Number of files grows quickly at astonishing rate

[Simon Wong]

First question.
The number of files grows day by day vastly as told by daily virus scanning
by Norton. Long time ago I got 1xx,xxx files, and now it is close to 1 mio
files. That doesn't happened to XP of my friend, who keeps 1xx,xxx files
over years. What's wrong with my computer?

2nd question.
My old Notebook carring 5G harddisk is recently upgarded from Win2000 to
WinXP and found only few hundred Mbs memory left after SP2 and Acrobat and MS
Officesis installed. Are there any way to cut size of WinXP to leave more
rooms for my other programmes.

Thanks a lot.

Simon

 

[Mick Murphy]

question 1. What are the names of all these extra files?

question 2.
You can't uninstall System features in XP, you can only turn them off.

It is a wonder that you have any secondary memory left on your Hard drive.
1. Empty deleted items folder in Outlook Express.
2. Start>AllPrograms>Accessories>Disk cleanup>Temp internet files, etc.
Also there, you can uninstall any Programs that you do not use.

And if you are running System restore,(it takes minimum of 400MBs or 12% of
HD capacity to operate), in Disc cleanup, just leave the one restore Point,
if you have it turned on.

If you still have your 2000 disk, grab a bigger HD, and reinstall.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

First question.
The number of files grows day by day vastly as told by daily virus scanning
by Norton. Long time ago I got 1xx,xxx files, and now it is close to 1 mio
files. That doesn't happened to XP of my friend, who keeps 1xx,xxx files
over years. What's wrong with my computer?

I suspect you're not bothering to clean out the many (sometimes
hundreds) of temporary internet files that get deposited on the hard
drive every time you browse the Internet. You'll find nearly complete
copies of every web page you've ever visited, including the pictures.
But, without the specific locations and names of these additional files,
it's impossible to say, definitively.

2nd question.
My old Notebook carring 5G harddisk is recently upgarded from Win2000 to
WinXP and found only few hundred Mbs memory left after SP2 and Acrobat and MS
Officesis installed. Are there any way to cut size of WinXP to leave more
rooms for my other programmes.

That hard drive is simply too small to be useful, given the size of
modern applications.

While there's little you can do to reduce WinXP's footprint, here are a
few tips to help free up a little space:

A primary space waster within each user profile would be IE's
penchant for storing copies (or significant portions thereof) of nearly
every web page you've has ever visited. Try reducing the amount of
temporary Internet files cached, which is huge by default. I always
reduce it to a maximum of 50 Mb. In Internet Explorer, click Tools >
Internet Options > General, Temporary Files > Settings.

Same principle for the Java cache. Start > Control Panel > Java >
Temporary Internet Files > Settings.

The System Volume Information is the folder in which WinXP's System
Restore feature stores information used to recover from errors. By
default, WinXP sets aside a maximum of 12% of the partition's size for
storing System Volume Information, but the amount of space set aside for
this purpose can be adjusted by the user. Start > All Programs >
Accessories > System Tools > System Restore > System Restore Settings,
select the pertinent partition and click Settings. If you don't want to
use System Restore at all, and have another back-up/recovery measure in
place, simply turn off the System Restore feature (Start > All Programs

Accessories > System Tools > System Restore, System Restore Settings)

and reboot. This will delete all of your Restore Points, freeing up the
hard drive space.

Another great waster of space can be the Recycle Bin. By default,
this takes up to 10% of your hard drive capacity. On today's large hard
drives, this is tremendously wasteful. It can be set to a lower limit
by right-clicking the desktop Receycle Bin icon, selecting Properties,
and using the slider bar to lower the maximum size to something more
reasonable -- 1% to 2% should be more than enough space.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:


http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. ~Bertrand Russell

The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has
killed a great many philosophers.
~ Denis Diderot

 

[JS]

A 5GB drive is way too small these days but...
here are some things to help gain some free space.

