Can I delete these directories?

bczoom · Oct 13, 2006

Or all their content?

Under my "Documents and Settings"
The "Temp" directory (or its content)
The "Temporary Internet Files" (or its content)
The "History" (or its content)

My PC's performance has been going down and I want to clean it up by removing any trash. Combined, these directories use about 1.5 gig.

Anything else I can delete or do to help this laptop?

Doc · Oct 13, 2006

I always feel safe deleting anything with temp as the name.
I don't think the history would cause you any issues either. Cookies should not be stored in there. I just checked and I do not have any of those direcoties on my XP box.

so go ahead delete em .....if we don't see you online for a spell i guess you can blame me.

edit to add:
go to add remove programs and remove any programs you do not use. I can normally reclaim a bunch of space that way.

bczoom · Oct 13, 2006

Thanks Doc.

I'll give it a go.

bczoom · Oct 13, 2006

Well, so far I've deleted 45,000 files.

Everything is still running so that's a good sign.

buckle97 · Oct 13, 2006

bczoom said:
I'll give it a go.

Wait! No! Don't Do it! You should never delete these files!!

Just kidding :yankchain:

Doc · Oct 13, 2006

Report back when your done BC.
I'm wondering if everything went okay?

bczoom · Oct 13, 2006

I'm still here Doc.

All the files are in my Recycle Bin for now until I'm sure I don't need them.

Doc · Oct 13, 2006

Good idea.
You won't reclaim the files space until they are gone, but at least you have a fall back plan if needbe.

bczoom · Oct 13, 2006

Doc said:
Good idea.
You won't reclaim the files space until they are gone, but at least you have a fall back plan if needbe.

Yep. When the PC started acting up, I went out and bought a 130 gig external drive.
Did a full backup and then made a copy of "My Documents" on that drive.
I'm just going to keep everything in sync on there, just in case...

Doc · Oct 13, 2006

What kind did you get? How much is 130 gigs of external drive space ....if you don't mind my asking?

California · Oct 13, 2006

I've had excellent results with a small utility named Crap Cleaner that I've used for about a year now.

But you should use its features selectively. Stick with purging temp files and browser history, to begin.

Read through this discusion, which includes a link to download CC from its author.

http://www.webuser.co.uk/forums/showflat.php/Cat/0/Board/hijackthis/Number/176685/an/0/view/collapsed/

California · Oct 13, 2006

Doc said:
ow much is 130 gigs of external drive space

Here are a few externals. Fry's is great if you know what you need and don't have to ask the clerks.

http://shop1.outpost.com/search?cat=-48984&pType=pDisplay

(I just noticed their banner 'grand opening sale'. It looks like Fry's finally got control of the Fry's.com name so they don't have to call their online store 'outpost.com' any longer. Fry's and outpost.com aren't a new business.)

bczoom · Oct 13, 2006

Doc,

The drive is made by "SimpleTech". I bought it at Best Buy for $89. It was the most bang-for-the-buck they offered. You plug in the USB to your PC, plug in the power and within 5 seconds it was recognized and ready to go. There's a CD that came with it (which I haven't loaded yet) that does 1-click backups.

CA,

I'm going to check out that Crap Cleaner. Thanks.

bczoom · Oct 13, 2006

A couple edits:

It's a 160gig (not 130 as I previously mentioned).

I purchased it at Office Max, not Best Buy.

The receipt shows $119.99 - $30 promo discount = $89.99

I don't see it on their site though...

Doc · Oct 13, 2006

CA & BC those externals have sure come down in price since I last priced them. Makes them a very reasonable way to backup your data. Much better than burning multiple CD's ....

Big Dog · Oct 13, 2006

I just bought a external WD 250gig at Sam's for $117 and BTW....... I delete those files all the time BC!

XeVfTEUtaAqJHTqq · Oct 13, 2006

If you are running XP then you can just run the following tool:

Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> Disk Cleanup

It will scan your computer and present you with lots of options for files that can be deleted.

You should then run

Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> Disk Defragmenter

It will help to clean up fragmented files.

There are better tools for these functions but these are included with the OS, supported by MS, and work pretty good.

PB

XeVfTEUtaAqJHTqq · Oct 13, 2006

BTW - Temp directories can be deleted but some apps do use them so you should only be deleting the contents of Temp directories and not the directories themselves.

Most of what you listed in your original post will be handled by the Disk Cleanup tool. It takes a while to run so be patient.

Also, you will get better results with both of the aforementioned apps if you quit as many apps and services as possible prior to running them.

PB

Big Dog · Oct 13, 2006

PBinWA said:
If you are running XP then you can just run the following tool:

Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> Disk Cleanup

It will scan your computer and present you with lots of options for files that can be deleted.

You should then run

Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> Disk Defragmenter

It will help to clean up fragmented files.

There are better tools for these functions but these are included with the OS, supported by MS, and work pretty good.

PB

Always showing off.............. :yankchain:

Gotta appreciate a fellow willing to type out the Windows "Help" library from memory.... :yum:

XeVfTEUtaAqJHTqq · Oct 13, 2006

Big Dog said:
Always showing off..............

Gotta appreciate a fellow willing to type out the Windows "Help" library from memory....

What can I say, too many years doing tech support. Old habits die hard.

bczoom · Oct 17, 2006

Bump

Since we're talking about external drives here, thought I'd mention I picked up another.
Seagate 160G - $89. OfficeMax

Now I need to find my USB hub...

bczoom · Nov 16, 2006

Bump again...

Office Max has the Seagate 160G external hard drive for $79.

I picked up 2 more.

On the SimpleTech I purchased, the drive is fine but the software stinks. I removed it.

elsmitro · Nov 16, 2006

With 2 boys I have gotten pretty familiar with spyware and spyware removal tools. Spyware is usually the cause of an average users PC running slow. These are my favorite removal tools:

http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html

http://www.lavasoftusa.com/products/ad-aware_se_personal.php

Just make sure you keep the definitions updated and they can fix most problems.

Can I delete these directories?

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