Cleaning up C drive

[Guest m_ridzon]

I am running WinXP SP3 Pro. My harddrive is partitioned into 4 partitions

with C drive having the operating system on it. I originally formatted this

harddrive about 4 years ago making C drive 10GB. Over the 4 years, I've

downloaded many software updates for Windows and my other applications. I

noticed that I only have about 1.5GB left in C drive and would like to free

up some space if possible. Once the downloads are downloaded and ran, do the

downloaded files sit dormant somewhere in the C drive? In other words, can I

delete the downloaded files to free up C drive space? Or are they constantly

being referenced and called upon by the computer system?

 

I am just trying to clean up C drive without making the system unstable.

 

M Ridzon

[Guest Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Re: Cleaning up C drive

 

 

"m_ridzon" <mridzon@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:79B94302-739C-41B0-A952-40C0F2E6CE04@microsoft.com...

>I am running WinXP SP3 Pro. My harddrive is partitioned into 4 partitions

> with C drive having the operating system on it. I originally formatted

> this

> harddrive about 4 years ago making C drive 10GB. Over the 4 years, I've

> downloaded many software updates for Windows and my other applications. I

> noticed that I only have about 1.5GB left in C drive and would like to

> free

> up some space if possible. Once the downloads are downloaded and ran, do

> the

> downloaded files sit dormant somewhere in the C drive? In other words,

> can I

> delete the downloaded files to free up C drive space? Or are they

> constantly

> being referenced and called upon by the computer system?

>

> I am just trying to clean up C drive without making the system unstable.

>

> M Ridzon

 

It depends on what exactly you downloaded - please give some examples.

You might also move the paging file to a different drive in order to free up

disk space, and maybe restrict the amount of space used by System Restore.

[Guest db.·.. >]

Re: Cleaning up C drive

 

firstly, i would strongly

recommend that you

create a winxp sp3 so

that you won't have to

worry about making your

system unstable without

the ability to "repair" it.

 

secondly, i would begin

deleting any .tmp and

..zip files on the c drive

and simply uninstalling

any old programs and

freewares since there are

newer versions available

and can be re-installed.

 

--

 

db·´¯`·...¸><)))º>

 

"m_ridzon" <mridzon@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:79B94302-739C-41B0-A952-40C0F2E6CE04@microsoft.com...

>I am running WinXP SP3 Pro. My harddrive is partitioned into 4 partitions

> with C drive having the operating system on it. I originally formatted this

> harddrive about 4 years ago making C drive 10GB. Over the 4 years, I've

> downloaded many software updates for Windows and my other applications. I

> noticed that I only have about 1.5GB left in C drive and would like to free

> up some space if possible. Once the downloads are downloaded and ran, do the

> downloaded files sit dormant somewhere in the C drive? In other words, can I

> delete the downloaded files to free up C drive space? Or are they constantly

> being referenced and called upon by the computer system?

>

> I am just trying to clean up C drive without making the system unstable.

>

> M Ridzon

[Guest Ron Badour]

Re: Cleaning up C drive

 

Have you tried XP's Disk Cleanup (cleanmgr.exe)?

 

Look in your Windows folder for files with names similar to this:

$NtUninstallKB946648$ These are the uninstall files for updates that you

have downloaded and installed. These files can take up a lot of room so if

your machine is stable, these files can be deleted. MVP Doug Knox has a

utility to remove the files plus the associated registry entries:

http://www.dougknox.com/ In the left panel, select: Win XP Utilities. In

the right panel, select: Remove Hotfix Backup Files.

 

Once the files are gone, you will not be able to uninstall the updates;

however, if the PC is stable, there should be no need to remove them.

 

You could also resize the partitions and add more space to C: drive;

however, you will need special software to do so. BootIt Next Generation is

available from: http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/bootitng.html and it does

partitioning, makes a compressed image, does many other partitioning chores

and is a boot manager. It is not quite as easy to use as Partition Magic

but it is half the cost and has more features. Unlike the crippled PMagic

demo, BING is a *full function* demo you can try for FREE for 30 days. The

web site has a lot of support articles.

 

--

Regards

 

Ron Badour

MS MVP

Windows Desktop Experience

 

 

"m_ridzon" <mridzon@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:79B94302-739C-41B0-A952-40C0F2E6CE04@microsoft.com...

>I am running WinXP SP3 Pro. My harddrive is partitioned into 4 partitions

> with C drive having the operating system on it. I originally formatted

> this

> harddrive about 4 years ago making C drive 10GB. Over the 4 years, I've

> downloaded many software updates for Windows and my other applications. I

> noticed that I only have about 1.5GB left in C drive and would like to

> free

> up some space if possible. Once the downloads are downloaded and ran, do

> the

> downloaded files sit dormant somewhere in the C drive? In other words,

> can I

> delete the downloaded files to free up C drive space? Or are they

> constantly

> being referenced and called upon by the computer system?

