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Here's a common list of files to delete:
Clean out the Windows\Temp directory. Delete all files and folders in the
c:\windows\temp directory.
It's best to reboot after cleaning out all the files you are able to delete.
(Some files can't be deleted because they are locked while your system is
running).
Remove old registry hive backups. Get
rid of backup copies of your system.dat and
user.dat file in your
c:\windows folder made by other programs (for example
system.nu3
and user.nu3). Look for large files about the same size as your system.dat/user.dat file.
(Don't delete the original .dat
versions, or the system.ini file!)
Search your system for big files. Use the "Start
Menu Search > For Files or Folders... ( or Windows Explorer
TOOLS option on older
versions of windows):
- Set the selection (Look in) to search on "My Computer"
or all hard drives.
- Click on the
options >> to
expand.
- Specify to search for all files larger than 2000 KB.
- Execute the search.
This may take a while to run. The
results will be a list of all files on your system over 2 megabytes. Scroll through the list and look through the
results. Many times you can find temporary files or old large files
(old downloads, save games, video or music files, zip files, documents, etc.)
You will recognize many of these files (i.e. you know you put them on the
system) as safe to delete.
You may also use this search feature ("for files or folders named") to
easily search your entire system for the various safe file types to
delete! (For more information, see
below: you'll be searching for files like
*.bak, *.001, *.log, *.~??, *.old, etc).
Delete program temporary files.
Take off any file on your drive with a
.tmp extension or a tilde (~) as the first character of the extension (for example
myfile.~xx).
Execute a search for a filename of
*.~?? to find these files.
Clean out backup and log files. Look
for backup and log files with extensions such as
*.old,
*.bak, *.log, *.000, *.001, *.002, etc. Any
file with these extensions can be safely deleted.
Don't believe everything
you read. Be wary of "technical" pages and tips that tell you
it's safe to delete any .wav, .hlp, .jpg, .clp,
.gif (and a few other extensions). I recommend
you do not delete these file extensions. Going through your PC and
erasing these files has the potential to cause lot
problems. These well-meaning "tips" mean the files are "safe" to delete only in a
technical sense (these file types typically aren't tied to the registry as
applications and they aren't
executables) For the safest cleanup when trying to gain
space on your system, stick with the file types recommended here.
Delete scandisk leftovers. Look for lost cluster
dump files, usually in your root directory with the extension
*.chk (
file????.chk).
These can (sometimes) be very large, and can safely be removed.
Empty browser cache. Empty your Netscape or Explorer cache (look in the options in the each program for a "delete cache files" button.
In Internet Explorer, you'll find this under
TOOLS on the top menu bar in
INTERNET OPTIONS)
Dump movies from the Windows folders.
On older versions of Windows, delete files in your c:\windows
folder with a
.avi extension. This will get rid of several relatively useless "help movies" which show you how to click on things...
Move programs to gain space. If you have multiple hard drives, try
uninstalling games or programs and reinstalling them onto other drives.
After deleting, check your
system. After going on a massive hunt and
delete "mission", always reboot your system and run scandisk (under the Start
Menu, Programs, Accessories, System Tools).
Cleanup and compact the drive. Empty the trashcan, and defragment the
drive (look in the Start Menu under Programs, Accessories, System Tools,
Disk Defragmenter).
Hard set cache and swap values. If you're really desperate for space,
you can also hard set the value of your swap and temporary file space.
Two values for advanced users to explore are the Browser temporary space (in IE
it is under
TOOLS,
INTERNET OPTIONS,
SETTINGS), and the system swap space in
the Control Panel under
SYSTEM, PERFORMANCE, VIRTUAL MEMORY. This only for
advanced users, and should be considered a temporary stop gap as it typically
degrades system performance in order to gain disk space.
Do it the easy way. I say it on about all my Tech Tip
pages: Get a copy of Norton Utilities (Norton SystemWorks). It's a
great utility with lots of great tools that keep your system running smoothly.
It has a great "clean sweep" program to take care of most of the junk files on
your system. |
