoft's solution to the "DLL Hell" issue that plagued Win 9x and provided a way to support multiple versions of same named DLLs. Windows would recognize a potential conflict and place an incoming DLL in the Winsxs tree rather than overwriting it elsewhere, would store applicable registry data, etc. You can "rename" the folder, and if there are problems, name it back. If there are no problems you can most likely safely delete the folder/file.

Thanks!