I removed these files (see attached):
and ended up with:
Delete only the components you know you don’t use.
and ended up with:
Delete only the components you know you don’t use.
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How much did it speed up?
A great deal actually, I still have the files backed up so you can just put them back.
The list may not be exhaustive but I’ve always looked for ways to improve the load time of Cubase and that is one simple way to achieve a faster load time.
This is what I ended up with in my Components folder:
Fortunately, the system is modular enough to allow it without any detriment to the programs’ operation, ie no cross-dependencies in terms of components except for one file which you need to keep:
Cubase Plug-in Set.vst3
but the internal VST2 files and the rest of the internal VST3 files can be removed.
I also delete all of Audio Codec files, except for the mp3 encoder.
Project Templates are another thing that can safely be removed as well the Rex Shared Library.dll if you so care to remove it.
Note: ensure to backup all files or have an empty recycle bin before you start removing anything so you can quickly restore files as needed if your project depends on them otherwise you may find yourself re-installing the program (I have a tutorial on how to install Cubase as a lean installation as well).
Cheers
P.S. When updating, alot of the stuff will be returned so it’s good practice to know what can be removed safely and repeated for a faster load time notwithstanding the time it takes to complete removal
I’ve played with removing components etc., over the years, I’ve never found that it speeds things up much.
Did you test it by timing it, or are you going by your gut feeling?
It’s the first thing I do after an installation or update and while YMMV things like vstconnect.dll certainly do take time to be scanned.
It may not be by much but there is a noticeable difference, particularly with the video related programs/libraries and internet stuff like the hub and as mentioned the vstconnect Dynamic Link Library (only on Windows).
Codecs of course are only loaded when rendering a file, and project templates just get rid of extras you might not need but as I say, it’s great that you can without any worry.
In relation to the plugins, unless your project depends on them they can be deleted bar the Cubase Plug-in Set.vst3 which is needed by the Cubase mixer so this is the only plugin installed by Cubase that you actually need which may remove some clutter from your system, in the case you rely more on 3rd party plugins.
Since the sound generation plugins are now gone, you can remove the VSTSound libraries as well. SB have provided a convenient way to let the program know they are gone, which is a feature request I believe has been asked for in the forums at various different stages of the programs’ evolution.
I don’t know how this works on Macintosh but it makes for a Lean, Mean DAW Machine on Windows which takes barely longer than the time it takes to scan the necessary remaining components.
Regards 
There is less than 1.5 seconds difference here when removing all components with Cubase still able to launch.
Without actually timing it, you are susceptible to confirmation bias.
YMMV it’s not something anyone needs to do. The load time of Steinberg internet DLLs like vstconnect/hub will depend on how well (or not) your network is functioning or what AV/Internet security you use so for me it’s a must.
Cheers
Hi
Once I decided to rename the Cubase videocomponents to_xxxx to mainly safe load time.
Some time later I forgot to enable these files and lost a lot of time to figure out, how to operate the video features in Cubase. 
Don’t see a need to disable Cubase components just to safe a little time during start-up. 
Cheers
Some more thoughts…
Not sure if this is still a concern but, when some users removed these files they had subsequent issues installing maintenance versions. So keep this in mind (put the files back) if you get issues during the maintenance upgrades.
Also, to speed the start time up I used to add the Cubase .exe (actually the entire Cubase folder) as an antivirus exception. That resulted in a huge reduction in startup time. Like 30/45 seconds less. With my current setup this idea only resulted in an approx 5 sec startup reduction. To me, that was not worth it so I removed all the AV exceptions.
This topic is a great reason to vote for this ongoing feature request… 
Regards. 
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A program based method will always be better than manual hacking, cheers Prock good call.