Cleaning up C drive

[m_ridzon]

I am running WinXP SP3 Pro. My harddrive is partitioned into 4 partitions
with C drive having the operating system on it. I originally formatted this
harddrive about 4 years ago making C drive 10GB. Over the 4 years, I've
downloaded many software updates for Windows and my other applications. I
noticed that I only have about 1.5GB left in C drive and would like to free
up some space if possible. Once the downloads are downloaded and ran, do the
downloaded files sit dormant somewhere in the C drive? In other words, can I
delete the downloaded files to free up C drive space? Or are they constantly
being referenced and called upon by the computer system?

I am just trying to clean up C drive without making the system unstable.

M Ridzon

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I am running WinXP SP3 Pro. My harddrive is partitioned into 4 partitions
with C drive having the operating system on it. I originally formatted
this
harddrive about 4 years ago making C drive 10GB. Over the 4 years, I've
downloaded many software updates for Windows and my other applications. I
noticed that I only have about 1.5GB left in C drive and would like to
free
up some space if possible. Once the downloads are downloaded and ran, do
the
downloaded files sit dormant somewhere in the C drive? In other words,
can I
delete the downloaded files to free up C drive space? Or are they
constantly
being referenced and called upon by the computer system?

I am just trying to clean up C drive without making the system unstable.

M Ridzon

It depends on what exactly you downloaded - please give some examples.
You might also move the paging file to a different drive in order to free up
disk space, and maybe restrict the amount of space used by System Restore.

 

[db.·.. >]

firstly, i would strongly
recommend that you
create a winxp sp3 so
that you won't have to
worry about making your
system unstable without
the ability to "repair" it.

secondly, i would begin
deleting any .tmp and
..zip files on the c drive
and simply uninstalling
any old programs and
freewares since there are
newer versions available
and can be re-installed.

 

[Ron Badour]

Have you tried XP's Disk Cleanup (cleanmgr.exe)?

Look in your Windows folder for files with names similar to this:
$NtUninstallKB946648$ These are the uninstall files for updates that you
have downloaded and installed. These files can take up a lot of room so if
your machine is stable, these files can be deleted. MVP Doug Knox has a
utility to remove the files plus the associated registry entries:
http://www.dougknox.com/ In the left panel, select: Win XP Utilities. In
the right panel, select: Remove Hotfix Backup Files.

Once the files are gone, you will not be able to uninstall the updates;
however, if the PC is stable, there should be no need to remove them.

You could also resize the partitions and add more space to C: drive;
however, you will need special software to do so. BootIt Next Generation is
available from: http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/bootitng.html and it does
partitioning, makes a compressed image, does many other partitioning chores
and is a boot manager. It is not quite as easy to use as Partition Magic
but it is half the cost and has more features. Unlike the crippled PMagic
demo, BING is a *full function* demo you can try for FREE for 30 days. The
web site has a lot of support articles.

--
Regards

Ron Badour
MS MVP
Windows Desktop Experience

 

[Mike Hall - MVP]

I am running WinXP SP3 Pro. My harddrive is partitioned into 4 partitions
with C drive having the operating system on it. I originally formatted
this
harddrive about 4 years ago making C drive 10GB. Over the 4 years, I've
downloaded many software updates for Windows and my other applications. I
noticed that I only have about 1.5GB left in C drive and would like to
free
up some space if possible. Once the downloads are downloaded and ran, do
the
downloaded files sit dormant somewhere in the C drive? In other words,
can I
delete the downloaded files to free up C drive space? Or are they
constantly
being referenced and called upon by the computer system?

I am just trying to clean up C drive without making the system unstable.

M Ridzon

You can move the downloads to another partition such that you can re-install
them easily if you have a problem in the future..


--
Mike Hall - MVP
How to construct a good post..
http://dts-l.com/goodpost.htm
How to use the Microsoft Product Support Newsgroups..
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=newswhelp&style=toc
Mike's Window - My Blog..
http://msmvps.com/blogs/mikehall/default.aspx

 

[m_ridzon]

Ron,

The disk cleanup did quite a bit. I deleted all but the latest restore
point and that helped out a lot. I now have 2.6GB of free space. I have a
whole bunch of the $NtUninstallKB946648$ files. I'm hesistant to remove them
though. There's been instances where I've had to uninstall some of these
updates and reinstall them to fix a problem (ie: recent problem in July with
XP update and Zone Labs firewall).

