too many system files

  • Thread starter Thread starter bill
  • Start date Start date
Hi Bill,

As follows are some ways to free disk space on the local system without using
3rd-party software, including additional information pertaining to Snarky Parker's
excellent suggestion to use the Disk Cleanup utility.

-- Use the built-in Disk Cleanup Utility to create more free space. For more
information search for the following Help topic: Windows 2000 Help: "Removing
unneeded files". And for a detailed description of each task that the Disk Cleanup
Wizard performs see the following Microsoft Knowledge Base Article:

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

Note 1: 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.

Note 2: Some people post that Disk Cleanup stops responding while compressing old
files. The following Microsoft Knowledge Base Article explains a workaround that, if
implemented, removes the option to Compress Old Files (although written for Windows
XP, the resolution also works for Windows 2000):

KB812248 - Disk Cleanup Tool Stops Responding While Compressing Old Files
http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=812248

-- Set the size of the Windows File Protection dllcache quota to 0. NOTE: If WFP
needs to replace a file, you will have to insert the appropriate media. For more
information see the following Microsoft Knowledge Base Article:

KB222193 - Description of the Windows File Protection Feature
http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=222193

-- Delete Service Pack Uninstall Folders ($NtServicePackUninstall$) and relocate the
ServicePackFiles folder. NOTE: Only delete the $NtServicePackUninstall$ folders if
you have determined that there is no longer a need to return the system to the
pre-Service Pack state. For more information see the following Microsoft Knowledge
Base Article:

KB290402 - HOW TO Remove the Service Pack Restore Files and Folders in Windows
http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=290402

-- Delete the driver.cab file located in the %SystemRoot%\Driver Cache\I386 folder.
NOTE: If a driver is required Windows 2000 will prompt you for the installation
CD-ROM. If you are not logged on as a user with administrative privileges, the
driver installation is not successful. For more information see the following
Microsoft Knowledge Base Article:

KB255771 - How to Minimize the Installed Footprint of Windows 2000 Professional
http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=255771

-- Remove unneeded optional Windows Components such as such as games, templates.
For more information see the following Microsoft Knowledge Base Article:

KB223182 - Adding Optional Components to Add/Remove Programs Tool
http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=223182

-- If Hibernate is enabled and has been used (that is, C:\hiberfil.sys file exist)
disable hibernate support (which will also delete the hiberfil.sys file). For more
information see the following Microsoft Knowledge Base Article and follow the steps
to "Configure the Computer to Enter Hibernation" except click to deselect "Enable
hibernate support":

KB308098 - HOW TO: Configure a Computer to Enter Hibernation in Windows 2000
http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=308098

And if you have another partition on the same hard drive, or another hard drive, you
have these options:

-- For a NTFS-formatted disk volume only, use mounted drives. For more information
see the following Microsoft Knowledge Base Article:

KB314449 - HOW TO Mount a Volume at an NTFS Folder in Windows 2000
http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=314449

-- Relocate the pagefile, preferably to a second hard drive since placing it on a
different partition on the same hard drive will decrease computer performance. For
more information see the following Microsoft Knowledge Base Article:

KB123747 - Moving the Windows Default Paging and Spool File
http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=123747

Note 1: If the target partition is NTFS make certain that the System account has the
correct NTFS permissions. For more information see the following Microsoft Knowledge
Base Article:

KB259151 - Paging File Functionality Requires System Account Permissions
and Proper Size
http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=259151

Note 2: Completely removing the pagefile from the boot partition does not allow
Windows to Write Debugging Information (create a crash dump file named memory.dmp)
should a kernel mode STOP error. For more information search for the following
Help topic: Windows 2000 Help: "To specify what Windows 2000 does if the system
stops unexpectedly". Note that the aforementioned help topic does not tell you that
there is a (none) option, but you can specify it by clicking the drop-down box under
"Write Debugging Information".

-- If you have installed 3rd party programs to the C:\ Drive, uninstall them and
reinstall them to another partition.

-- If you are running Windows 2000 Indexing Service, change the location of the
catalog.wci directory to another partition. NOTE: This will involve deleting
the present catalog(s) and rebuilding from scratch. As such, you may want to
document the current configuration before you delete the catalog(s). For more
information see the following Microsoft Knowledge Base Article:

KB308202 - HOW TO Create and Configure a Catalog for Indexing
http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=308202

-- If you use Internet Explorer, change the default location for the Temporary
Internet File Storage Folder to another partition. For more information see the
following Microsoft Knowledge Base Article:

KB301057 - Temporary Internet Files Use More Disk Space Than Specified
http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=301057

-- If you have a large number of profiles on your computer, move the locally cached
copy of the profiles to another partition. For more information see the following
Microsoft Knowledge Base Article:

KB214470 - How to Move the Location of a Locally Cached Profile
http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=214470

-- If you use the My Documents/My Pictures folder, change the default location to
another partition. For more information search for the following Help topic:
Windows 2000 Help: "Using My Documents"

-- If you are using Outlook Express, change the location of the Storage Folder to
another partition. For more information pertaining to Outlook Express 6, search for
the following Help topic: Outlook Express Help: "To change the location of your
message store". For more information about earlier versions on Outlook Express see
the following Microsoft Knowledge Base Article:

KB175037 - OLEXP: How to Change the Default Location of Mail and News Folders
http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=175037

Thanks to the following people whose suggestions posted in the microsoft.public.*
newsgroups have been incorporated into this message:

Torgeir Bakken - MVP
Jerold Schulman - Windows Server MVP
Dave Patrick - Microsoft MVP [Windows NT/2000 Operating Systems]

--
Carrie Garth, Microsoft MVP for Windows 2000
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- c x g

: "bill" <bfillfritz AT earthlink DOT net>
: Wrote in message : Sent: Friday, August 29, 2003 5:55 PM
: system 200pro
:
: How do I free up space on c drive?
 
Back
Top