Guest Gary Posted August 4, 2007 Posted August 4, 2007 I have a 40G HD with 8G remaining diskspace. I am trying to free up some additional space and noticed several .log and .tmp files in the C:\Windows folder. Are these files safe to delete? or should they remain?
Guest Gary S. Terhune Posted August 4, 2007 Posted August 4, 2007 Re: Event Logs TMP files *may* be TEMPLATE files, not TEMP files. Log files are always useful. Note that with very rare exceptions, neither are going to be very large. Infinitesimal gains in free space can be expected. You need a LOT more free space than those files are going to give you. Suggest you get a new hard drive and move all your personal files there. HDs are cheap. -- Gary S. Terhune MS-MVP Shell/User http://www.grystmill.com "Gary" <Gary@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:C676C091-5690-463B-B7D6-BEAD3F67A03E@microsoft.com... >I have a 40G HD with 8G remaining diskspace. I am trying to free up some > additional space and noticed several .log and .tmp files in the C:\Windows > folder. Are these files safe to delete? or should they remain?
Guest Gerry Posted August 4, 2007 Posted August 4, 2007 Re: Event Logs Gary To increase you free space on your XP partition select Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk CleanUp, More Options, System Restore and remove all but the latest System Restore points? Restore points can be quite large. It is likely that an allocation of 12% has been made to System Restore on your C partition which is over generous. I would reduce it to 700 mb. Right click your My Computer icon on the Desktop and select System Restore. Place the cursor on your C drive select Settings but this time find the slider and drag it to the left until it reads 700 mb and exit. When you get to the Settings screen click on Apply and OK and exit. Another default setting which could be wasteful is that for temporary internet files especially if you do not store offline copies on disk. The default allocation is 3% of drive. Depending on your attitude to offline copies you could reduce this to 1% or 2%. In Internet Explorer select Tools, Internet Options, General, Temporary Internet Files, Settings to make the change. At the same time look at the number of days history is held. The default allocation for the Recycle Bin is 10 % of drive. Change to 5%, which should be sufficient. In Windows Explorer place the cursor on your Recycle Bin, right click and select Properties, Global and move the slider from 10% to 5%. However, try to avoid letting it get too full as if it is full and you delete a file by mistake it will bypass the Recycle Bin and be gone for ever. If your drive is formatted as NTFS another potential gain arises with your operating system on your C drive. In the Windows Directory of your C partition you will have some Uninstall folders in your Windows folder typically: $NtServicePackUninstall$ and $NtUninstallKB282010$ etc. These files may be compressed or not compressed. If compressed the text of the folder name appears in blue characters. If not compressed you can compress them. Right click on each folder and select Properties, General, Advanced and check the box before Compress contents to save Disk Space. On the General Tab you can see the amount gained by deducting the size on disk from the size. Folder compression is only an option on a NTFS formatted drive / partition. -- Hope this helps. Gerry ~~~~ FCA Stourport, England Enquire, plan and execute ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Gary wrote: > I have a 40G HD with 8G remaining diskspace. I am trying to free up > some additional space and noticed several .log and .tmp files in the > C:\Windows folder. Are these files safe to delete? or should they > remain?
