Re: Can you reduce bloated Windows Folder to increase disk space on La

C Reyn wrote:
Could someone point me in the right direction, please?

QUESTION: BEST WAY TO ACCOMPLISH A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN C:
DRIVE DISK SPACE? (And No, Santa isn't bringing me a new machine
for Christmas; I went dear hunting, and, well, Oooh, Boy, is ol'
Rudolph(ina) hacked!)

HARDWARE: HP 5250N Laptop, Pentium III processor@700 MHz, 256 MB
RAM 10 GB HDD.
SOFTWARE: Windows ME (Orig) Upgraded to WinXP SP2; MS Office SB,
upgraded to MS Office 2003 Pro. Installed but NOT operating: Non-MS
professional packages/related data files.

BACKGROUND EVENTS:
Installed Windows XP Home Edition SP1 from disk, replacing Windows
ME; data files amounting to 2.1 GB data moved to separate drive.
Restore Point created and System files backed up in installation
process. Ran into problems with installation, dumped it and
re-installed XP SP1, again creating restore point and backing up
system files. Then Via Automatic Update, received and installed XP
SP2. Again, Restore Point created, and system files backed up
during installation process. The Restore Points (except last) have
now been dumped.

Because my MS Office programs were not accessible after
installation of XP SP2, I re-installed MS Office Pro 2003. I also
installed Trend Internet Security, PC- cillin Anti-virus package
(now removed). Also installed free versions CClearner and Clary
Utilities downloaded based on recommendations through MS Help and
Support forums to help me sort it all out.

Space Available NOW= 9.33 GB - 1.8 GB Programs -2.1 GB Data files -
4.0 GB (Windows, primarily *.dll and *.exe files) In analyzing my
C: Drive, I now have used 8.10 GB (including some ash and trash) of
the available 9.33 GB storage space on the disk, of which 4.0 GB is
the WINDOWS folder ALONE.

DUE TO NEED for DRIVE SPACE, I want to SHRINK TO NMT 2 GB the
fattened WINDOWS FOLDER which resulted from multiple Windows
installations.

RESEARCH AND EFFORTS TO DATE:
1. Reviewed system requirements for ME, XP SP1 and XP SP2 and
confirmed system will support the software (albeit slowly). See KB
Arts #326582;#837783.
2. Tried Googling the problem, then Read Keith Clarke's article on
best utilities to cleanup/speedup disk on MSN Forums. AND USED THEM
as I installed them. .
3. READ NUMEROUS MS HELP AND SUPPORT ARTICLES RELATING TO XP and
disk problems, seeking info to get rid of backed up multiple
installations.
4. Ran Clary's disk analyzer utility with the results shown above.
5. NO JOY, AND AVAILABLE DISK SPACE IS DECREASING EVERY DAY.

I would appreciate any wisdom, guidance and insight that would
assist me in reducing the Windows (iterations) folder to achieve
more C: drive disk space should any knowledgeable persons be
willing to provide.

Although some of what I will say will have been repeated in other posts -
some may not have been said at all.

10GB is really small these days. When I can buy a USB thumb drive that
holds 8GB for $50 now - a 10GB moving parts hard disk drive is beyond
obsolete. Judging by other responses you have given - this is not what you
wish to hear and likely will discard this. However - I agree with Ken in
that I believe you would greatly benefit in a larger drive install. (You'd
also benefit by doubling/trippling or more the amount of memory in the
machine. Unfortunately - it looks like your laptop limits you to doubling
the amount of RAM - and how you would do that would depend on what is
installed in it now:
http://crucial.com/store/listparts.aspx?model=Pavilion%20N5250)

I agree - it is likely that the code in the Windows OS itself could be
greatly reduced in size - but unfortunately - many of the files and such in
the 'Windows' folder are *not* exclusively "Windows" files. It is VERY
likely many of them are being utilized by the other applications you have
installed so that they did not have to include them in their installations.
It is likely that if you got rid of some bloat in the Windows OS code -
you'd end up with a growth in the bloat of the programs you may have
installed. ;-)

Beyond that - you can cleanup some - 10GB is by no means insufficient if you
just have Windows XP and Office 2003... As long as you keep your personal
file storage under control.

The information below can help you pinpoint where the space is being 'used'
and perhaps (given the smallness of your partition/drive) - give you a
little extra breathing room in the process.

If you are comfortable with the stability of your system, you can delete the
uninstall files for the patches that Windows XP has installed...
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/spack.htm

Used Disk Cleanup?
Is hibernate turned on and do you use that feature?
Uninstalled unnecessary applications lately?

You can run Disk Cleanup - built into Windows XP - to erase all but your
latest restore point and cleanup even more "loose files"..

How to use Disk Cleanup
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310312

You can turn off hibernation if it is on and you don't use it..

When you hibernate your computer, Windows saves the contents of the system's
memory to the hiberfil.sys file. As a result, the size of the hiberfil.sys
file will always equal the amount of physical memory in your system. If you
don't use the hibernate feature and want to recapture the space that Windows
uses for the hiberfil.sys file, perform the following steps:

- Start the Control Panel Power Options applet (go to Start, Settings,
Control Panel, and click Power Options).
- Select the Hibernate tab, clear the "Enable hibernation" check box, then
click OK; although you might think otherwise, selecting Never under the
"System hibernates" option on the Power Schemes tab doesn't delete the
hiberfil.sys file.
- Windows will remove the "System hibernates" option from the Power Schemes
tab and delete the hiberfil.sys file.

You can control how much space your System Restore can use...

1. Click Start, right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
2. Click the System Restore tab.
3. Highlight one of your drives (or C: if you only have one) and click on
the "Settings" button.
4. Change the percentage of disk space you wish to allow.. I suggest moving
the slider until you have just about 1GB (1024MB or close to that...)
5. Click OK.. Then Click OK again.

You can control how much space your Temporary Internet Files can utilize...

Empty your Temporary Internet Files and shrink the size it stores to a
size between 64MB and 256MB..

- Open ONE copy of Internet Explorer.
- Select TOOLS -> Internet Options.
- Under the General tab in the "Temporary Internet Files" section, do the
following:
- Click on "Delete Cookies" (click OK)
- Click on "Settings" and change the "Amount of disk space to use:" to
something between 64MB and 256MB. (It may be MUCH larger right
now.)
- Click OK.
- Click on "Delete Files" and select to "Delete all offline contents"
(the checkbox) and click OK. (If you had a LOT, this could take 2-10
minutes or more.)
- Once it is done, click OK, close Internet Explorer, re-open Internet
Explorer.

You can use an application that scans your system for log files and
temporary files and use that to get rid of those:

Ccleaner (Free!)
http://www.ccleaner.com/

Other ways to free up space..

SequoiaView
http://www.win.tue.nl/sequoiaview/

DX Hog Hunt
http://www.dvxp.com/en/Downloads.aspx

JDiskReport
http://www.jgoodies.com/freeware/jdiskreport/index.html

Those can help you visually discover where all the space is being used.


--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html


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