Where can I reclaim disk space from?

[M Skabialka]

I am running short on disk space (under 3% on 20 GB), so my PC boots and
runs very slowly.

C:\WINDOWS contains
3.76 GB, 21,395 files, 1,688 folders.

About 80 of these folders have names like $NtUninstallKB817778$
Are these needed?

C:\WINDOWS\Temp has 408 KB, 21 files, 9 folders
Can these go?

I have cleared temporary internet files, and moved some older versions of
files to a CD, so now have 1.5 GB free. I also deleted all *.tmp and ~*.*
files.

What other files can I get rid of? I run Win XP Pro, Office 2003 Pro,
Acrobat Reader, Winzip, and many documents, spreadsheets and Access
databases.

I have also run defrag (under protest since there is so little disk space),
chkdsk/f, antivirus and antispyware programs.

Is there a utility to tell me where the space is wasted, or a series of
instructions for getting rid of excess clutter?

Thanks,
Mich

 

[Ted Zieglar]

Viruses and spyware can take up vast amounts of hard disk space.

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

How can I save space after installing a Service Pack or other updates?
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/spack.htm

[Courtesy of MS-MVP Jupiter Jones]

4 Ways to Speed Up Your Computer's Performance
http://www.microsoft.com/atwork/getstarted/speed.mspx

System Mechanic
http://www.iolo.com/sm/5/index.cfm

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows XP - Shell/User
Microsoft Newsgroups

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

:

| I am running short on disk space (under 3% on 20 GB), so my PC boots and
| runs very slowly.
|
| C:\WINDOWS contains
| 3.76 GB, 21,395 files, 1,688 folders.
|
| About 80 of these folders have names like $NtUninstallKB817778$
| Are these needed?
|
| C:\WINDOWS\Temp has 408 KB, 21 files, 9 folders
| Can these go?
|
| I have cleared temporary internet files, and moved some older versions of
| files to a CD, so now have 1.5 GB free. I also deleted all *.tmp and ~*.*
| files.
|
| What other files can I get rid of? I run Win XP Pro, Office 2003 Pro,
| Acrobat Reader, Winzip, and many documents, spreadsheets and Access
| databases.
|
| I have also run defrag (under protest since there is so little disk space),
| chkdsk/f, antivirus and antispyware programs.
|
| Is there a utility to tell me where the space is wasted, or a series of
| instructions for getting rid of excess clutter?
|
| Thanks,
| Mich

 

[M Skabialka]

As noted:
I ran Ewido, MS Antispyware, Spybot, Ad-Aware, Sophos, etc, and found minor
irritations, nothing that should be a problem..
Any other ideas?

 

[Ted Zieglar]

"Minor irritations"?

Your computer is either infected or it's not. If it's infected you must
remove the malware.

 

[M Skabialka]

Thanks,
I'll try these

 

[lvee]

A couple of things you can do are turn off System Restore, then turn it
back on, or remove all but the most recent restore points, and also reduce
the space allotted to System Restore. Then, go thru your Add/remove
programs and see if you have any unused programs, or programs that you don't
recognize but thru the miracle of malware, Trojans, etc, have implanted
themselves in your computer.
You can also remove any downloaded program files that you deem unnecessary.
And, as noted, there are disk space analyzers out there, some a free, others
are not, and I have never used them so I can't vouch for them.

Thanks,
I'll try these

How can I save space after installing a Service Pack or other updates?
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/spack.htm

[Courtesy of MS-MVP Jupiter Jones]

4 Ways to Speed Up Your Computer's Performance
http://www.microsoft.com/atwork/getstarted/speed.mspx

System Mechanic
http://www.iolo.com/sm/5/index.cfm

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows XP - Shell/User
Microsoft Newsgroups

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

:

| I am running short on disk space (under 3% on 20 GB), so my PC boots
and
| runs very slowly.
|
| C:\WINDOWS contains
| 3.76 GB, 21,395 files, 1,688 folders.
|
| About 80 of these folders have names like $NtUninstallKB817778$
| Are these needed?
|
| C:\WINDOWS\Temp has 408 KB, 21 files, 9 folders
| Can these go?
|
| I have cleared temporary internet files, and moved some older versions
of
| files to a CD, so now have 1.5 GB free. I also deleted all *.tmp and
~*.*
| files.
|
| What other files can I get rid of? I run Win XP Pro, Office 2003 Pro,
| Acrobat Reader, Winzip, and many documents, spreadsheets and Access
| databases.
|
| I have also run defrag (under protest since there is so little disk
space),
| chkdsk/f, antivirus and antispyware programs.
|
| Is there a utility to tell me where the space is wasted, or a series of
| instructions for getting rid of excess clutter?
|
| Thanks,
| Mich

 

[alanwo]

You may try to get rid of the duplicate files to recover valuable disk
space using NoClone. Files under Windows folder and Program files are
not recommended to remove and are protected by NoClone, you may find
duplicate data files and documents.
http://noclone.net