Re: Win XP Pro Cleanup options

Tech Tip: Click here to run a free scan for Windows Errors and optimize PC performance

From: Carrie Garth (PostInGroup_at_invalid.cxg)
Date: 04/24/04 

Date: Sat, 24 Apr 2004 13:11:26 -0500

> "Alan C. Brown" <acbrown@intnet.mu.INVALID>
> wrote in message news:usVRytVKEHA.3380@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
> <SNIP> I attempted trial startup of "Disk Cleanup" <SNIP> on the C:\ Partition,
> just to see what the cleanup options are, but not with the intention of actually
> running it. A box came up for selection of the partition / drive, and I selected
> C:\, <SNIP> it immedediately started scanning for files <SNIP> I immediately
> cancelled the Cleanup. Was it actually compressing old files ? When & where are
> the "Cleanup Options" supposed to be presented for selection ?

The box that appeared with the "Scanning" Compressed old files" (and that you
immediately cancelled out of) was only calculating how much space could be saved by
compressing files. If you let this initial process complete you will get the Disk
Cleanup Options dialog box where you can select what folders to clean (such as
Temporary Internet Files and Recycle Bin), where you can view the files in the
folders in question, where you can set an option for Compressing old file, and where
you can Cancel Disk Cleanup (without performing any tasks at all).

"Compress Old Files" is a Disk Cleanup function that (in the initial phase) searches
the selected partition for files that are not accessed very often. Then, when the
Options dialog box appears you click to select the "Compress Old Files"check box.
Then, if you want to change the number of days before a file is consider "not
accessed very often" you click to highlight the "Compress Old Files" entry and click
the Options button. Then you click the Disk Cleanup OK button and it will compress
the files. Note: By default the number of days that a file is "not accessed very
often" is set to 50. However, this can be changed to a maximum of 500.

The following Microsoft Knowledge Base Article has some details about the various
options you find in Disk Cleanup.

KB253597 - Automating Disk Cleanup Tool in Windows
http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=253597

For the exact paths and file extensions that Disk Cleanup searches, run regedit.exe,
navigate to the following registry key, and view each subkey.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\VolumeCaches

For example, by viewing the "Temporary Files" registry subkey I can determine that
the FileList for "Temporary Files" is all the files (*.*) and that the Folder is
%TEMP%. And I can determine where the %TEMP% folder is by clicking Start, clicking
Run, entering the following command and clicking OK: %TEMP%

Note that some of the files and folders have the hidden and/or system attribute. As
such, you may need to modify your folder options so that you can view them. For more
information search the Help and Support Center for "To display hidden files and
folders"

BTW, some people posting to the microsoft.public.* newsgroups have reported that Disk
Cleanup's "Compressing Old Files" stage can take overnight, so you may want to leave
Disk Cleanup running that long.

Also, some people post that Disk Cleanup stops responding while compressing old
files. And according to this archived newsgroup thread:

----- Original Message -----
From: Emmers Presson [MSFT]
Subject: Re: Disk Clean up
Newsgroups: microsoft.public.win2000.general
Date: 2003-12-27 07:07:49 PST
Link to thread via Google Groups Archives:
http://www.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&selm=%23AbCXsIzDHA.1500%40TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl

The hang can be due to a corrupt compressed file. There are two
options, you can either manually uncompress all files and run disk
cleanup again, or you can remove the following registry values,
which eliminate the scanning for compressed files <SNIP>
----- Original Message -----

For more information see the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article:

KB812248 - Disk Cleanup Tool Stops Responding While
Compressing Old Files
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?Product=winxp&scid=kb;en-us;812248

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