Guest Gary Posted August 4, 2007 Posted August 4, 2007 Re: Event Logs Thanks for the info. Unfortunately somebody has once again answered a question I did not ask about. Although, it was useful information and had been completed when I purchased my PC. I was asking about ".log" and ".tmp" files, specifically. I have been reading the postings and several people had asked the same question. And, you know what? They received pretty much the same answer. I queried my PC to locate all the ".log" files on the same day I posted my question. I don't how many files were located. But, it was numerous. I downloaded CCleaner as several people recommended. I then ran another query on my PC and still found 150".log" files. Some more than 1M in size, one as big as 5M. My question that I pose to this newsgroup, can these ".LOG" (only) files be safely deleted? This is the only attempt I am currently doing to free up space on my computer. Thank you for your help. Gary "Gerry" wrote: > Gary > > To increase you free space on your XP partition select Start, All > Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk CleanUp, More Options, > System Restore and remove all but the latest System Restore points? > Restore points can be quite large. > > It is likely that an allocation of 12% has been made to System Restore > on your C partition which is over generous. I would reduce it to 700 > mb. Right click your My Computer icon on the Desktop and select System > Restore. Place the cursor on your C drive select Settings but this > time find the slider and drag it to the left until it reads 700 mb and > exit. > When you get to the Settings screen click on Apply and OK and exit. > > Another default setting which could be wasteful is that for temporary > internet files especially if you do not store offline copies on disk. > The default allocation is 3% of drive. Depending on your attitude to > offline copies you could reduce this to 1% or 2%. In Internet Explorer > select Tools, Internet Options, General, Temporary Internet Files, > Settings to make the change. At the same time look at the number of > days history is held. > > The default allocation for the Recycle Bin is 10 % of drive. Change to > 5%, which should be sufficient. In Windows Explorer place the cursor > on your Recycle Bin, right click and select Properties, Global and > move the slider from 10% to 5%. However, try to avoid letting it get > too full as if it is full and you delete a file by mistake it will > bypass the Recycle Bin and be gone for ever. > > If your drive is formatted as NTFS another potential gain arises with > your operating system on your C drive. In the Windows Directory of > your C partition you will have some Uninstall folders in your Windows > folder typically: $NtServicePackUninstall$ and $NtUninstallKB282010$ > etc. These files may be compressed or not compressed. If compressed > the text of the folder name appears in blue characters. If not > compressed you can compress them. Right click on each folder and > select Properties, General, Advanced and check the box before Compress > contents to save Disk Space. On the General Tab you can see the amount > gained by deducting the size on disk from the size. Folder > compression is only an option on a NTFS formatted drive / partition. > > > -- > > > > Hope this helps. > > Gerry > ~~~~ > FCA > Stourport, England > Enquire, plan and execute > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Gary wrote: > > I have a 40G HD with 8G remaining diskspace. I am trying to free up > > some additional space and noticed several .log and .tmp files in the > > C:\Windows folder. Are these files safe to delete? or should they > > remain? > > >
Guest Gerry Posted August 4, 2007 Posted August 4, 2007 Re: Event Logs Gary Gary Terhune answered your question. I offered potentially more profitable ways to free up disk space. -- Hope this helps. Gerry ~~~~ FCA Stourport, England Enquire, plan and execute ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Gary wrote: > Thanks for the info. Unfortunately somebody has once again answered a > question I did not ask about. Although, it was useful information and > had been completed when I purchased my PC. I was asking about ".log" > and ".tmp" files, specifically. I have been reading the postings and > several people had asked the same question. And, you know what? They > received pretty much the same answer. > > I queried my PC to locate all the ".log" files on the same day I > posted my question. I don't how many files were located. But, it was > numerous. I downloaded CCleaner as several people recommended. I then > ran another query on my PC and still found 150".log" files. Some more > than 1M in size, one as big as 5M. > > My question that I pose to this newsgroup, can these ".LOG" (only) > files