Very Large User Profiles

  • Thread starter Thread starter Guest
  • Start date Start date
G

Guest

I am helping a friend (isn't that always the case) who has Windows XP
Professional SP2. The User Profile for him is enormous- over 6 GB on an 18
GB drive. Needless to say, disk space is an issue. Can I optimize his user
profile or can I delete it and have it get recreated? Any help is greatly
appreciated.
 
DK said:
I am helping a friend (isn't that always the case) who has Windows XP
Professional SP2. The User Profile for him is enormous- over 6 GB on an 18
GB drive. Needless to say, disk space is an issue. Can I optimize his user
profile or can I delete it and have it get recreated? Any help is greatly
appreciated.
Click to expand...

You should first find out where he keeps this whopping
amount of data. These tools might help:
DriveUse:
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~nulifetv/freezip/freeware/index.html
Bullet Proof Folder sizes: http://www.foldersizes.com/
 
I am helping a friend (isn't that always the case) who has Windows XP
Professional SP2. The User Profile for him is enormous- over 6 GB on an 18
GB drive. Needless to say, disk space is an issue. Can I optimize his user
profile or can I delete it and have it get recreated? Any help is greatly
appreciated.
Click to expand...
Take a look at Documents and Settings/"user name"/Local Settings/Temp
Some install programs do not clean up very well...

Bill
 
Check his My Documents folder and subfolders - Pictures, Music, Video -
my guess would be that is what is using most of the space. If he has a
CD burner, see what you can archive off by burning to CD and removing
from the hard drive. Most applications will create a subfolder in your
profile for application specific data, I would be surprised if that is
a primary culprit unless he is installing programs incorrectly.

Absolutely do not delete the profile until you have completely saved
off everything that the user may need - My documents files, desktop
items, and favorites are all stored in the profile and would be lost.
 
If the goal is the reduce the size, check the "Local Settings" sub-folder
of the users profile under Documents and Settings.

Specifically, Temp and Temporary Internet Files. Both of these folders
are workspace or hold temporary data that can accumulate to a rather
large amount of disk space. Temp folder's contents can be deleted just
after a boot and IE Cache control is done from the Internet Options
applet in Control Panel (Classic View).
 
If the goal is the reduce the size, check the "Local Settings"
sub-folder of the users profile under Documents and Settings.

Specifically, Temp and Temporary Internet Files. Both of these folders
are workspace or hold temporary data that can accumulate to a rather
large amount of disk space. Temp folder's contents can be deleted
just after a boot and IE Cache control is done from the Internet
Options applet in Control Panel (Classic View).
Click to expand...
Also, the Desktop is part of that, so if they store folders on the desktop
that is also a possibility for massive disk usage.
 
There are several folders on the desktop- should the folders be moved to my
documents instead?
 
Search for the folder that is at least '100 mb' or more under the user
profile and tell what you found.
 
There are several that are under \documents and settings\all
users\application data\aol\****
Also over 500mb in \documents and settings\user\my documents\my pictures...

AND- in \documents and settings\user\application
data\identities\{66308FCE... (file name is truncated) this is 1.41 GB,
followed by several other truncated files with the same beginning- one of 588
MB, another over 402 MB.

Thank you so much for all the help!
 
DK said:
I am helping a friend (isn't that always the case) who has Windows XP
Professional SP2. The User Profile for him is enormous- over 6 GB on an 18
GB drive. Needless to say, disk space is an issue. Can I optimize his user
profile or can I delete it and have it get recreated? Any help is greatly
appreciated.
Click to expand...


A primary space waster within the user profile would be IE's penchant
for storing copies (or significant portions thereof) of nearly every web
page your friend 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 for Java cache.
Start > Control Panel > Java > Temporary Internet Files > Settings.

You might also consider relocating Music, Video, and Picture file, if
there are a lot of them, to another folder outside the user profile, or
to another physical hard drive.

You can also free up significant space by reducing the sizes of the
Recycle Bin (10% of HDD, by default) and the System Volume (12% of HDD,
by default).


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



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
 
Back
Top