XP Hotfix and Restore files

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Guest

I'm deleting unused files on my C Drive, and there are a TON of Windows XP Hotfix (SP2) files listed in my ADD/REMOVE PROGRAMS window

What are these files? Can I delete them? Each one is about 14 meg

Also, my defrag program shows a ton of fragmented files (17 meg each) named System Volume Information/Restore, and then some identifying numbers. What are these files, and how can I get rid of them? My C Drive is so cluttered, it won't even defrag properly

Thanks

Seth
 
You cannot delete the Hotfix files. If you delete them under add/remove,
you will only be prompted to download them again.

The System Volume Information files are your system restore files. If you
want to delete them, turn off system restore...do so at your own risk, as
once you do this you will have no restore points to fall back on.

Bobby
 
If you delete those from the ADD/REMOVE you will uninstall the hot fixes.
The system volume is where your
system restore files are located.
 
1) you can delete the hot fix files, just don't do it from Add/Remove;
that will un-do the hot fix, which is not what you want. doing a google
for "hotfix backup remove" you'll find this:

http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_hotfix_backup.htm

2) all those files in System Volume Information are your restore points.
Using Disk Cleanup (in accessories | system tools), on the More Options
tab, there is a button that deletes all except the last restore point.
My advice if your system is running just fine right now and you are sure
you won't need to restore to an earlier date, is to 1) use System Restore
to CREATE a new restore point; call it "Good". Then 2) use Disk Cleanup
to delete all but that latest restore point. Note when using Disk Cleanup,
click the "delete all but last restore point" button, which does its
thing, then click CANCEL; clicking OK does all the _OTHER_ disk cleanup
things on the main tab, which may not be what you intended.

Finally, System Restore by default sets aside a LOT of HD space for its
restore points (12% of the HD capacity). You can lower this via a tab in
the "System" control panel. 500 MB would seem to be plenty. Remember, if
your machine is turned on a lot, the system will make a new restore point
automatically every ~3 days, and it keeps them around for about 90 days.
You can tweak these times w/ a registry change if you're brave; google for
it. The system also often makes a restore point before it installs new
software (depending on the installer tool that was used). Best advice:
just lower the amount of space you allow it to use (500MB to 1 GB) and let
it do its thing! You never know when it might save your butt!
 
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