be safely deleted? This is the only attempt I am currently > doing to free up space on my computer. > > Thank you for your help. > > Gary > > > "Gerry" wrote: > >> Gary >> >> To increase you free space on your XP partition select Start, All >> Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk CleanUp, More Options, >> System Restore and remove all but the latest System Restore points? >> Restore points can be quite large. >> >> It is likely that an allocation of 12% has been made to System >> Restore on your C partition which is over generous. I would reduce >> it to 700 mb. Right click your My Computer icon on the Desktop and >> select System Restore. Place the cursor on your C drive select >> Settings but this time find the slider and drag it to the left until >> it reads 700 mb and exit. >> When you get to the Settings screen click on Apply and OK and exit. >> >> Another default setting which could be wasteful is that for temporary >> internet files especially if you do not store offline copies on disk. >> The default allocation is 3% of drive. Depending on your attitude to >> offline copies you could reduce this to 1% or 2%. In Internet >> Explorer select Tools, Internet Options, General, Temporary Internet >> Files, Settings to make the change. At the same time look at the >> number of days history is held. >> >> The default allocation for the Recycle Bin is 10 % of drive. Change >> to 5%, which should be sufficient. In Windows Explorer place the >> cursor on your Recycle Bin, right click and select Properties, >> Global and move the slider from 10% to 5%. However, try to avoid >> letting it get too full as if it is full and you delete a file by >> mistake it will bypass the Recycle Bin and be gone for ever. >> >> If your drive is formatted as NTFS another potential gain arises with >> your operating system on your C drive. In the Windows Directory of >> your C partition you will have some Uninstall folders in your Windows >> folder typically: $NtServicePackUninstall$ and $NtUninstallKB282010$ >> etc. These files may be compressed or not compressed. If compressed >> the text of the folder name appears in blue characters. If not >> compressed you can compress them. Right click on each folder and >> select Properties, General, Advanced and check the box before >> Compress contents to save Disk Space. On the General Tab you can see >> the amount gained by deducting the size on disk from the size. >> Folder compression is only an option on a NTFS formatted drive / >> partition. >> >> >> -- >> >> >> >> Hope this helps. >> >> Gerry >> ~~~~ >> FCA >> Stourport, England >> Enquire, plan and execute >> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Gary wrote: >>> I have a 40G HD with 8G remaining diskspace. I am trying to free up >>> some additional space and noticed several .log and .tmp files in the >>> C:\Windows folder. Are these files safe to delete? or should they >>> remain?
Guest Gary S. Terhune Posted August 4, 2007 Posted August 4, 2007 Re: Event Logs While you are gaining next to nothing, yes, you can delete them -- if they'll let you. But you will be getting rid of potentially useful, even critical information, and may cause "memory loss" for certain applications. They are NOT garbage, at least not by definition. Most of the ones that ARE safe to delete are less than 10KB. Run a Search for *.log files. When the search is finished, press Ctrl-A, then File>Properties. When I do that on mine, I have 386 LOG files, with the largest one just over 4MB and half a dozen around 1MB, for a total of 29MB. You really want to take a chance on messing something up in order to gain a pitiful 29MB? -- Gary S. Terhune MS-MVP Shell/User http://www.grystmill.com "Gary" <Gary@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:B283BB84-EC55-43D6-B1FC-0CC726AA2FEF@microsoft.com... > Thanks for the info. Unfortunately somebody has once again answered a > question I did not ask about. Although, it was useful information and had > been completed when I purchased my PC. I was asking about ".log" and > ".tmp" > files, specifically. I have been reading the postings and several people > had > asked the same question. And, you know what? They received pretty much the > same answer. > > I queried my PC to locate all the ".log" files on the same day I posted my > question. I don't how many files were located. But, it was numerous. I > downloaded CCleaner as several people recommended. I then ran another > query > on my PC and still found 150".log" files. Some more than 1M in size, one > as > big as 5M. > > My question that I pose to this newsgroup, can these ".LOG" (only) files > be > safely deleted? This is the only attempt I am currently doing to free up > space on my computer. > > Thank you for your help. > > Gary > > > "Gerry" wrote: > >> Gary >> >> To increase you free space on your XP partition select Start, All >> Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk CleanUp, More Options, >> System Restore and remove all but the latest System Restore points? >> Restore points can be quite large. >> >> It is likely that an allocation of 12% has been made to System Restore >> on your C partition which is over generous. I would reduce it to 700 >> mb. Right click your My Computer icon on the Desktop and select System >> Restore. Place the cursor on your C drive select Settings but this >> time find the slider and drag it to the left until it reads 700 mb and >> exit. >> When you get to the Settings screen click on Apply and OK and exit. >> >> Another default setting which could be wasteful is that for temporary >> internet files especially if you do not store offline copies on disk. >> The default allocation is 3% of drive. Depending on your attitude to >> offline copies you could reduce this to 1% or 2%. In Internet Explorer >> select Tools, Internet Options, General, Temporary Internet Files, >> Settings to make the change. At the same time look at the number of >> days history is held. >> >> The default allocation for the Recycle Bin is 10 % of drive. Change to >> 5%, which should be sufficient. In Windows Explorer place the cursor >> on your Recycle Bin, right click and select Properties, Global and >> move the slider from 10% to 5%. However, try to avoid letting it get >> too full as if it is full and you delete a file by mistake it will >> bypass the Recycle Bin and be gone for ever. >> >> If your drive is formatted as NTFS another potential gain arises with >> your operating system on your C drive. In the Windows Directory of >> your C partition you will have some Uninstall folders in your Windows >> folder typically: $NtServicePackUninstall$ and $NtUninstallKB282010$ >> etc. These files may be compressed or not compressed. If compressed >> the text of the folder name appears in blue characters. If not >> compressed you can compress them. Right click on each folder and >> select Properties, General, Advanced and check the box before Compress >> contents to save Disk Space. On the General Tab you can see the amount >> gained by deducting the size on disk from the size. Folder >> compression is only an option on a NTFS formatted drive / partition. >> >> >> -- >> >> >> >> Hope this helps. >> >> Gerry >> ~~~~ >> FCA >> Stourport, England >> Enquire, plan and execute >> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Gary wrote: >> > I have a 40G HD with 8G remaining diskspace. I am trying to free up >> > some additional space and noticed several .log and .tmp files in the >> > C:\Windows folder. Are these files safe to delete? or should they >> > remain? >> >> >>
Guest Gary Posted August 4, 2007 Posted August 4, 2007 Re: Event Logs Yes, I realize there isn't much to gain by deleting the .log files. It just seems there are so many of them and I don't know the importance of all these ..log files. I assumed they were used to log instances of downloads and installs. I'm just your average user. I know just enough to get myself into trouble, which I don't want to do. Thanks "Gary S. Terhune" wrote: > While you are gaining next to nothing, yes, you can delete them -- if > they'll let you. But you will be getting rid of potentially useful, even > critical information, and may cause "memory loss" for certain applications. > They are NOT garbage, at least not by definition. Most of the ones that ARE > safe to delete are less than 10KB. > > Run a Search for *.log files. When the search is finished, press Ctrl-A, > then File>Properties. When I do that on mine, I have 386 LOG files, with the > largest one just over 4MB and half a dozen around 1MB, for a total of 29MB. > > You really want to take a chance on messing something up in order to gain a > pitiful 29MB? > > -- > Gary S. Terhune > MS-MVP Shell/User > http://www.grystmill.com > > "Gary" <Gary@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message > news:B283BB84-EC55-43D6-B1FC-0CC726AA2FEF@microsoft.com... > > Thanks for the info. Unfortunately somebody has once again answered a > > question I did not ask about. Although, it was useful information and had > > been completed when I purchased my PC. I was asking about ".log" and > > ".tmp" > > files, specifically. I have been reading the postings and several people > > had > > asked the same question. And, you know what? They received pretty much the > > same answer. > > > > I queried my PC to locate all the ".log" files on the same day I posted my > > question. I don't how many files were located. But, it was numerous. I > > downloaded CCleaner as several people recommended. I then ran another > > query > > on my PC and still found 150".log" files. Some more than 1M in