Mike,

You mentioned something about moving the downloads to another partition. Is
that possible to do with these Win update uninstall files?

db,

Is there a specific location I should look for to find a multitude of .tmp
and .zip files? Do they all end up in a central location where I can delete
them all?

Pegasus,

How do I move the paging file to a different drive? Is that a good idea or
is it preferable to leave on C drive. I have F drive which has about 9GB of
free space.

Thanks,
M Ridzon

 

[Ron Badour]

You can move the uninstall files; however, you had better have a lot of room
available.

If your system uses the paging file frequently (minimum ram installed),
moving it to the outer ring (F: drive) of the drive may cause a slow down.
This would be my last choice for making more space.

Zip files could be scattered anywhere--you just have to look for them. Disk
cleanup probably got the majority of the .tmp files.

You could also limit how much the recycle bin retains and you can limit the
temp files IE retains.

--
Regards

Ron Badour
MS MVP
Windows Desktop Experience

 

[m_ridzon]

Ron,

I don't know how to tell if my system uses the paging file frequently so
I'll probably leave it alone. I know I've gotten messages in the past that
say "virtual memory low" when I'm running a high powered software program.
Someone told me to set the virtual memory to "system managed" to help this
problem, which I did.

I did a search on C drive for *.zip files and found a bunch. I found
Symantec error log files. I found Symantec LiveUpdate files. I found
Internet logs. I found a bunch that are related to Java updates and Jave
cache. I found one in which the directory is listed as lib/deploy (not sure
what it's for). I found a few for the Windows Media Player. Is it safe to
delete all of these? Does the system reference to them ever? Will I risk
making the system unstable by deleting any of them? Could I possibly email
you a screen print of them before deleting them so that you can tell me if
it's safe or not?

M Ridzon

 

[Ron Badour]

You would need an expert on every program that has a .zip file--I am not the
person you need. Frankly, unless you can get a definite answer from
someone, I would not delete nor move a .zip file. I recall in W98 days that
there were programs that actually used .zip files when they were operating.
I don't know if the same is true today.

--
Regards

Ron Badour
MS MVP
Windows Desktop Experience

 

[Plato]

noticed that I only have about 1.5GB left in C drive and would like to free
up some space if possible. Once the downloads are downloaded and ran, do the

You want at least 10 gig free at all times. One can use crap cleaner to
free up space:
http://www.bootdisk.com/utility.htm
REGISTRY AND SYSTEM MAINTENANCE
Junk File Cleaners

But the real issue may be the size of your HDD. Perhaps you need a new,
larger one, or need to put your larger files, eg mp3s, videos, on CDs.
You may have 25 gig of temporary internet files and windows temp/tmp
files, nobody deletes these regularly. Perhaps you should.

 

[Plato]

It depends on what exactly you downloaded - please give some examples.
You might also move the paging file to a different drive in order to free up
disk space, and maybe restrict the amount of space used by System Restore.

If you have one hard drive then the page/swap file should be on the same
drive as your windows folder.

 

[Plato]

firstly, fix your word wrap.

 

[Plato]

It depends on what exactly you downloaded - please give some examples.
You might also move the paging file to a different drive in order to free up
disk space, and maybe restrict the amount of space used by System Restore.

 

[db.·.. >]

secondly, screw u.

 

[Bill in Co.]

So there's that sense of "professionalism" you were espousing, eh?
Pretty funny.

 

[Bob I]

Maybe he bought a professional grade screwdriver?

So there's that sense of "professionalism" you were espousing, eh?
Pretty funny.

 

[db.·.. >]

professionalism?

i demand it from
mvp's but not from
monkeys like yourselves.

 

[Bill in Co.]

professionalism?

i demand it from
mvp's but not from
monkeys like yourselves.

And apparently not even yourself. Pot, kettle - the hypocrisy is truly
something to behold.

 

[Bob I]

Since this is a peer group, I suspect you are referring to yourself again.

 

[db.·.. >]

obviously you are
not sure what
your talking about,
since you are not
anyone's peer.