Disk Cleanup question

[Tinky]

My friend has been given a laptop, OS windows XP. It is taking an age to view /load etc. In Local Disk (c) Properties it shows that the used space and the free space is almost equal. Time for a clean up, but is it safe to delete these files, and if not which ones to leave. Also would it be wise to create a restore point prior to doing the Cleanup? Oh! and any other tips to get it going faster please?

[Taf]

There are loads of disk cleanup tools out there... my favourite is FCleaner (free). Auslogics do great disk defrag and registry defrag/clean tools (free). Also try turning OFF system restore to clear LOADS of space, then turn it back on again after a defrag if you think you really need it..

You can also trawl through add/remove programs and get rid of any you will not use.

And check through your startup programs for ones that are not all that necessary as they can bring most startups to a crawl (Adobe Acrobat updater is one I found to do this).

[Osem]

I just clicked on the start menu/all programmes and found a folder 'startup' listed. It contains 'adobe gamma loader.exe' and 'adobe reader speed launch'.

I find that sometimes my PC takes quite a long time to boot fully so could these items be the cause? There are no other programmes shown in the folder so where are the rest hiding?

Cheers.

ps keeping my eye on your progress Tinky, you'll be my guinea pig....

hit win key and r and type msconfig. Have a look down the list. Most of whats there can be stopped. I personally just keep AV running on my tower. If on a laptop thats wifi enabled make sure any wireless app is running also you may want to keep the track pad running from start up.

Running apps are more likely to be slowing the system than fragmented files imo

[MTJR]

The only true way to speed up a computer is to put more memory in it. Disk cleaning, etc. is just robbing Peter to pay Paul. In other words, you're not really solving the problem.

The files that Windows shows when you hit "Disk Cleanup" should all be safe to delete. If you have a large amount of Temporary Internet Files then getting rid of them may go some way to improving the situation.

As you won't be changing any root system related files then a Restore Point probably won't be needed. A back up would be more helpful should things go a bit awry.

In short, more memory is what you need.

John

[vanman]

Originally Posted by Tinky

Time for a clean

lookie here
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310312

The Disk Cleanup tool helps you free up space on your hard disk by searching your disk for files that you can safely delete. You can choose to delete some or all of the files. Use Disk Cleanup to perform any of the following tasks to free up space on your hard disk:

• Remove temporary Internet files.
• Remove downloaded program files. For example, ActiveX controls and Java applets that are downloaded from the Internet.
• Empty the Recycle Bin.
• Remove Windows temporary files.
• Remove optional Windows components that you are not using.
• Remove installed programs that you no longer use.

[Mick Fisher]

I think I would re-install the OS.

[MTJR]

Sorry to sound like a broken record but re-installing an OS or performing disk cleanups is just skirting round the real problem. Yes, a fresh OS install always performs better and yes a disk cleanup can have some speed benefit but ultimately you'll find yourself back where you started.

The OS install route is fine if you can store all your saved files and have the media or whatever to make sure drivers and applications can be re-installed but it's a whole load of faff just to grab a short period of better performance.

That's what I think anyway.

that is not always true MTJR. A system could quite easily have so much running at boot it is using most if not all of available physical ram so anything and everything else is running in page file.
By stopping these processes you could quite easily clear up enough ram to allow windows to run smoothly

[Dai]

If she's been given a laptop I'd recommend a clean install. She knows nothing about the history of the machine and the former user's browsing habits. In that sort of situation there is always a danger of the machine being compromised by trojans/malware or rootkit installs.
You could spend a few hours hitting it with every anti-this and that scanner known to man or do a fresh install in less than an hour.

Personally I'd never trust an unknown computer with anything important. I've seen too many client computers riddled with malware and them totally unknowing.

[Tinky]

Thank you all very much for your replies. Don't think she would be able to do a clean install as she has no disks. But now that I know that all the Downloaded progs/Temp Internet files/Temp files/etc (of which there are numerous) displayed in Disk Cleanup, are safe to delete I will suggest to her that that would be the way I would tackle her problem. She already knows how to defrag. I may also suggest she also downloads Eusing Free Registry Cleaner. Any further tips?

[SnoopZ]

Ccleaner is one of the most popular cleaning tools around today, I run this every night and everytime i do online banking or enter my creditcard details too and it only takes seconds.

This is also a FREE program.

http://www.piriform.com/

Originally Posted by Tinky

Thank you all very much for your replies. Don't think she would be able to do a clean install as she has no disks. But now that I know that all the Downloaded progs/Temp Internet files/Temp files/etc (of which there are numerous) displayed in Disk Cleanup, are safe to delete I will suggest to her that that would be the way I would tackle her problem. She already knows how to defrag. I may also suggest she also downloads Eusing Free Registry Cleaner. Any further tips?

yes what I said lol

[Tinky]

Originally Posted by Osem

ps keeping my eye on your progress Tinky, you'll be my guinea pig....

Originally Posted by ooogemaflop

yes what I said lol

I don't mind being the guinea pig, especially if it will help others, and I am keeping in mind all that has been said. Will keep you posted on the results.

[Dai]

Originally Posted by Tinky

Thank you all very much for your replies. Don't think she would be able to do a clean install as she has no disks.

Just for your information:
If the laptop has a license sticker for XP then she'd be OK to do a fresh install from suitable borrowed media. So long as it's a valid license that's all that really matters. (Although Microsoft would probably dispute that)

Another vote for Ccleaner from me but stay away from the registry cleaner option. It can be destructive unless you know *exactly* what you're doing.