What files are ok to delete?

[glen]

We have a windows 2000 server with a small c drive
partition which is filling up fast. Besides the *.bkf
files what other files are ok to delete from the Winnt
directory.

Can I safely delete the c:\winnt\servicePackFiles\i386
and c:\winnt32.msi\i386 directories.

Thank you.

 

[George Hester]

Never heard of winnt32.msi folder. That looks unnecessary unless it is holding Windows Installer technology databases. But that is normally in C:\WINNT\Installer

I would consider emptying the Temporary Internet Files folder; the temp folders. If you have Exchange then some of the log files. Be careful here.

No do NOT remove the ServicePackFiles folder. That is necessary so that System File Protection works. If the drive seems to be filling up fast you may have a hacker issue or a trojan.

 

[Walter Donavan]

I have Empty Temporary Files 2.8.3 (freeware) set up to empty the following,
but only when I tell it to.

1. Internet temporary files (all those folders with names like 49YFC1YZ)
2. \WINNT\TEMP
3. Recycle Bin

I also have it search for temporary files on any or all of my partitions.
But I am careful when doing this. Many "temporary" files aren't temporary.

Fred Langa's LangaList newsletter archives have detailed information on
removing many megabytes of temporary and unnecessary files. http://langa.com
and http://langa.com/archives.htm You could search the archives.

 

[Steve N.]

I have Empty Temporary Files 2.8.3 (freeware) set up to empty the following,
but only when I tell it to.

1. Internet temporary files (all those folders with names like 49YFC1YZ)
2. \WINNT\TEMP
3. Recycle Bin

I also have it search for temporary files on any or all of my partitions.
But I am careful when doing this. Many "temporary" files aren't temporary.

Fred Langa's LangaList newsletter archives have detailed information on
removing many megabytes of temporary and unnecessary files. http://langa.com
and http://langa.com/archives.htm You could search the archives.

From what I've seen any temp files in use cannot be deleted anyway. An
exception I think would be after an install/update to the OS or software
requiring a restart but booting into Safe Mode instead of Normal, not
sure of that, though.

Steve

 

[George Hester]

All temporary files are tempoary except just not at the moment. There is one exception to this that I know of. That is MSN Messenger.