>

> I am just trying to clean up C drive without making the system unstable.

>

> M Ridzon

[Guest Mike Hall - MVP]

Re: Cleaning up C drive

 

"m_ridzon" <mridzon@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:79B94302-739C-41B0-A952-40C0F2E6CE04@microsoft.com...

>I am running WinXP SP3 Pro. My harddrive is partitioned into 4 partitions

> with C drive having the operating system on it. I originally formatted

> this

> harddrive about 4 years ago making C drive 10GB. Over the 4 years, I've

> downloaded many software updates for Windows and my other applications. I

> noticed that I only have about 1.5GB left in C drive and would like to

> free

> up some space if possible. Once the downloads are downloaded and ran, do

> the

> downloaded files sit dormant somewhere in the C drive? In other words,

> can I

> delete the downloaded files to free up C drive space? Or are they

> constantly

> being referenced and called upon by the computer system?

>

> I am just trying to clean up C drive without making the system unstable.

>

> M Ridzon

 

 

You can move the downloads to another partition such that you can re-install

them easily if you have a problem in the future..

 

 

--

Mike Hall - MVP

How to construct a good post..

http://dts-l.com/goodpost.htm

How to use the Microsoft Product Support Newsgroups..

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=newswhelp&style=toc

Mike's Window - My Blog..

http://msmvps.com/blogs/mikehall/default.aspx

[Guest m_ridzon]

Re: Cleaning up C drive

 

Ron,

 

The disk cleanup did quite a bit. I deleted all but the latest restore

point and that helped out a lot. I now have 2.6GB of free space. I have a

whole bunch of the $NtUninstallKB946648$ files. I'm hesistant to remove them

though. There's been instances where I've had to uninstall some of these

updates and reinstall them to fix a problem (ie: recent problem in July with

XP update and Zone Labs firewall).

 

Mike,

 

You mentioned something about moving the downloads to another partition. Is

that possible to do with these Win update uninstall files?

 

db,

 

Is there a specific location I should look for to find a multitude of .tmp

and .zip files? Do they all end up in a central location where I can delete

them all?

 

Pegasus,

 

How do I move the paging file to a different drive? Is that a good idea or

is it preferable to leave on C drive. I have F drive which has about 9GB of

free space.

 

Thanks,

M Ridzon

[Guest Ron Badour]

Re: Cleaning up C drive

 

You can move the uninstall files; however, you had better have a lot of room

available.

 

If your system uses the paging file frequently (minimum ram installed),

moving it to the outer ring (F: drive) of the drive may cause a slow down.

This would be my last choice for making more space.

 

Zip files could be scattered anywhere--you just have to look for them. Disk

cleanup probably got the majority of the .tmp files.

 

You could also limit how much the recycle bin retains and you can limit the

temp files IE retains.

 

--

Regards

 

Ron Badour

MS MVP

Windows Desktop Experience

 

 

"m_ridzon" <mridzon@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:EE9B9550-C22B-4F77-9CA5-5F1E7DBFEA93@microsoft.com...

> Ron,

>

> The disk cleanup did quite a bit. I deleted all but the latest restore

> point and that helped out a lot. I now have 2.6GB of free space. I have

> a

> whole bunch of the $NtUninstallKB946648$ files. I'm hesistant to remove

> them

> though. There's been instances where I've had to uninstall some of these

> updates and reinstall them to fix a problem (ie: recent problem in July

> with

> XP update and Zone Labs firewall).

>

> Mike,

>

> You mentioned something about moving the downloads to another partition.

> Is

> that possible to do with these Win update uninstall files?

>

> db,

>

> Is there a specific location I should look for to find a multitude of .tmp

> and .zip files? Do they all end up in a central location where I can

> delete

> them all?

>

> Pegasus,

>

> How do I move the paging file to a different drive? Is that a good idea

> or

> is it preferable to leave on C drive. I have F drive which has about 9GB

> of

> free space.

>

> Thanks,

> M Ridzon

[Guest m_ridzon]

Re: Cleaning up C drive

 

Ron,

 

I don't know how to tell if my system uses the paging file frequently so

I'll probably leave it alone. I know I've gotten messages in the past that

say "virtual memory low" when I'm running a high powered software program.

Someone told me to set the virtual memory to "system managed" to help this

problem, which I did.

