1. Use the XP cleanup tool to delete temporary files. In Windows Explorer,
right-click a drive letter, properties, disk cleanup. Check all boxes
relative to temporary type files, unless you have a reason to want to keep
them. For example, I do not choose the recycle bin, since I would rather
empty that manually, a few days after I delete something, just in case I
make a mistake. Avoid using XP's compress option, since it makes recovering
files more difficult, if XP crashes.
2. Control the size of the pagefile and how many drives have page files. My
Computer, Properties, Hardware, Advanced, Performance, Setting, Advanced,
Virtual Memory, Change. Select where to have the pagefile and its size.
Chose the same number for min-size as max-size, so that once created the
pagefile will not become fragmented. Note, if you are tight on space, set
the page files to zero on all partitions except C:, reboot, defrag one of
those partitions, then set the pagefile on C: to zero and the one on the
defragged partition to a the desired size, reboot. If you have 1Gig of RAM
or more, you might even set the pagefile to zero, but probably leaving a
small pagefile would be a good idea, since some programs expect one. If you
have 512 Meg to 1 Gig, you might want a page file some RAM+pagefile is at
least 1 Gig. If you have a lot less than 512 Meg of RAM, think about
getting more RAM, as XP and programs built for XP work better with more RAM.
3. Consider turning off hibernation, reboot. Then delete hiberfil.sys, if
it is still present. Start, settings, control panel, power options,
hibernate, uncheck the box.
4. Get a good disk cleaner to look for files that XP's cleanup tool misses.
I like CCleaner, which is free:
http://www.ccleaner.com/
5. Look for duplicate personal files using a tool like Duplic8 at
http://www.kewlit.com/ (not free, but good and easy to use). Or, look here
for other cleaners and duplicate finders, many free:
http://www.majorgeeks.com/downloads12.html But, avoid cleaners that promise
to remove all data form a hard drive ! Those are for when you toss the PC
and do not want personal information to be left on the hard drive.
6. Consider going into the Windows directory and deleting older directories
that begin with "$NtUninstallKB". These are useful only for uninstalling
windows updates. If you are happy with the installed updates, these files
are not longer needed. However, I would keep those for the last month or
two, just in case the update had a consequence that you have not yet
discovered. Note that you may need to change the view settings in Windows
Explorer to see these files. Tools, folder options, view, hidden files and
folders, show hidden files and folders. Also, in the same screen, uncheck
hide protected system files.
7. Search the Documents and Settings folder for files ending in "msi".
These are installer files for some programs or updates to some programs. I
have found that some programs leave them around forever. Acrobat Reader 8
seems to do that. Once found, delete them.
8. Check all major programs for "cache" settings. Many programs trade disk
space for download speed. For example Google Earth and NASA's Worldwind.
9. Look for programs that offered to load large databases on disk to avoid
needed their CD/DVD to run. If you do not run them often, you can remove
their databases form disk. This is often best done via a repair
installation of the program, rather than by a simple delete. Delorme Street
Atlas USA is in this category.
9. Uninstall programs that you do not use anymore, or use infrequently.
But, be sure to have the original CD or installer *.exe or *.msi file, in
case you wish to reinstall.
10. Copy infrequently used personal files to CDs or DVDs, especially if
they are easy re-downloadable from the web. Then, delete the copy on the
hard drive. But, if the files are unique, such as digital photos or
personally made movie clips, have a second copy somewhere (2nd CD/DVD, with
a friend, etc).
11. Possibly use WINZIP or similar to compress older and less used personal
files, or even whole directories of these. Note that zipping JPGs or AVIs
usually does not gain much space. Ditto for MP3 or other already-compressed
formats. Zipping works well on XLS, DOC, TXT, BMP.
"Efirmitiv" <smirnoff@imsim.tm> wrote in message
news:f7bpd7$uoh$1@news1.carnet.hr...
>I have sata drive 80 gb, three partitions 25gb each.
> I turned on diskcleanup and got a lot of disk space...i'm curious how
> could i free more space beside with disckcleanup ?
>
> I got rid of some unneeded programmes, applications but don't know what
> else to erase or else ?
>
> I have page.sys of 780mb on every partition, i have three partitions...?
> Hiberfil.sys file is 500mb ?
>
> There's some file called "Temp", with
> underfiles -authcabs, -datastore, -download, -evencache, -selfupdate, -websetup
> ...how important is this file, i would erase it but ain't sure of its
> importancy?
>
> Thanks,
> Marko
>