size, one > > as > > big as 5M. > > > > My question that I pose to this newsgroup, can these ".LOG" (only) files > > be > > safely deleted? This is the only attempt I am currently doing to free up > > space on my computer. > > > > Thank you for your help. > > > > Gary > > > > > > "Gerry" wrote: > > > >> Gary > >> > >> To increase you free space on your XP partition select Start, All > >> Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk CleanUp, More Options, > >> System Restore and remove all but the latest System Restore points? > >> Restore points can be quite large. > >> > >> It is likely that an allocation of 12% has been made to System Restore > >> on your C partition which is over generous. I would reduce it to 700 > >> mb. Right click your My Computer icon on the Desktop and select System > >> Restore. Place the cursor on your C drive select Settings but this > >> time find the slider and drag it to the left until it reads 700 mb and > >> exit. > >> When you get to the Settings screen click on Apply and OK and exit. > >> > >> Another default setting which could be wasteful is that for temporary > >> internet files especially if you do not store offline copies on disk. > >> The default allocation is 3% of drive. Depending on your attitude to > >> offline copies you could reduce this to 1% or 2%. In Internet Explorer > >> select Tools, Internet Options, General, Temporary Internet Files, > >> Settings to make the change. At the same time look at the number of > >> days history is held. > >> > >> The default allocation for the Recycle Bin is 10 % of drive. Change to > >> 5%, which should be sufficient. In Windows Explorer place the cursor > >> on your Recycle Bin, right click and select Properties, Global and > >> move the slider from 10% to 5%. However, try to avoid letting it get > >> too full as if it is full and you delete a file by mistake it will > >> bypass the Recycle Bin and be gone for ever. > >> > >> If your drive is formatted as NTFS another potential gain arises with > >> your operating system on your C drive. In the Windows Directory of > >> your C partition you will have some Uninstall folders in your Windows > >> folder typically: $NtServicePackUninstall$ and $NtUninstallKB282010$ > >> etc. These files may be compressed or not compressed. If compressed > >> the text of the folder name appears in blue characters. If not > >> compressed you can compress them. Right click on each folder and > >> select Properties, General, Advanced and check the box before Compress > >> contents to save Disk Space. On the General Tab you can see the amount > >> gained by deducting the size on disk from the size. Folder > >> compression is only an option on a NTFS formatted drive / partition. > >> > >> > >> -- > >> > >> > >> > >> Hope this helps. > >> > >> Gerry > >> ~~~~ > >> FCA > >> Stourport, England > >> Enquire, plan and execute > >> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Gary wrote: > >> > I have a 40G HD with 8G remaining diskspace. I am trying to free up > >> > some additional space and noticed several .log and .tmp files in the > >> > C:\Windows folder. Are these files safe to delete? or should they > >> > remain? > >> > >> > >> > > >
Guest Uncle Grumpy Posted August 5, 2007 Posted August 5, 2007 Re: Event Logs Gary <Gary@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote: >Yes, I realize there isn't much to gain by deleting the .log files. It just >seems there are so many of them and I don't know the importance of all these >.log files. They are totally UNimportant. Since they take up so little space on your hard drive that they're really not worth worrying about, you should disregard them. BUT... since you seem obsessed with them, feel free to delete them.
Guest Gary S. Terhune Posted August 5, 2007 Posted August 5, 2007 Re: Event Logs I would NOT go so far as to say that LOG files are totally UNimportant. I'm betting that there are more than a few LOG files out there that play an active role in the operation of apps. Just like with TMP files and others, there's no blanket rule that says they're disposable. -- Gary S. Terhune MS-MVP Shell/User http://www.grystmill.com "Uncle Grumpy" <unclegrumpy@ameritech.net> wrote in message news:un4ab35hqs7anbefn07ikdur94bqed43hr@4ax.com... > Gary <Gary@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote: > >>Yes, I realize there isn't much to gain by deleting the .log files. It >>just >>seems there are so many of them and I don't know the importance of all >>these >>.log files. > > They are totally UNimportant. Since they take up so little space on > your hard drive that they're really not worth worrying about, you > should disregard them. > > BUT... since you seem obsessed with them, feel free to delete them.
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