 

I did a search on C drive for *.zip files and found a bunch. I found

Symantec error log files. I found Symantec LiveUpdate files. I found

Internet logs. I found a bunch that are related to Java updates and Jave

cache. I found one in which the directory is listed as lib/deploy (not sure

what it's for). I found a few for the Windows Media Player. Is it safe to

delete all of these? Does the system reference to them ever? Will I risk

making the system unstable by deleting any of them? Could I possibly email

you a screen print of them before deleting them so that you can tell me if

it's safe or not?

 

M Ridzon

[Guest Ron Badour]

Re: Cleaning up C drive

 

You would need an expert on every program that has a .zip file--I am not the

person you need. Frankly, unless you can get a definite answer from

someone, I would not delete nor move a .zip file. I recall in W98 days that

there were programs that actually used .zip files when they were operating.

I don't know if the same is true today.

 

--

Regards

 

Ron Badour

MS MVP

Windows Desktop Experience

 

 

"m_ridzon" <mridzon@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:84F04656-1323-4BF9-9D48-BDC2CDFACC56@microsoft.com...

> Ron,

>

> I don't know how to tell if my system uses the paging file frequently so

> I'll probably leave it alone. I know I've gotten messages in the past

> that

> say "virtual memory low" when I'm running a high powered software program.

> Someone told me to set the virtual memory to "system managed" to help this

> problem, which I did.

>

> I did a search on C drive for *.zip files and found a bunch. I found

> Symantec error log files. I found Symantec LiveUpdate files. I found

> Internet logs. I found a bunch that are related to Java updates and Jave

> cache. I found one in which the directory is listed as lib/deploy (not

> sure

> what it's for). I found a few for the Windows Media Player. Is it safe

> to

> delete all of these? Does the system reference to them ever? Will I risk

> making the system unstable by deleting any of them? Could I possibly

> email

> you a screen print of them before deleting them so that you can tell me if

> it's safe or not?

>

> M Ridzon

[Guest Plato]

Re: Cleaning up C drive

 

=?Utf-8?B?bV9yaWR6b24=?= wrote:

>

> noticed that I only have about 1.5GB left in C drive and would like to free

> up some space if possible. Once the downloads are downloaded and ran, do the

 

You want at least 10 gig free at all times. One can use crap cleaner to

free up space:

http://www.bootdisk.com/utility.htm

REGISTRY AND SYSTEM MAINTENANCE

Junk File Cleaners

 

But the real issue may be the size of your HDD. Perhaps you need a new,

larger one, or need to put your larger files, eg mp3s, videos, on CDs.

You may have 25 gig of temporary internet files and windows temp/tmp

files, nobody deletes these regularly. Perhaps you should.

 

 

--

http://www.bootdisk.com/

[Guest Plato]

Re: Cleaning up C drive

 

Pegasus (MVP) wrote:

>

> > I am just trying to clean up C drive without making the system unstable.

>

> It depends on what exactly you downloaded - please give some examples.

> You might also move the paging file to a different drive in order to free up

> disk space, and maybe restrict the amount of space used by System Restore.

 

If you have one hard drive then the page/swap file should be on the same

drive as your windows folder.

[Guest Plato]

Re: Cleaning up C drive

 

firstly, fix your word wrap.

[Guest Plato]

Re: Cleaning up C drive

 

Pegasus (MVP) wrote:

>

> > I am just trying to clean up C drive without making the system unstable.

> >

> > M Ridzon

>

> It depends on what exactly you downloaded - please give some examples.

> You might also move the paging file to a different drive in order to free up

> disk space, and maybe restrict the amount of space used by System Restore.

 

--

http://www.bootdisk.com/

[Guest db.·.. >]

Re: Cleaning up C drive

 

secondly, screw u.

 

--

 

db·´¯`·...¸><)))º>

 

"Plato" <|@|.|> wrote in message news:48be1cf7$0$4615$bb4e3ad8@newscene.com...

> firstly, fix your word wrap.

[Guest Bill in Co.]

Re: Cleaning up C drive

 

So there's that sense of "professionalism" you were espousing, eh?

Pretty funny.

> secondly, screw u.

>

> --

>

> db·´¯`·...¸><)))º>

>

> "Plato" <|@|.|> wrote in message

> news:48be1cf7$0$4615$bb4e3ad8@newscene.com...

>> firstly, fix your word wrap.

[Guest Bob I]

Re: Cleaning up C drive

 

Maybe he bought a professional grade screwdriver?

 

Bill in Co. wrote:

> So there's that sense of "professionalism" you were espousing, eh?

> Pretty funny.

>

>

>>secondly, screw u.

>>

>>--

>>

>>db·´¯`·...¸><)))º>

>>

>>"Plato" <|@|.|> wrote in message

>>news:48be1cf7$0$4615$bb4e3ad8@newscene.com...

