G
Guest
Where on the C drive can I delete files and folders safely in Windows XP Home
Edition? Please reply back soon. Thanks.
Edition? Please reply back soon. Thanks.
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P
Pegasus \(MVP\)
Egan said:Where on the C drive can I delete files and folders safely in Windows XP Home
Edition? Please reply back soon. Thanks.
Your question is equivalent to asking "Which parts of my
house can I safely demolish?" We don't know because we
don't know what you store on your disk! I recommend
that you start by stating what you're trying to achieve.
N
Nikki
Hi!
Maybe the answer to this question may help answer Egan's query.
I am trying to clear out the files in my "c:\windows\temp" folder and my
"Local settings\temp" folder which now holds hundreds of files consuming
many MB. Many of the files in these folders are files with *.tmp extension
and I delete them freely. However there are also *.dat files, *.dll files
*.log files and *.exe files among many others stored either in the temp
folders or sub folders in the temp folders. Why are they there and are they
needed by any programs installed on my computer? Should I be selective in
deleting them?
As for Egan's query all I can say is you can safely delete files you select
to delete from the My documents folder and its sub folders. You can also
empty your Recycle Bin and clear your Temporary internet files (in ie:
Tools>Options>Delete Files) while there also you can also delete your
history files (Clear History). You are probably better off deleting files
using Microsoft's Disk Cleanup tool (Start>run>cleanmgr.exe) there you can
safely delete Downloaded program files, Temporary internet files and remove
unwanted Windows components and unneeded programs. Although there
probably are files and folders in the Windows folder that could be safely
deleted I would avoid interfering with any of them unless I was clear on
what I was doing.
Nikki
Maybe the answer to this question may help answer Egan's query.
I am trying to clear out the files in my "c:\windows\temp" folder and my
"Local settings\temp" folder which now holds hundreds of files consuming
many MB. Many of the files in these folders are files with *.tmp extension
and I delete them freely. However there are also *.dat files, *.dll files
*.log files and *.exe files among many others stored either in the temp
folders or sub folders in the temp folders. Why are they there and are they
needed by any programs installed on my computer? Should I be selective in
deleting them?
As for Egan's query all I can say is you can safely delete files you select
to delete from the My documents folder and its sub folders. You can also
empty your Recycle Bin and clear your Temporary internet files (in ie:
Tools>Options>Delete Files) while there also you can also delete your
history files (Clear History). You are probably better off deleting files
using Microsoft's Disk Cleanup tool (Start>run>cleanmgr.exe) there you can
safely delete Downloaded program files, Temporary internet files and remove
unwanted Windows components and unneeded programs. Although there
probably are files and folders in the Windows folder that could be safely
deleted I would avoid interfering with any of them unless I was clear on
what I was doing.
Nikki
U
Uncle Joe
Egan said:Where on the C drive can I delete files and folders safely in Windows XP Home
Edition? Please reply back soon. Thanks.
Please, give us more details on what you're trying to accomplish!
Please reply back soon. Thanks.
D
Daniel Crichton
Nikki wrote on Tue, 1 Nov 2005 01:16:01 -0800:
Anything in the temp directories can be deleted. If the file is in use,
Windows will tell you. Any non-.tmp files tend to be leftovers from program
installation routines that either failed partway through or just didn't
bother cleaning up after themselves. In 11 years I've only ever found one
DLL that for some reason is always run from the temp dir - and that's part
of BackWeb that we no longer use here (it was the delivery system for NAI
anti-virus updates for a long time), but even then shutting down BackWeb and
deleting the DLL did not break anything as BackWeb would simply restore it
from it's program directory.
Dan
Hi!
Maybe the answer to this question may help answer Egan's query.
I am trying to clear out the files in my "c:\windows\temp" folder and my
"Local settings\temp" folder which now holds hundreds of files consuming
many MB. Many of the files in these folders are files with *.tmp
extension and I delete them freely. However there are also *.dat files,
*.dll files *.log files and *.exe files among many others stored either in
the temp folders or sub folders in the temp folders. Why are they there
and are they needed by any programs installed on my computer? Should I
be selective in deleting them?
Anything in the temp directories can be deleted. If the file is in use,
Windows will tell you. Any non-.tmp files tend to be leftovers from program
installation routines that either failed partway through or just didn't
bother cleaning up after themselves. In 11 years I've only ever found one
DLL that for some reason is always run from the temp dir - and that's part
of BackWeb that we no longer use here (it was the delivery system for NAI
anti-virus updates for a long time), but even then shutting down BackWeb and
deleting the DLL did not break anything as BackWeb would simply restore it
from it's program directory.
Dan
G
Guest
I was wondering if I could delete files and folders from the Program Files
folder because I check on some folders seem to be empty or some programs that
I don't use in there. Please respond soon.
Thanks.
folder because I check on some folders seem to be empty or some programs that
I don't use in there. Please respond soon.
Thanks.
R
Rock
Egan said:I was wondering if I could delete files and folders from the Program Files
folder because I check on some folders seem to be empty or some programs that
I don't use in there. Please respond soon.
Thanks.
:
Some can, some can't and/or should be. Why are you worrying about it?
If it's not causing a problem leave it be. Which ones in particular are
you concerned about?
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