timOleary said:
Windows XP pro SP22 WD 250G hdds
My 250G WD Sata D-drive is not being used but it has about 20 gigs
on it according to Properties.
MSOcache
RECYCLER
SYSTEM VOLUME INFORMATION
pagefile.sys
I do not know what theses files are
I want to clean it out and use it. what's the best way?
You should want to do some research and figure out what it is you are
asking. ;-)
Do you need that 20GB out of the 250GB? Are you using the 212GB or so above
and beyond the 20GB you seem concerned with? If so - what is your backup
plan and are you actively using the space? If you are actively using that
space - what for exactly - as there is likely a better performing and safer
way that putting everything on one drive (eggs in one basket...)
Now is a great time to point you to one of the easiest ways to find
information on problems you may be having and solutions others have found:
Search using Google!
http://www.google.com/
(How-to:
http://www.google.com/intl/en/help/basics.html )
MSOcache - office files - installation.
RECYCLER - just what it sounds like - your recycle bin.
System Volume Information - your system restore points.
pagefile.sys - your swap file, on-disk memory.
If you believe you need space - time to read up a little and optimize what
you have. If you cannot, time to answer some of the original questions and
see what hardware you should purchase to make things work a little better
for you. In any case- the backups question is an important one (that you do
it and how you do it..)
Anyway - you should free up a lot more space by moving *your* stuff
elsewhere. ;-)
Download/install this:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/290301
After installing, do the following:
Start button --> RUN --> type in:
"%ProgramFiles%\Windows Installer Clean Up\msizap.exe" g!
--> Click OK.
(The quotation marks and percentage signs and spacing should be exact.)
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
( Particularly of interest here - #4 )
( Alternative:
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_hotfix_backup.htm )
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 128MB..
- 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 128MB. (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/
JDiskReport
http://www.jgoodies.com/freeware/jdiskreport/index.html
Those can help you visually discover where all the space is being used.
In the end - a standard Windows XP installation with all sorts of extras
will not likely be above about 4.5GB to 9GB in size. If you have more space
than that (likely do on a modern machine) and most of it seems to be used -
likely you need to move *your stuff* off and/or find a better way to manage
it.
Come back - let everyone in on what you find out/need/want. Remember -
archived indefintely - so if you do come back - it will help you and others
for years to come.
Windows Help explains this.