>>

>>>firstly, fix your word wrap.

>

>

>

[Guest db.·.. >]

Re: Cleaning up C drive

 

professionalism?

 

i demand it from

mvp's but not from

monkeys like yourselves.

 

 

--

 

db·´¯`·...¸><)))º>

 

"Bob I" <birelan@yahoo.com> wrote in message news:OQoX6meDJHA.1008@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

Maybe he bought a professional grade screwdriver?

 

Bill in Co. wrote:

> So there's that sense of "professionalism" you were espousing, eh? Pretty funny.

>

>

>>secondly, screw u.

>>

>>--

>>

>>db·´¯`·...¸><)))º>

>>

>>"Plato" <|@|.|> wrote in message news:48be1cf7$0$4615$bb4e3ad8@newscene.com...

>>

>>>firstly, fix your word wrap.

>

>

>

[Guest Bill in Co.]

Re: Cleaning up C drive

 

> professionalism?

>

> i demand it from

> mvp's but not from

> monkeys like yourselves.

 

And apparently not even yourself. Pot, kettle - the hypocrisy is truly

something to behold.

> --

>

> db·´¯`·...¸><)))º>

>

> "Bob I" <birelan@yahoo.com> wrote in message

> news:OQoX6meDJHA.1008@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl... Maybe he bought a

> professional

> grade screwdriver?

> Bill in Co. wrote:

>

>> So there's that sense of "professionalism" you were espousing, eh? Pretty

>> funny.

>>> secondly, screw u.

>>>

>>> --

>>>

>>> db·´¯`·...¸><)))º>

>>>

>>> "Plato" <|@|.|> wrote in message

>>> news:48be1cf7$0$4615$bb4e3ad8@newscene.com...

>>>> firstly, fix your word wrap.

[Guest Bob I]

Re: Cleaning up C drive

 

Since this is a peer group, I suspect you are referring to yourself again.

 

db.·.. ><))) ·>` .. . wrote:

> professionalism?

>

> i demand it from

> mvp's but not from

> monkeys like yourselves.

>

>

[Guest db.·.. >]

Re: Cleaning up C drive

 

obviously you are

not sure what

your talking about,

since you are not

anyone's peer.

 

--

 

db·´¯`·...¸><)))º>

 

"Bob I" <birelan@yahoo.com> wrote in message news:OTOBQFfDJHA.1228@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

Since this is a peer group, I suspect you are referring to yourself again.

 

db.·.. ><))) ·>` .. . wrote:

> professionalism?

>

> i demand it from

> mvp's but not from

> monkeys like yourselves.

>

>

[Guest Bob I]

Re: Cleaning up C drive

 

Please go away, since you NEVER know what you're talking about.

 

db.·.. ><))) ·>` .. . wrote:

> obviously you are

> not sure what

> your talking about,

> since you are not

> anyone's peer.

>

[Guest Fat Monkey]

Re: Cleaning up C drive

 

 

I haven't seen any evidence that MVPs are professionals so it makes no

difference whether you demand from monkeys or MVPs.

 

Hope this helps.

 

 

 

db.·.. ><))) ·>` .. . wrote:

> professionalism?

>

> i demand it from

> mvp's but not from

> monkeys like yourselves.

>

>

[Guest db.·.. >]

Re: Cleaning up C drive

 

well, if you cant

take it, then dont

dish it out.

 

--

 

db·´¯`·...¸><)))º>

 

"Bob I" <birelan@yahoo.com> wrote in message news:ejYzGtfDJHA.340@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...

Please go away, since you NEVER know what you're talking about.

 

db.·.. ><))) ·>` .. . wrote:

> obviously you are

> not sure what

> your talking about,

> since you are not

> anyone's peer.

>

[Guest db.·.. >]

Re: Cleaning up C drive

 

obviously you dont

have the courage to

make judgments with

out masking your

identity.

 

--

 

db·´¯`·...¸><)))º>

 

"Fat Monkey" <Fat Monkey@DatabaseBen.com> wrote in message news:eFTlMyfDJHA.936@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...

>

> I haven't seen any evidence that MVPs are professionals so it makes no difference whether you demand from monkeys or MVPs.

>

> Hope this helps.

>

>

>

> db.·.. ><))) ·>` .. . wrote:

>

>> professionalism?

>>

>> i demand it from

>> mvp's but not from

>> monkeys like yourselves.

>>

>>

[Guest Bob I]

Re: Cleaning up C drive

 

Would you like a spoon for that?

 

db.·.. ><))) ·>` .. . wrote:

> well, if you cant

> take it, then dont

> dish it out.

>