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General discussion

What files can i delete on my computer (again!)

Dec 18, 2003 3:06AM PST

Sorry to start a similar topic to one just a few threads below but i just wondered if anyone could tell me what files (other than *.tmp, *.avi, *.bmp) i can delete from my hard drive? I do a disk clean up every few days to get rid of temporary files etc but even when i dont download anything for some time, my 'used space' is always increasing - so there must be something going on somewhere that i dont know about.

I read somewhere about deleting *.pf files which can amount to quite a few MBs if not deleted over a long time. To do this type 'prefetch' into the Run box and you can delete all the files in that folder. I had quite several megabytes of these files the first time i looked.

Would be grateful if anyone has any more tips on what you can safely delete from your hard drive.

Thanks Happy

Discussion is locked

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Re:What files can i delete on my computer (again!)
Dec 18, 2003 3:36AM PST

Really should mention your Operating System.
If you have XP, or ME, you are probably getting Restore Points added to your HDD daily. A good thing actually Happy

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Re:Re:What files can i delete on my computer (again!)
Dec 18, 2003 3:47AM PST

Oops, sorry. I have Windows XP Happy

Im going to try the tip that Grif Thomas posted on another thread, about disabling system restore temporarily and then running 'error checking' and Disk Defragmenter. Does that make any difference to space used on my hard drive?

Sorry for asking silly questions!

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Bee, Yes, It Makes A Difference
Dec 18, 2003 4:27AM PST

The System Restore program will continually make "backups" to your system and as a result, the size of the restore folders grow. Every once in a while, I do it about every three months or so, you can temporarily disable System Restore, run Error Checking and Defrag, then re-enable System Restore.

In regards to the "Prefetch" folder, YES, you can delete all the files in it but doing it too often can slow system performance a little. (I tend to delete only the files that are older than a month or so.)

The XP Prefetcher

With Windows XP comes a service called the Prefetcher. This service monitors which programs initialize when Windows boots, then in future, fetches them quickly. The Prefetcher is enabled by default, but you can improve its performance. Simply navigate to

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters

in the registry and find the value "EnablePrefetcher". Most likely, the DWord value will be set to 4. The Windows default recommended setting for the prefetcher is 4, but it's up to you on what works best for your situation. The 3 setting will help a little with performance by only enabling it during the boot process. Feel free to play around with it a bit, though, and find out what works best for you.

The parameters are as follows:
1) Disable Prefetch - totally disables Prefetch
2) Monitor Application Launch Only - Prefetch only logs those applications launched once windows has started.
3) Monitor Boot File Launch (recommended) - Prefetch only logs those applications launched during the Boot Process.
4) Monitor Boot File And Application Launch (Windows Default) - Prefetch monitors everything.

Hope this helps.

Grif

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Re:Re:Re:What files can i delete on my computer (again!)
Dec 18, 2003 4:34AM PST

Well bee, if you do that you will surely gain some disk space back. Question is, do you need the space?
Right now I have some 35 Restore points, which are using a bit over 2 Gig disk space. I have a 100 Gig HDD, and not being a big music saver, or into saving video files, I still have 80+ gigs left.
In other words, it's up to you. If you are running short on disk space, by all means delete all that you can. If not then I would leave things alone, or,
change your System Restore to use less space. Think the default is 12% of your drive.

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Re:What files can i delete on my computer (again!)
Dec 18, 2003 7:20AM PST

Thanks Grif for all the info re system restore and about not deleting the prefetch files so often. Thanks Ray and Frank for the replies too Happy Come to think of it, i think you are right Ray - i dont really need the space, just got a little obsessive in wanting to delete things i thought were taking up space. But i think its best not to open up a can of worms, im not anywhere as near as experienced with computers as all of you are.

I have two other things that have been bugging me, but i will leave those for another day lol.

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bee,
Dec 18, 2003 6:56AM PST

Try download a trialware Active ZDelete from LSoft Technologies then run it to see you can reclaim some spaces...

Regards,