Windows Directory is getting very large!

[Stuart]

I now have over 15,000 files in the service pack directories alone (WinXP
Pro). I am approaching 25,000 files under the Windows directory and with a
relatively fast (~2GHz) computer my full anti-virus/anti-spyware scans are
now taking hours. Is there any necessary reason to keep the service pack
directories around? Are they used or not? If they need to be retained, can I
at least screen them out of my full anti-virus/anti-spyware scans without
accepting too much risk?

What about the Office Program files - do they need to be scanned each time I
do a "full" scan? While I will continue to do a true full scan some of the
time, I would like to find areas of my Windows and Program files that could
be skipped in a less than "full" scan.

I know that I have stopped some of my software from updating. Since many of
these programs are rare enough that they would not be guessed to be present,
cannot they also be safely removed from these less than full scans?

Stuart//

 

[Guest]

Maybe:
http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-10877_11-6100994.html

Some WD suggestions:

Run quick scans every day, but run full scans every 2 to 3 weeks. If quick
scan finds malware, then immediately run a full scan.
Tools->Options->Advanced Options, uncheck the box to scan the contents of
archived folders. This means zip, cab, rar, etc... This can save hours
during a full scan on some systems.

Anti-viurs software:

Check your options. You may be able to reduce full scans by only looking at
executables. Again, run full scans infrequently unless you suspect you have
been infected.

Microsoft Software removal tool:

Start->Run, enter mrt, click OK. Provides a reasonably fast scan to check
for viruses and some rootkits.

Good luck. Have a good one.

 

[Stuart]

Maybe:
http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-10877_11-6100994.html

I see why you said maybe. It's always tricky to mess with the MS Gods. I
backed up the files (not including the $hf_mig$ files) and found I had 3991
files on both the hard drive and backup DVD and went ahead with the delete.
I am also doing versions of your other suggestions to limit the processing
time of my "full" scans. Thanks.
Stuart//

 

[Anonymous Bob]

I see why you said maybe. It's always tricky to mess with the MS Gods. I
backed up the files (not including the $hf_mig$ files) and found I had 3991
files on both the hard drive and backup DVD and went ahead with the delete.
I am also doing versions of your other suggestions to limit the processing
time of my "full" scans. Thanks.
Stuart//

Now you have to use add/remove programs to delete all the registry entries
manually. Alternatively you could try a program I recently ran across:
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_hotfix_backup.htm

Caveat - I haven't tried this program myself, but I don't mind if someone
else is the guinea pig.<g>

Bob Vanderveen

 

[Bill Sanderson MVP]

I'd trust stuff published by Doug Knox.
--

Now you have to use add/remove programs to delete all the registry entries
manually. Alternatively you could try a program I recently ran across:
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_hotfix_backup.htm

Caveat - I haven't tried this program myself, but I don't mind if someone
else is the guinea pig.<g>

Bob Vanderveen

 

[Anonymous Bob]

I'd trust stuff published by Doug Knox.

I'm disappointed that w2k isn't supported. From the change log:

v2.1.6 - 05/29/2004 - Re-enabled this utility to run under Windows 2000.
However, no support is offered for this utility under Windows 2000. Your
use of this program on a Windows 2000 system is at your own risk and
expense.

v2.1.5 - 10/25/2003 - Removed support for Windows 2000.

Bob Vanderveen