windows XP

[Guest]

my windows folder after 1 year is now 10 GB big, why is so big and how to
remove unnecesery files

 

[Dave M]

Hello maciej;

Part of your regular maintenance plan should be to run Start > Programs >
Accessories > System Tools > Disk Cleanup

Also you might consider CCleaner and or HDCleaner for a more thorough
cleaning. Search within this newsgroups for Engel's posts about these
products.

BTW my Windows folder is 3.11 Gig... hope that helps.

 

[Bill Sanderson MVP]

Please go to Start, all programs, accessories, system tools, disk cleanup,
and run the disk cleanup operation.

This application will run automatically if disk space becomes constrained.

 

[Guest]

Hello maciej,

To free more space.

When you do a maintenance (each day , weekly, or whenever) run:
My computer, select your drive, right click Properties, Disk-Cleanup, run,
More Options, check delete old restore points (one recent checkpoint
remªins).

I hope this post is helpful, let us know how it works ºut.
Еиçеl

 

[Kayman]

Dave M wrote:

"...CCleaner and or HDCleaner for a more thorough
cleaning."

 

[Dave M]

....Sure, not only is CCleaner a registry cleaner but also a extraneous file
disk cleaner as well. These are two distinct separately evocable functions
within the program. Cleaner doing the file cleanups, and Issues doing the
registry examination and cleaning. Some of our WD forum participants don't
like registry cleaners, well there's no need to use that function if you
prefer not to, but it always gives you the option to backup any changes
beforehand... and I always do backup before getting into the registry even
though CCleaner is pretty conservative.

Cleaning files, for example cookies stored on the harddisk, are easily
managed within CCleaner because it keeps a list of cookies you've decided
may be good on your system... like those with passwords versus the cookies
you've decided are junk... so the next time you do a cleaning you only
might want to look at any newly acquired cookies that you want to keep on
an ongoing basis and flush all the others. To me that makes more sense
than just a blind flush... I'd recommend you start cleaning just the
cookies to get a feel for the program (see Options/Cookies) Another
example are log files, these might be important if you have a failure and
need a diagnosis, but after the immediate usability of logs they usually
just take up space. You could manually go around and clean up all this,
but CCleaner has it all in one interface. There's a lot more functionality
than that, but the idea is that it does housekeeping above and in much more
detail than what Ms Disk Cleanup will do for you, all very quickly and
efficiently. So yes, there is speed, versatility, and certainly
functionality to recommend the software. Another advantage... it's well
supported via online peer group forums.

Now for the bad news... and there's not too much, but I recommend you
specifically *NOT* clean up Windows Defender because the scan history will
be removed, and WD will then erroneously report you have not run a scan for
___ days... Also, you may not want the version that comes bundled with the
Yahoo toolbar... unless you're mad about toolbars. That's the way the
author makes some money from his efforts, but he's straightforward enough
to provide a slim(mer) build which is not bundled, and the one I prefer to
download during updates. No Adware supported junk.

Now we also have a new cleaner that Engel likes, HDCleaner... I've
installed it but have not yet had time to look at details. Perhaps he'd
like to give the finer points, but it looks worthwhile and comes
recommended by a trusted source and former WD forum member. Both these
products are free by the way. If you've let maintenance slide... it might
be worth your while to have a look at these. CCleaner in particular is a
extremely popular download, but as with any program you download over the
net, it's provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights. ;-)
and hey, plun likes it too !

 

[Guest]

thank you engel kayman bill dave I try

Hello maciej,

To free more space.

When you do a maintenance (each day , weekly, or whenever) run:
My computer, select your drive, right click Properties, Disk-Cleanup, run,
More Options, check delete old restore points (one recent checkpoint
remªins).

I hope this post is helpful, let us know how it works ºut.
Еиçеl

 

[Kayman]

Thanks for informative post, Dave.

Cheers................Kayman

 

[Guest]

"...CCleaner and or HDCleaner for a more thorough
cleaning."

Are these third party applications indeed more effective than the built-in
tool, or are they just a bit faster and more versatile?

For what it's worth, and bearing in mind that I'm enormously lacking in
confidence when it somes to making changes in my computer, I wouldn't be
without Ccleaner. It clears out Temporary files that XP's disc Cleanup
misses, and once you've set it up to keep just the cookies you want (for
website passwords etc), it becomes an indispensible tool for clearing them
out. It takes just a few seconds, I use it before I do any antispyware scan,
and this pre-empts all those pointlessly alarming 'OhMyGod
You'veGotTrackingCookies!!' alerts from most of the scanners.

I also wipes out the index.dat files, history files, and so on. It's
supremely reliable, easy to use, and fast. I've never used it to clean my
registry however, and would do so only as a last resort.