What Can I safely Delete?

  • Thread starter Thread starter patetc
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patetc

I installed Windows XP, SP 3 and updated IE to 7.0. What files can I safely
delete now to clear up hard drive space?

Pat
 
First use Windows 'Disk Cleanup' to create more space on your C: drive.
Description of the Disk Cleanup Tool in Windows XP:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310312

Next: Empty the Recycle Bin.

You can also free up more disk space by reducing
the number of 'System Restore' points:
Select Start/Control Panel/System, then in the System Properties window
click on the System Restore tab.
Next select the drive letter where Windows is installed (usually C:),
Then click on the Setting button
Now in the Drive Settings window move the Disk space usage slider to the
left to reduce the amount of drive space System Restore points will use.
This will remove some of the older restore points and free up some space.

Disable Hibernation and delete hiberfil.sys file (If you have it enabled):
http://www.mydigitallife.info/2007/...sys-hibernation-file-in-windows-xp-and-vista/
and:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/mobility/getstarted/hibernate.mspx

Next if you still need more space:
Remove the files used to uninstall updates to Windows
These folders and associated files in these folders are safe to remove,
however once deleted you will no longer be able to un-install a patch or
update that was associated with the deleted folder/files.
I would keep the most recent set (last two months just in case) of folders
and delete the older updates.
As a safety net I burned these folders to a CD before deleting them.
These files are located in the Windows folder and have folder names
like $NtUninstallKBXXXXXX$.
They are hidden folders so enable viewing of hidden files in Windows
Explorer.

What about the file named $NTSevicePackUninstall$

Yes it's safe to remove this folder, which is about 330MB after Service Pack
2 has been installed. If you have already installed Service Pack 3 then this
folder may grow to over 600MB.

However once you delete this folder you can no longer uninstall the service
pack. So if you have just installed SP3 leave it on the drive for a while
until you are certain there are no problems that would make you wish you had
not installed SP3.


Warning: One folder you should not delete is: $hf_mig$
Also See the following web pages on this issue:
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/spack.htm
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_hotfix_backup.htm

Finally - You can reduce the size of the Internet Explorer Disk Cache:
How and Why to Clear Your Cache:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/ie6/using/howto/customizing/clearcache.mspx
Just follow the instructs but instead of increasing the size (as stated in
the article) decrease it.

If you have more than one partition or drive then:
How to Change the Default Location of Mail and News Folders:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/175037

Change the Default Location of the My Documents Folder
(Example: move it to the D drive)
See: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310147
Also:
http://www.techsupportalert.com/how_to_move_my_documents.htm

How to move the Spool folder in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kben-usQ308666

JS

"patetc" <patetc@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:%235jJ%23U2xIHA.4816@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
>I installed Windows XP, SP 3 and updated IE to 7.0. What files can I
>safely delete now to clear up hard drive space?
>
> Pat
>
 
You're welcome.

JS

"patetc" <patetc@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:Oz%23Sto3xIHA.2292@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> Thanks for all the good information. This helps me a lot.
>
> Pat
>
 
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