Clean up hard disk - safely remove files?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Stuart Grant
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Stuart Grant

I'm not exactly a new XP user but not very knowledgeable.
My hard disk is getting full. Main culprit is Windows folder which has
reached 3.67GB. In it there are a lot of very large Uninstall(?) folders
with names like $NtUninstallKB840374$.
I assume these are for uninstalling components of the operating system.
Can some of them safely be deleted ?
Stuart
 
Have you run 'Disk Cleanup'? It is a fair assumption that if you have and
with all the boxes ticked that it would be unsafe to delete anything else.
(There are a few known exception but they don't amount to anything worth
worrying about)

I use Cleanup! http://www.stevengould.org/software/cleanup/ which seems to
do a more thorough job - and, of course, there are others.

The best way to get rid of all the rubbish is to do a complete software
rebuild but that is rather extreme.

Regards.

Bill Ridgeway
Computer Solutions
 
Stuart said:
I'm not exactly a new XP user but not very knowledgeable.
My hard disk is getting full. Main culprit is Windows folder which
has reached 3.67GB. In it there are a lot of very large Uninstall(?)
folders with names like $NtUninstallKB840374$.
I assume these are for uninstalling components of the operating
system. Can some of them safely be deleted ?
Stuart
Click to expand...

The files that begin $NtUninstallKBxxxxxxxx are all files to enable you to
uninstall any Windows Updates that you have installed. If you do not wish to
uninstall any updates, (ie your machine and its applications are running
fine) then feel free to delete them!
 
Hi Stuart,

They are backup files for a WindowsUpdate (hotfix) and yes you can delete
them as long as you do not plan to uninstall any of the Windows Update
files. You will also find a listing for each under Add & Remove in the
Control Panel. Once you have deleted the backup, you can select the hotfix
for removal. You will get an error message followed by an option to remove
the listing. You can automate this task using a tool from the Utilties
section of www.dougknox.com

The backups are there for hotfixes that are uninstallable. This is an option
only for some updates, and it is there in case the update causes issues for
you (so you can uninstall it if necessary). If you don't plan on
uninstalling it and want to conserve drive space, there is nothing wrong
with removing them. I keep each backup for about a month before removing it.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
 
Gordon wrote <<If you do not wish to uninstall any updates, (i.e. your
machine and its applications are running fine) then feel free to delete
them!>>

I tend to work on the principle "If something nasty can happen, it will"
and, at the risk of being over cautious, I would not pre-judge whether or
not I would want to uninstall something later. These files a resource which
can be used to dig yourself out of a hole later and, especially if they're
not taking up too much space, better left alone.

Old Yorkshire expression "When in doubt do nowt (nothing)"

Regards.

Bill Ridgeway
Computer Solutions
 
Stuart said:
I'm not exactly a new XP user but not very knowledgeable.
My hard disk is getting full. Main culprit is Windows folder which
has reached 3.67GB. In it there are a lot of very large Uninstall(?)
folders with names like $NtUninstallKB840374$.
I assume these are for uninstalling components of the operating
system. Can some of them safely be deleted ?
Click to expand...


I see that you've already gotten answers to your specific question, but I
wanted to add a more general comment. If you are so low on disk space that
you need to free some portion of 3.67GB, you are very low indeed. You should
recognize that anything you do to the drive at this point will be a stopgap
measure, and sooner or later (and very probably sooner rather than later)
you will need to bite the bullet and buy a new larger drive.
 
IT IS SAFE TO DELETE THE FILES!!!
Alls they are, is old unistall files, for your computer updates! If your
system is running fine, then you can delete them without worry. However, if
you run into a problem with a/an update(s), and you deleted it's file, then
you are OUT-OF-LUCK!
 
Stuart said:
I'm not exactly a new XP user but not very knowledgeable.
My hard disk is getting full. Main culprit is Windows folder which
has
reached 3.67GB. In it there are a lot of very large Uninstall(?)
folders
with names like $NtUninstallKB840374$.
I assume these are for uninstalling components of the operating
system.
Can some of them safely be deleted ?
Stuart
Click to expand...

U could delete them. Also try cleaning up with CCleaner, delete ur old
restore points, emoty the recycle bin, u cud also uninstall unwanted
programs. once u make enuf space for a defrag, run chkdsk and run the
diskdefragger. Do this regularly bfore the drive starts running out of
space.
 
I'm very grateful to all five of the people who jumped in with very helpful
answers and information. I apologise for the delay in replying but my new
computer arrived from Dell on Wednesday evening ! I think everyone realises
transferring programs can take a little time.

I had already done the obvious things and run CleanMgr but on Bill
Ridgeway's recommendation I downloaned Cleanup! and ran it in demo mode. It
came up with nearly a GB of possible additional savings - mainly temporary
Internet files. I'm going to get rid of them.

I'm grateful for the clarification on the $NtUninstall files. I'm passing
my computer on to my wife and wanted to clear it up a bit before I did so.
She is extremely unlikely to want to uninstall any updates to the operating
system so, though I appreciate Bill's advice, I am going to delete them.

Thanks again to everyone for the help.

Stuart
 
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