low disk space

[Tamara]

I need to free up more disk space in my hard drive and am deleting unwanted
files. In the Windows folders there are numerous text documents, some dating
back years (yes, old computer). They seem to be logs, open on notepad and
say things like

=== Verbose logging started: 8/15/2007 3:05:03 Build type: SHIP UNICODE
3.01.4000.4039 Calling process: C:\WINDOWS\system32\msiexec.exe ===
MSI (c) (940) [03:05:03:968]: Resetting cached policy values
MSI (c) (940) [03:05:03:968]: Machine policy value 'Debug' is 0
MSI (c) (940) [03:05:03:968]: ******* RunEngine:
******* Product: c:\bc1bd7b5d52e496adf88b8b0c7\msxml.msi
******* Action:
******* CommandLine: **********
MSI (c) (940) [03:05:03:984]: Client-side and UI is none or basic: Running
entire install on the server.
MSI (c) (940) [03:05:04:015]: Grabbed execution mutex.
MSI (c) (940) [03:05:04:437]: Cloaking enabled.
MSI (c) (940) [03:05:04:437]: Attempting to enable all disabled priveleges
before calling Install on Server
MSI (c) (940) [03:05:04:453]: Incrementing counter to disable shutdown.
Counter after increment: 0
MSI (s) (2C:C0) [03:05:04:484]: Grabbed execution mutex.
MSI (s) (2C:F0) [03:05:04:500]: Resetting cached policy values
MSI (s) (2C:F0) [03:05:04:500]: Machine policy value 'Debug' is 0
MSI (s) (2C:F0) [03:05:04:500]: ******* RunEngine:

Is there any reason I should not delete these?

 

[Mark Adams]

I need to free up more disk space in my hard drive and am deleting unwanted
files. In the Windows folders there are numerous text documents, some dating
back years (yes, old computer). They seem to be logs, open on notepad and
say things like

=== Verbose logging started: 8/15/2007 3:05:03 Build type: SHIP UNICODE
3.01.4000.4039 Calling process: C:\WINDOWS\system32\msiexec.exe ===
MSI (c) (940) [03:05:03:968]: Resetting cached policy values
MSI (c) (940) [03:05:03:968]: Machine policy value 'Debug' is 0
MSI (c) (940) [03:05:03:968]: ******* RunEngine:
******* Product: c:\bc1bd7b5d52e496adf88b8b0c7\msxml.msi
******* Action:
******* CommandLine: **********
MSI (c) (940) [03:05:03:984]: Client-side and UI is none or basic: Running
entire install on the server.
MSI (c) (940) [03:05:04:015]: Grabbed execution mutex.
MSI (c) (940) [03:05:04:437]: Cloaking enabled.
MSI (c) (940) [03:05:04:437]: Attempting to enable all disabled priveleges
before calling Install on Server
MSI (c) (940) [03:05:04:453]: Incrementing counter to disable shutdown.
Counter after increment: 0
MSI (s) (2C:C0) [03:05:04:484]: Grabbed execution mutex.
MSI (s) (2C:F0) [03:05:04:500]: Resetting cached policy values
MSI (s) (2C:F0) [03:05:04:500]: Machine policy value 'Debug' is 0
MSI (s) (2C:F0) [03:05:04:500]: ******* RunEngine:

Is there any reason I should not delete these?

Probably no reason not to delete them, but text files don't take up much
disk space. If you are running out of room, buy a bigger hard drive. 1TB
drives are less than $100 these days.

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I need to free up more disk space in my hard drive and am deleting
unwanted files. In the Windows folders there are numerous text
documents, some dating back years (yes, old computer). They seem
to be logs, open on notepad and say things like

Is there any reason I should not delete these?

If you are trying to free up space and you want to do it properly/safely...

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 move *your stuff* off and/or find a better way to manage
it.

 

[Lem]

I need to free up more disk space in my hard drive and am deleting unwanted
files. In the Windows folders there are numerous text documents, some dating
back years (yes, old computer). They seem to be logs, open on notepad and
say things like

=== Verbose logging started: 8/15/2007 3:05:03 Build type: SHIP UNICODE
3.01.4000.4039 Calling process: C:\WINDOWS\system32\msiexec.exe ===
MSI (c) (940) [03:05:03:968]: Resetting cached policy values
MSI (c) (940) [03:05:03:968]: Machine policy value 'Debug' is 0
MSI (c) (940) [03:05:03:968]: ******* RunEngine:
******* Product: c:\bc1bd7b5d52e496adf88b8b0c7\msxml.msi
******* Action:
******* CommandLine: **********
MSI (c) (940) [03:05:03:984]: Client-side and UI is none or basic: Running
entire install on the server.
MSI (c) (940) [03:05:04:015]: Grabbed execution mutex.
MSI (c) (940) [03:05:04:437]: Cloaking enabled.
MSI (c) (940) [03:05:04:437]: Attempting to enable all disabled priveleges
before calling Install on Server
MSI (c) (940) [03:05:04:453]: Incrementing counter to disable shutdown.
Counter after increment: 0
MSI (s) (2C:C0) [03:05:04:484]: Grabbed execution mutex.
MSI (s) (2C:F0) [03:05:04:500]: Resetting cached policy values
MSI (s) (2C:F0) [03:05:04:500]: Machine policy value 'Debug' is 0
MSI (s) (2C:F0) [03:05:04:500]: ******* RunEngine:

Is there any reason I should not delete these?

