jorcar said:
Hi John,
Yes I have tried reinstalling word and it won't let me do it...it says not
enough space on disk etc. I am trying to clean the disk enough to
defrag...having problems with that too...
So.... It may well be that most, if not all, of your problems are
being caused by an over-full hard disk. Try freeing up some space.
A primary space waster within each user profile would be IE's
penchant for storing copies (or significant portions thereof) of nearly
every web page you've ever visited. Try reducing the amount of
temporary Internet files cached, which is huge by default. I always
reduce it to a maximum of 50 Mb. In Internet Explorer, click Tools >
Internet Options > General, Temporary Files > Settings.
Same principle for the Java cache. Start > Control Panel > Java >
Temporary Internet Files > Settings.
You should also remove unneeded Temporary Internet Files.
Unfortunately, WinXP's built-in Disk Cleanup only cleans the files
stored within the profile of the user who invokes it. This means that,
even when logged in with an administrative account, the only temporary
files that get removed are one's own.
There is one product, Crap Cleaner (
http://www.ccleaner.com/), that
is quite useful in this regard, as one can use it to specify which
folders are to be scanned and cleaned.
However, I must add one caveat: CCLeaner also contains a registry
"cleaner" that should be used only by the most experienced of
technicians. CCleaner seems relatively benign, as long as you step
through each detected "issue" one at a time, to determine if it really
is an "issue" or not, and then decide whether or not to let the
application "fix" it. In my experience, most of the reported "issues"
won't be issues, at all. I tried the latest version on a brand-new OS
installation with no additional applications installed, and certainly
none installed and then uninstalled, and CCleaner still managed to
"find" over a hundred allegedly orphaned registry entries and dozens of
purportedly "suspicious" files. (CCleaner's main strength lies in its
usefulness for cleaning up unused temporary files from the hard drive;
as a registry "cleaner," it's no better than any other snake oil remedy.)
The System Volume Information is the folder in which WinXP's System
Restore feature stores information used to recover from errors. By
default, WinXP sets aside 12% of the partition's size for storing System
Volume Information, but the amount of space set aside for this purpose
can be adjusted by the user. Start > All Programs > Accessories >
System Tools > System Restore > System Restore Settings, select the
pertinent partition and click Settings. If you don't want to use System
Restore at all, and have another back-up/recovery measure in place,
simply turn off the System Restore feature (Start > All Programs >
Accessories > System Tools > System Restore, System Restore Settings)
and reboot. This will delete all of your Restore Points, freeing up the
hard drive space.
Another great waster of space can be the Recycle Bin. By default,
this takes up to 10% of your hard drive capacity. On today's large hard
drives, this is tremendously wasteful. It can be set to a lower limit
by right-clicking the desktop Receycle Bin icon, selecting Properties,
and using the slider bar to lower the maximum size to something more
reasonable -- 1% to 2% should be more than enough space.
--
Bruce Chambers
Help us help you:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375
They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin
Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. ~Bertrand Russell
The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has
killed a great many philosophers.
~ Denis Diderot
