What can I delete?

[Mary]

After working for days like everyone to clean up the problems from the July
downloads, I now have quite a few items in my system which I have never seen
before.
Can any of them be deleted to create more usable space on my disk? (I've
tried to research these items on Google)

In My Computer | Local Disk | C:
hiberfil.sys system file size 262 mb
pagefile.sys system file size 262 mb
Folder Project Templates 31.8 kb

Folder Windows SharePoint Services Developer Resources 33.2 mb

Folder Xml 7.87 kb
Folder Open Manage 221 mb

ec9d214e67a786a9d1fa3fe390 in Folder WCU.dat
37.3 mb

IO.SYS 0 kb
MSDOS.SYS 0 kb
NTDETECT shortcut to MS-DOS Program 3 kb
AUTOEXE.BAT MS-DOS Batch File 0 kb
Notepad boot.ini Configuration Settings 1 kb
CONFIG.SYS System File 0 kb
NTDETECT.COM MS-DOS Application 47 kb
ntdlr system file 245 kb

I know it's a long list and don't expect answers to every item, but any
advice is appreciated.

Thank you, Mary

 

[philo]

After working for days like everyone to clean up the problems from the July
downloads, I now have quite a few items in my system which I have never seen
before.
Can any of them be deleted to create more usable space on my disk? (I've
tried to research these items on Google)

In My Computer | Local Disk | C:
hiberfil.sys system file size 262 mb
pagefile.sys system file size 262 mb
Folder Project Templates 31.8 kb

Folder Windows SharePoint Services Developer Resources 33.2 mb

Folder Xml 7.87 kb
Folder Open Manage 221 mb

ec9d214e67a786a9d1fa3fe390 in Folder WCU.dat
37.3 mb

<snip>

If you have a desktop machine you may want to turn off hybernation.

Also: reduce your internet cache and reduce system restore...
then do a disk cleanup and leave it at that

 

[Rich Barry]

Mary, I would leave those files alone. Open MyComputer>rt click on C:
Icon and select
Properties and click on Disk Cleanup.

 

[Bert Kinney]

Hi Mary,

The reason you are seeing these files now, is "Hide protected operating
system files (recommended)" option is unchecked in Folder Options - View
tab. I would suggest putting a check mark next to this options. These files
are hidden for very good reason.

Regards,
Bert Kinney MS-MVP Shell/User
http://bertk.mvps.org
Member: http://dts-l.org

 

[Mary]

My thanks to alll 3 of you. Mary

Hi Mary,

The reason you are seeing these files now, is "Hide protected operating
system files (recommended)" option is unchecked in Folder Options - View
tab. I would suggest putting a check mark next to this options. These
files are hidden for very good reason.

Regards,
Bert Kinney MS-MVP Shell/User
http://bertk.mvps.org
Member: http://dts-l.org

 

[Bert Kinney]

You're welcome Mary.

Regards,
Bert Kinney MS-MVP Shell/User
http://bertk.mvps.org
Member: http://dts-l.org

 

[Stan Brown]

After working for days like everyone to clean up the problems from the July
downloads, I now have quite a few items in my system which I have never seen
before.
Can any of them be deleted to create more usable space on my disk? (I've
tried to research these items on Google)
pagefile.sys system file size 262 mb

Meaning no disrespect, but I'm curious about how you tried to
research these items.

The very first hit in Google for pagefile.sys answers your question.

 

[Bob Harris]

As a general rule you do not want to delete system files, such as you have
listed, at least not by a simple right-click delete from within Windows
Explorer.

You can safely turn off hibernation: start --> settings --> control
panel --> power options --> hibernation tab (uncheck the hibernation box).
Now manually delete hiberfil.sys. Reboot. hiberfil.sys should not come
back.

It is possible to adjust the size of pagefil.sys, but yours is already
fairly small, so I would advise against that, unless you were to first add
more real RAM.

XP comes with a disk cleanup tool. Just right-click on a drive letter in
windows explorer, select properties --> disk cleanup. Avoid checking a box
to compress files (if it ispresent). Compressed files may sound good, but
can lead to problems in the future.

The XP cleanup tool has an advanced option to delete all except the latest
system restore point. If the PC is working perfectly, consider invoking
this option. But, if the PC is in anyway not operating well, do not use
this option.

You can set the total amount of space reserved for all restore points.
Start --> help and support --> system restore --> system restore settings,
pick a drive (likely C:\), setings. Use slider to reduce the size of space
used for system restore.

There are many, free disk cleanup tools that can do more than the XP tools.
Try CCleaner for example: http://www.ccleaner.com/

Then there are cache areas that most tools do not seem to clean. Nearly
every program that downloads things from the internet has a cache area. For
example NASA's WorldWind program (similar to Google Earth) defaults to a
very large cache. Most programs of this nature have some user control on
maximum cache size. Or, fialing that, find the cahce area and manually
delete files. Just be sure that you have the right area. Cache areas
usually live under Documents and Seeting then your user name, or under
Program Files and the then program's name.

Finally, sometimes the best solution to a space problem is to get a larger
hard drive. These can be fairly cheap, and any PC store that sells them
should be able to install them. If you have a desktop, the new drive could
be installed as a "slave" (D:\), and then you could manually copy persoanl
files to it, leaving C: for XP and programs. If a laptop, or if you perfer
on a desktop, all files could be tranasferred form the old drive to the new
one. In either case, a PC store can do this sort of thing easily. Watch
for sales.

 

[Andrew Murray]

Or get CCleaner (www.ccleaner.com)
A Free disk clean up utility like Disk Cleanup in Windows, but seems far
more comprehensive