oc9ine wrote
I have windows xp sp3, p4-2.4ghz+760 mb and a 20 gb c: partition.
While using Disk clean up I find that these strange files called -
Compress old files - take a huge amount of disk space say 250 mb
or more on my c: drive.
What are these compress old files? How can I disable these thing
so that they do not accumulate over time?
Besides disk cleanup takes a lot of minutes to delete these
files? why?
You can avoid the delay caused by the "Scanning: Compress old
files" routine when Disk Cleanup begins by a simple registry
change...
Access the Registry (Start > Run > regedit) and navigate to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\VolumeCaches\Compress
old files
Delete the "Compress old files" registry key.
For most users it's unnecessary to "compress old files".
Pauli said:
Use your noggin.
It is abundantly clear that playing around in the registry is not
something "Oc9ine" should be doing. In fact, I think it's clear
that (s)he is clueless when it comes to knowing how to safely
complete such an operation.
While I agree that an extra step (backing up/exporting that specific
registry key) should have been included, I would say that this specific edit
is harmless and your assumption about "oc9ine" is *just that* - an
assumption.
Also - if you are going to criticize the answers, perhaps an alternative
answer would be something to add - so that you keep the conversation pointed
towards its actual goal - assisting the original poster with their issue.
For example - I can repeat my earlier answer:
First off - "Compress old files" is telling you what it does, it is not a
file itself. It compresses (think ZIP compression, think compact - like a
garbage compactor) the files so they take up less space. The disadvantage
is that if they need to be used again - and they might - then they will be
decompressed on the fly before they can be used. This will take an extra
millisecond (or a few) to do - slowing you down slightly (although - you may
never notice.)
Secondly - if you think 250MB is 'huge', then you may want to rethink that
idea. Most modern computers do not even come with a hard disk drive smaller
than 160GB (~160,000MB) and hard disk drives of that size (even hard disk
drives much larger - like 1TB or ~1,000,000MB) cost less than $100.
The reason you get more and more of these offers to compress these old files
over time - is because as time passes more files become old files.
Personally - I would not compress them - but I don't see any harm in it
either. If they have reached an age where you have not used them in that
long - but might use them in some random time in the future - using that
type of compression is likely your best bet.
What I would suggest doing is evaluating your space usage and cleaning up
what you can. Come back here and let everyone know how much free space you
have on C (before and after cleanup) and why you think you need more (if you
do think that.) Also - get some large external device to start backing your
own stuff to - given the information you have - I would gather that machine
is not a 'new' one and you should not take a chance (ever - but especially
given the facts) that one day you might lose all data.
If you are comfortable with the stability of your system, you can delete the
uninstall files for the patches that Windows XP has installed...
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/spack.htm
( Particularly of interest here - #4 )
( Alternative:
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_hotfix_backup.htm )
You can run Disk Cleanup - built into Windows XP - to erase all but your
latest restore point and cleanup even more "loose files"..
How to use Disk Cleanup
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310312
You can turn off hibernation if it is on and you don't use it..
When you hibernate your computer, Windows saves the contents of the system's
memory to the hiberfil.sys file. As a result, the size of the hiberfil.sys
file will always equal the amount of physical memory in your system. If you
don't use the hibernate feature and want to recapture the space that Windows
uses for the hiberfil.sys file, perform the following steps:
- Start the Control Panel Power Options applet (go to Start, Settings,
Control Panel, and click Power Options).
- Select the Hibernate tab, clear the "Enable hibernation" check box, then
click OK; although you might think otherwise, selecting Never under the
"System hibernates" option on the Power Schemes tab doesn't delete the
hiberfil.sys file.
- Windows will remove the "System hibernates" option from the Power Schemes
tab and delete the hiberfil.sys file.
You can control how much space your System Restore can use...
1. Click Start, right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
2. Click the System Restore tab.
3. Highlight one of your drives (or C: if you only have one) and click on
the "Settings" button.
4. Change the percentage of disk space you wish to allow.. I suggest moving
the slider until you have just about 1GB (1024MB or close to that...)
5. Click OK.. Then Click OK again.
You can control how much space your Temporary Internet Files can utilize...
Empty your Temporary Internet Files and shrink the size it stores to a
size between 64MB and 128MB..
- Open ONE copy of Internet Explorer.
- Select TOOLS -> Internet Options.
- Under the General tab in the "Temporary Internet Files" section, do the
following:
- Click on "Delete Cookies" (click OK)
- Click on "Settings" and change the "Amount of disk space to use:" to
something between 64MB and 128MB. (It may be MUCH larger right
now.)
- Click OK.
- Click on "Delete Files" and select to "Delete all offline contents"
(the checkbox) and click OK. (If you had a LOT, this could take 2-10
minutes or more.)
- Once it is done, click OK, close Internet Explorer, re-open Internet
Explorer.
You can use an application that scans your system for log files and
temporary files and use that to get rid of those:
Ccleaner (Free!)
http://www.ccleaner.com/
Other ways to free up space..
SequoiaView
http://www.win.tue.nl/sequoiaview/
JDiskReport
http://www.jgoodies.com/freeware/jdiskreport/index.html
Those can help you visually discover where all the space is being used.
In the end - a standard Windows XP installation with all sorts of extras
will not likely be above about 4.5GB to 9GB in size. If you have more space
than that (likely do on a modern machine) and most of it seems to be used -
likely you need to copy *your stuff* off and/or find a better way to manage
it.
And add to my earlier answer that "oc9ine" could follow up/learn more about
this topic through (perhaps) this link:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/askjack/2008/jun/26/compressoldfilesccleanyour
As well as added that a more complete procedure (based on Anna's answer) can
be found here - if they wish to pursue that:
http://msmvps.com/blogs/kwsupport/archive/2005/01/09/31149.aspx
By adding the extra - not just criticising the answer(s) given - there is
now another alternative as well as more information and all of that will be
archived indefinitely somewhere and perhaps someone later looking for help
will locate it before even having to ask their question and resolve their
issue.
