Some XP Application will not run after disk cleanup and defrag

D

Dixie

I ran the system tools disk cleanup and defrag. Now many
XP applications will not run. The applications that no
longer run appear in blue type in Windows Explorer. Here
is a specific example. When I try to run XP's MovieMaker,
I get the error message that it is a COL file.

Dixie
 
R

Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers

Hi,

Right-click the blue files, select properties. Click the advanced button,
uncheck the line "compress contents to save disk space". Repeat for each
application that is causing you trouble.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers aka "Nutcase" MS-MVP - Win9x

Associate Expert - WinXP - Expert Zone
 
S

Sharon F

I ran the system tools disk cleanup and defrag. Now many
XP applications will not run. The applications that no
longer run appear in blue type in Windows Explorer. Here
is a specific example. When I try to run XP's MovieMaker,
I get the error message that it is a COL file.

Dixie

Blue type in Explorer represents items that have been compressed. The items
should still work but there may be a noticeable time lapse while waiting
for the files to decompress and run. On the other hand, there are programs
that won't run from a compressed form. Apparently you use a few of those
programs.

You can reverse the compression. Right click on any folder with a blue file
name and select Properties. On the general page there is an Advanced button
towards the bottom - click it. On the next screen that appears, uncheck the
box next to "Compress contents to save disk space."

To disallow compression on any drive: Right click any drive icon and select
Properties. Uncheck the box to next "Compress drive to save disk space."
(Per folder settings will override the drive setting.)

Also, if compression is allowed, Disk Cleanup will compress older files
that have not been used in <n> number of days. If you want better control
of this tool, you can edit the registry.

Navigate to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Volum
eCaches\Compress Old Files

Save this key in an exported .reg file (eg, compressoldfiles.reg) so that
you can restore it if you change your mind later. To restore, double click
the saved REG file to merge the information back into your registry.

If Disk Cleanup tends to hang on your system, remove all of the keys under
"Compress old files"

To avoid any compression when running Disk Cleanup, remove the entire
Compress Old Files key.
 

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