If these are msi*.log files and are located in your Temp folder, then
(a) you can delete them, (b) you can delete everything in the Temp
folder, and (c) even turn off msi logging if you want.

However, if you are down to deleting log files in an attempt to get more
space you're not going to get very far. The best solution is to get a
bigger hard drive. They are not expensive and easy to install.

If you insist on going the deletion route and have already used a tool
like Disk Cleanup (or CCleaner, which should be used with a little care:
http://www.ccleaner.com/), two potentially large space users are System
Restore and Hibernate. Also, go to
http://www.jgoodies.com/freeware/jdiskreport/ and download JDiskReport.
This will tell you what files are taking up the most space.

If your hard drive is larger than 8 GB, configure System Restore to use
only about 1 GB rather than the 12% of your hard drive which is the
default. http://bertk.mvps.org/html/diskspace.html

If you don't need to use Hibernation (especially if you don't have a
laptop), make sure it's turned off. The hibernate file will be about as
large as the amount of RAM you have.
Control Panel > Power Options (in Performance and Maintenance if you're
not using the Classic control panel layout)
Hibernate tab, clear the check box.

But you really should just get a bigger drive.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I need to free up more disk space in my hard drive and am deleting unwanted
files. In the Windows folders there are numerous text documents, some dating
back years (yes, old computer). They seem to be logs, open on notepad and
say things like

Is there any reason I should not delete these?

Yes, you can delete these, *however* (and it's a very big "however"),
text files like these are very small and you will save very little
space by deleting them. If you have a space problem, deleting these
will be nothing but a very short-term stop-gap measure.

How large is your hard drive, and how much of it is free? You almost
certainly have a drive considerably too small for you, and you should
address the real problem by replacing the drive with a bigger one or
adding a second drive. Fortunately larger hard drives are very
inexpensive these days.

 

[Twayne]

I need to free up more disk space in my hard drive and am deleting
unwanted files. In the Windows folders there are numerous text
documents, some dating back years (yes, old computer). They seem to
be logs, open on notepad and say things like

=== Verbose logging started: 8/15/2007 3:05:03 Build type: SHIP
UNICODE
3.01.4000.4039 Calling process: C:\WINDOWS\system32\msiexec.exe ===
MSI (c) (940) [03:05:03:968]: Resetting cached policy values
MSI (c) (940) [03:05:03:968]: Machine policy value 'Debug' is 0
MSI (c) (940) [03:05:03:968]: ******* RunEngine:
******* Product: c:\bc1bd7b5d52e496adf88b8b0c7\msxml.msi
******* Action:
******* CommandLine: **********
MSI (c) (940) [03:05:03:984]: Client-side and UI is none or basic:
Running entire install on the server.
MSI (c) (940) [03:05:04:015]: Grabbed execution mutex.
MSI (c) (940) [03:05:04:437]: Cloaking enabled.
MSI (c) (940) [03:05:04:437]: Attempting to enable all disabled
priveleges before calling Install on Server
MSI (c) (940) [03:05:04:453]: Incrementing counter to disable
shutdown. Counter after increment: 0
MSI (s) (2C:C0) [03:05:04:484]: Grabbed execution mutex.
MSI (s) (2C:F0) [03:05:04:500]: Resetting cached policy values
MSI (s) (2C:F0) [03:05:04:500]: Machine policy value 'Debug' is 0
MSI (s) (2C:F0) [03:05:04:500]: ******* RunEngine:

Is there any reason I should not delete these?

Probably no reason not to delete them, but text files don't take up
much disk space. If you are running out of room, buy a bigger hard
drive. 1TB drives are less than $100 these days.

Where do you see them for less than $100? I haven't seen anything that
low yet. 500 Gig yes, but not terabytes.

 

[Lem]

Where do you see them for less than $100? I haven't seen anything that
low yet. 500 Gig yes, but not terabytes.

Several here:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...0&bop=And&ActiveSearchResult=True&Order=PRICE

Starting with HITACHI 0A38016 1TB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5"
Internal Hard Drive - OEM $74.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822145233

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Several here:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...0&bop=And&ActiveSearchResult=True&Order=PRICE

Starting with HITACHI 0A38016 1TB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5"
Internal Hard Drive - OEM $74.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822145233

Amazon.com sells the same drive for the same price, and also has
several 1TB drives under $100.

 

[Shenan Stanley]

<snipped>

Twayne wrote:

Where do you see them for less than $100? I haven't seen anything
that low yet. 500 Gig yes, but not terabytes.

1.5TB for $119 (today):
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4138742

Plenty of internal 1TB drives for under $100:
http://www.pricewatch.com/browse/hard_removable_drives/sata_1tb_32mb
http://www.pricewatch.com/browse/hard_removable_drives/sata_1tb

Of course - we assume this is a desktop...