First use Windows 'Disk Cleanup' to create more space on your C: drive.
Description of the Disk Cleanup Tool in Windows XP:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310312

Next: Empty the Recycle Bin.

You can also free up more disk space by reducing
the number of 'System Restore' points:
Select Start/Control Panel/System, then in the System Properties window
click on the System Restore tab.
Next select the drive letter where Windows is installed (usually C,
Then click on the Setting button
Now in the Drive Settings window move the Disk space usage slider to the
left to reduce the amount of drive space System Restore points will use.
This will remove some of the older restore points and free up some space.

Disable Hibernation and delete hiberfil.sys file (If you have it enabled):
http://www.mydigitallife.info/2007/...sys-hibernation-file-in-windows-xp-and-vista/
and:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/mobility/getstarted/hibernate.mspx

If you are using IE7 and then installed SP3 read the info below.
IE7 users will find the folders listed below on their hard drive:
$NtServicePackUninstallIDNMitigationAPIs$
$NtServicePackUninstallNLSDownlevelMapping$
They are needed to uninstall IE7. However, if you installed IE7 and
then installed XP SP3 you can no longer uninstall IE7 and these
folders can also be deleted.

Note: The recommended procedure before installing XP SP3 is to
uninstall IE7, then install XP SP3. Now you still have the ability to
install and uninstall IE7.

Next if you still need more space:
Remove the files used to uninstall updates to Windows
These folders and associated files in these folders are safe to remove,
however once deleted you will no longer be able to un-install a patch or
update that was associated with the deleted folder/files.
I would keep the most recent set (last two months just in case) of folders
and delete the older updates.
As a safety net I burned these folders to a CD before deleting them.
These files are located in the Windows folder and have folder names
like $NtUninstallKBXXXXXX$.
They are hidden folders so enable viewing of hidden files in Windows
Explorer.
Warning: One folder you should not delete is: $hf_mig$
Also See the following web pages on this issue:
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/spack.htm
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_hotfix_backup.htm
http://www.pagestart.com/ntuninstall.html

You can reduce the size of the Internet Explorer Disk Cache:
How and Why to Clear Your Cache:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/ie6/using/howto/customizing/clearcache.mspx
Just follow the instructs but instead of increasing the size (as stated in
the article) decrease it.

Finally: Check the Recycle Bin one more time and empty it
if necessary as some of those files you deleted in the steps
mentioned above may find there way into the recycle bin.

JS
www.pagestart.com

 

[Simon Wong]

Hi Mick

During Norton scanning most of of time stays at :
c:\Windows\Installer\xxxxxxx.msp. Any idea?


Simon

 

[Simon Wong]

Hi JS

Thanks for your advice.

Re number of files, done all your suggestion and still have huge number of
files, crossing one million.

During Norton scanning most of of time stays at :
c:\Windows\Installer\xxxxxxx.msp. It appear a big number of files in that
folder. When open window explorer that folder cannot be found!


Simon

 

[JS]

Check to make certain that you can see 'Hidden files and Folders'.

Open Windows Explorer
Select 'Tools' option in the menu bar.
From the list select 'Folder options'.
In the 'Folder Options' window click on the 'View' tab.
In the 'Advanced settings' box, 'Files and Folders' options,
under 'Hidden files and folders' select 'Show hidden files and folders'.
Now click the 'Apply' button located in the lower right corner.
Then click the 'OK' button. Close Windows Explorer.

Now once again open Windows Explorer and navigate to the
C:\Windows\Installer folder. Move your mouse cursor over a recent
..msi file and you will see what the file is associated with.

Now as to remove most of those files and folders
located in C:\Windows\Installer
Read this post: http://www.pcreview.co.uk/forums/thread-211705.php
Near the top of this post you will find a reference to:
"Windows Installer CleanUp Utility"
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;290301

And at the bottom of the same post a reference to
a command line utility called msizap.exe

msizap should clean up/remove a lot of the files located in
the C:\Windows\Installer folder.

