(What can I delete after switching from ME to XP Pro SP2 (regain HD space)

[Dalamar]

I just switched from WinME to XP Pro SP2 and couldn't be happier.

I was just wondering what I can delete in order to save HD space since having
switched to the new OS. When I installed XP, I upgraded (installed over ME) &
opted to not save any "backup" files as the XP disk is Microsoft and not OEM
(capable of repair installs), so that saved a little space.

Anyways, I was wondering if I need the C:\Windows\Options\ folder for any
reason. Does XP use it for anything? I have already formatted to NTFS (using
command line, not fdisk) so I have no intentions of switching back to ME.

Is there any other folders/files that you all may know of that I will no
longer need that would regain HD space (or a link to where I can find this
information)?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[Michael Stevens]

In

I just switched from WinME to XP Pro SP2 and couldn't be happier.

I was just wondering what I can delete in order to save HD space
since having switched to the new OS. When I installed XP, I upgraded
(installed over ME) & opted to not save any "backup" files as the XP
disk is Microsoft and not OEM (capable of repair installs), so that
saved a little space.

Anyways, I was wondering if I need the C:\Windows\Options\ folder for
any reason. Does XP use it for anything? I have already formatted to
NTFS (using command line, not fdisk) so I have no intentions of
switching back to ME.

Is there any other folders/files that you all may know of that I will
no longer need that would regain HD space (or a link to where I can
find this information)?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

If you are short on space, your best option would be purchase a larger hard
drive and clone the old drive to the new one.
There is not really a lot of things to get rid of with XP. You can right
click on the hard drive and select properties from the menu and then Disk
Cleanup from the General tab. This will compress old files and you can
delete temp internet and desktop files, Office setup files, etc. But this
will not free up much real estate. You can delete the hot fix and service
pack uninstallation files, if you sure you will not need to uninstall them.
Go through your applications and uninstall the ones you no longer use.
Reduce the size of System Restore folder.
All this work will still not free up much space and XP is very greedy about
the space it needs to run efficiently. Get the larger hard drive and save
yourself a lot of valuable time trying to stay ahead of XP hard drive space
needs.

Click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into the address box
if using the web based newsgroup.
How to Remove Windows XP Uninstallation Files.
#38 on the FAQ list.
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/xpfaq.html
--
Michael Stevens MS-MVP XP
(e-mail address removed)
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com
For a better newsgroup experience. Setup a newsreader.
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/outlookexpressnewreader.htm

 

[Dalamar]

In

If you are short on space, your best option would be purchase a larger
hard drive and clone the old drive to the new one.
There is not really a lot of things to get rid of with XP. You can right
click on the hard drive and select properties from the menu and then
Disk Cleanup from the General tab. This will compress old files and you
can delete temp internet and desktop files, Office setup files, etc. But
this will not free up much real estate. You can delete the hot fix and
service pack uninstallation files, if you sure you will not need to
uninstall them. Go through your applications and uninstall the ones you
no longer use. Reduce the size of System Restore folder.
All this work will still not free up much space and XP is very greedy
about the space it needs to run efficiently. Get the larger hard drive
and save yourself a lot of valuable time trying to stay ahead of XP hard
drive space needs.

Click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into the address box
if using the web based newsgroup.
How to Remove Windows XP Uninstallation Files.
#38 on the FAQ list.
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/xpfaq.html

Thanks for the quick responce Michael. I run a "pretty tight ship" (almost
too tight) and still have about 65% free hard drive space. The key reason
that I asked was because I know that after upgrading to XP from ME, ME has
left a lot of unused files and folders on my HD such as the C:\WINDOWS
\OPTIONS\ folder that contains the restore files for Windows ME. Does XP
use this folder for any reason? If I am able to delete it, I will regain
almost a gig of memory that can be used for better things than collecting
dust.

I would also like to learn the locations of any other (if any) files
and/or folders that ME might have left behind that XP does not use.

Thanks for your help.

Cheerz!

 

[Michael Stevens]

In

Thanks for the quick responce Michael. I run a "pretty tight ship"
(almost too tight) and still have about 65% free hard drive space.
The key reason that I asked was because I know that after upgrading
to XP from ME, ME has left a lot of unused files and folders on my HD
such as the C:\WINDOWS \OPTIONS\ folder that contains the restore
files for Windows ME. Does XP use this folder for any reason? If I am
able to delete it, I will regain almost a gig of memory that can be
used for better things than collecting dust.

I would also like to learn the locations of any other (if any) files
and/or folders that ME might have left behind that XP does not use.

Thanks for your help.

Cheerz!

XP has no use for the Me files in options, but you should copy the folder to
a CD-RW or DVD-RW if you have the means to do so and if not send the files
to the recycle bin for a week or so to make sure you don't need anything. If
you have an XP upgrade CD and do not have a proper Me or other qualifying
Windows CD the Options folder could be of use to restore the computer.
BTW, you can also reach the Disk Cleanup manager by typing "Cleanmgr.exe"
from Start> Run. From here you can access Add?Remove, System Restore and
Add/ Remove Windows Components.
--
Michael Stevens MS-MVP XP
(e-mail address removed)
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com
For a better newsgroup experience. Setup a newsreader.
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/outlookexpressnewreader.htm

 

[bumtracks]

I recently updated a winME laptop here to XP home.
Laptop went from about 3gb to 10gb used hdd space.
Forget how exactly but maybe add/remove and removed winME backup files and
it came down to about 7gb of used hdd.
Ran through the c:\hdd cleanup and went into the windows programs and
without changing anything it deleted about another 1gb. Saved the registry
50mb which made me think hard of a fresh install which once done the
registry dropped to the 20mb area.
After upgrades to sp2 ended up with about 4gb of used hdd.
Then I slipstreamed xp home & sp2 and reformat & reinstalled that and now
with everything including a my old programs reinstalled it's 2.67gb of used
hdd space after cleaning restore points.

So for this me laptop a fresh install was most beneficial for saving space
& snappier too!

 

[Dalamar]

I recently updated a winME laptop here to XP home.
Laptop went from about 3gb to 10gb used hdd space.
Forget how exactly but maybe add/remove and removed winME backup files
and it came down to about 7gb of used hdd.
Ran through the c:\hdd cleanup and went into the windows programs and
without changing anything it deleted about another 1gb. Saved the
registry 50mb which made me think hard of a fresh install which once
done the registry dropped to the 20mb area.
After upgrades to sp2 ended up with about 4gb of used hdd.
Then I slipstreamed xp home & sp2 and reformat & reinstalled that and
now with everything including a my old programs reinstalled it's 2.67gb
of used hdd space after cleaning restore points.

So for this me laptop a fresh install was most beneficial for saving
space & snappier too!

Thanks for the help everyone. I decided to go ahead and reformat/reinstall
XP. That is about right Bumtracks. After reinstalling XP by itself, I only
occupied about 2GB. Would you believe that after all of my programs and apps
were reinstalled, I still gained 5GB!!!

Thanks again!

~Dalamar