JS
www.pagestart.com

 

[Simon Wong]

Hi JS

Have enabled display hidden files but still cannot see the
c:\windows\installer folder. Other folders can be seen which are in blue
color.

Have downloaded windows explorer cleanup utility, run the utility and a list
of around 40 programs are displayed. They are those programmes currently
used. If I choose a program from the list and click remove will it remove
the program totally? I just got hessitated to proceed worrying that it will
do harm to the program and computer. Can you tell me in brief what is
Windows Installer CleanUp Utility about as the web post gave only little info.

Back to the question why there are so many and huge number of files in that
folder, c\windows\installer?


Thanks
Simon

 

[JS]

If your not comfortable with using the Installer Cleanup Utility then hold
off.

As to the hidden files and folders setting, double check that they have be
set, remember you need to click on the 'Apply' button for any changes to
stick. Now close Windows Explorer and then reopen Explorer, you should now
see the C:\Windows\Installer folder.

The Windows Installer Cleanup Utility:
It was created to fix software installations that failed during the install
process and thus leaving a bunch of files (including a file name that ends
with a .msi extension (.msi = MicroSoft Installer). For example a failed MS
Office installation (note that I said "Failed").
See: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/help/HA011185721033.aspx

Also if when you installed MS Office you decided at the time you did not
need Power Point and chose not to install it. Later you discover you need to
make a Power Point presentation, insert the Office CD and try to install
Power Point and it creates an error.
Using the Windows Installer Cleanup tool will remove the corrupted install
files (Located in C:\Windows\Installer). You then need to install Office and
Power Point once again as they will not longer be present in the Control
Panel's Add/Remove programs list. But at least this time Office and Power
Point will install without any errors as the Windows Installer Cleanup
Utility did what it was designed to do.

The unfortunate side effect of the Cleanup tool is when you select and
remove software that is functioning properly you then will no longer be able
to install that software as it will no longer be in the Add/Remove programs
list.

Now as to why there are there so many files in C:\Windows\Installer:
You will find a good number of these .MSI files belong to software such as
Java, AV Software, Norton Ghost, Microsoft's .NET Framework, File downloaded
during a Windows Update session and so on. It would appear that some
software cleans up after itself and deletes it's file that were in the
C:\Windows\Installer folder. A failed Windows Update will create and leave
folders and files behind each time you try to install the update and
therefore you could end up with a lot of files taking up disk space.

There also could be a lot of orphaned (no longer needed) files.
Using the msizap command (msizap g) removes any cached Windows Installer
data files that have been orphaned.

JS
www.pagestart.com

 

[JS]

OK, here what I found when using the command line utility msizap

I have a "Test PC" running Windows XP SP3 that is a "Clean Install" and
therefore has virtually no applications installed.
On this PC the C:\Windows\Installer folder is nearly empty. Running the
msizap utility showed no orphaned files and therefore nothing was deleted
from the Installer folder.

I all have a second PC (that I use every day) running Windows XP SP2 and has
many many applications installed including two version of MS Office, Norton
AV, Photo Editing software and a number of other applications. The
C:\Windows\Installer folder on this PC has more than 1.2GB of folders and
files. I copied these folder and file to the Windows SP3 "Test PC" that as
mentioned above has very little in the Installer folder.

After the copy had completed there were as expected, the Test PC had more
than 1.2GB of space taken up.

At this point I once again ran the "msizap.exe" utility on the Test PC as
follows: msizap g!
This time msizap remove over 800MB of files and folders. It still left
behind some of the folders and files I had copied from my other PC. On close
inspection some of the folders that were not deleted by msizap contain only
a single Icon file. Some folders belong to MS Office (Which was not
installed on the test PC) so I don't know why these were not deleted. There
where also a large number of temporary files (Example: MSI31A.tmp) that
msizap did not delete. Deleting these .tmp files save above another 100MB of
disk space.

So msizap will remove many but not all orphaned files and folders in the
Installer folder.

JS
www.pagestart.com