Deleting Unneeded Files

[ERADICATORofDTH]

Could anyone tell me how I can delete unused/unneeded files from my computer to maximize my hard drive?
I have *coughGAYcough* Vista if that helps.

 

[Adam]

select, delete.

 

[ERADICATORofDTH]

select, delete.

Gee thanks! What would I do without you Adam?
But really, I want to find all those hidden files that I don't need, and I really don't want to spend hours and hours of my life looking for files and deleting them by hand.

Also, if anyone has any tips for settings that will maximize computer performance, all help is appreciated.

 

[BlindRascal]

Adding in the trend: Reformat, Install windows XP.

 

[ERADICATORofDTH]

Adding in the trend: Reformat, Install windows XP.

Haha you have no idea how much I would love to do that. Unfortunately, that is not really an option...

 

[TexasAggie2011]

disk cleanup, defragment, wipe temporary files, go into the control panel to add/remove programs and remove what you dont want, etc

thats about everythign you can do short of nuking it.

 

[dung0beetle]

There are tons of free registry cleaning software out there, the one I use is Regscrubxp (I use xp, cuz I like my computer to do what I tell it in a timely fashion). This one is 100% reversible, so you can undo the process if you believe something went wrong, although, I have not had any problems with it.

I am not too familiar with vista, except how to wipe it's slow @$$ off of a hard drive, but in xp there is a disk cleanup feature located in: Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk Cleanup. Choose the drive you want cleaned, and it scans and lists types of files that are not necessary i.e. temp files.

Defragging xp is almost pointless (I won't go into it).

And turn off "Remote Assistance" unless you are currently using it (that's how hackers get in the easy way).

I cleaned my 18 yr. old cousin's computer and found over 12 gb. of adware, trojans, spyware, porn(she had no idea it was on there...mmmkay), and useless bits of half-@$$ed deleted programs. In the end, I decided that I should have wiped it and started from scratch. This is probably a good choice for you as well.

Xp is cheap now (starting at $54.99 USD online), get it, update it, and be amazed at how fast it runs on your "vista ready" machine.

 

[Toby]

use ccleaner or nuke it. usually, a reformat is the quickest and easiest.

 

[tlither]

I agree with TF. CCleaner is a great program. My XP machine usually gets reformatted twice a year. Of course I download and delete quite a bit along with other things. Just make sure to backup anything you don't want to lose.

 

[Spartan857]

Get 2500 bux, $200 towards explosives and blow up your pc. Buy a macbook pro with the rest of your money and BAM. No windows problems.

What I would do if I had 2500 bux. I hate windows with such a passion........If I could channel my hate into a sword it would slice thru planets with the slightest move and incenerate the sun. Yea, I hate it that much!!!!

 

[TexasAggie2011]

or, alternatively to what Spartan857 has suggested you could switch to Ubuntu Linux. I made the switch after i had to reinstall vista 5 times... on vacation... and i haven't regretted it.

its a completely free OS, it does everything windows can do and then some, and theres an apps like wine and virtual box that will let you run virtual windows environments for those certain programs you might have that aren't normally compatible with linux.

If you want to try it, all you have to do is goto www.ubuntu.com and download a CD ISO image and burn it to a disk and boot from it when you start the computer. Theres even an option on the disk that allows you to run the OS right off the disk to try it out without making any changes to your current OS.

 

[bevbor]

WARNING! del. /s /q is absolutely dangerous command if is running in wrong folder!
It deletes content of the current folder not marked as read-only (system and hidden files deletes as well and all subfolders without asking you anything! No way to restore files after this operation cuz they're not going to recycle bin.
You must 100% be sure where you are and what you are doing.

Run cmd
cd %temp%
del. /s /q
cd %userprofile%\local settings\temporary internet files
del. /s /q
cd %windir%\temp
del. /s /q

Than turn off and on automatic system restore. It will delete all restore points, but frees a few good gigaz.
And last thing - free recycle bin

Good luck!

 

[garth]

Thanks everyone, I used to have 70% of my computer full, and 30% was corrupted and fragmented and un-defragmentable, now I only have 40% of my hard drive full thanks to crap cleaner. However, does anyone have advice on making my computer start faster? It takes several minutes to start(I have an XP).

 

[TexasAggie2011]

when your cumputer loads up, at the BIOS screen press F2 for the setup menu. scroll through until you find an option about how your system loads the BIOS and change it to the quickest option. that should save a bit of time. If its still slow loading the OS after the BIOS you can go into your startup manager and remove some of the programs that automatically start up that you don't need from the auto start queue.

hope that helps

 

[smilie120]

I heard that deleting your system 32 folder is good! lol..

Heres what I have though..

Click

Start/run :then type: msconfig and select run. In the msconfig menu select services then check hide microsoft services and the click disable all so it disables all non-microsoft applications. This basically tells your PC not to fire up hundered's of programes whn you boot up. The programes will only open them when you want them to open not on start up. And it makes booting much faster.

 

[bevbor]

does anyone have advice on making my computer start faster? It takes several minutes to start(I have an XP).

1. Instal latest and fastest processor (buy it)
2. Move your OS and files over some ghost program to bigger and faster hard disk (buy it) than toss out your old hard disks
3. Add 4 or more Gigaz of memory (buy it) and disable use of swap file.
4. Fire up regedit and delete all crap (except things really needed, for example antivirus) from the following keys:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Run
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/RunOnce
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/RunOnceEx
HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Run
HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/RunOnce
HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/RunOnceEx

Then go to Start -> Programs -> Startup and clear crap from there too.

But it's not all. You have also Browser Helper Objects and ActiveX'es very interesting things. Part of them is useful, but most of them... They called helpers, but in real life acts as parasites of "explorer" process. Baddest part of BHOthat is they are invisible as separate process in Task Manager, their threads runs in explorer.exe process =( Very annoying thingys. Moreover, they are have all permissions of explorer.exe process and have right go to internet without firewall checks them =(

To remove Browser Helper Objects (again, you must to know which of them useful and which are parts of useless toolbars or eve spyware) delete appropriate entries from the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Browser Helper Objects
Don't delete something important though

 

[ERADICATORofDTH]

Wow you guys, that is a lot of advice! But I may not have worded my problem correctly. I am not out of space, or even near being full. I just wanted things to run a lot smoother and faster. It may just be that I am used to XP and now have a Vista. Also, a whole lot of money is way out of the question. I'm only 14 so that means no job which means no consistent source of income.

But anyways, thanks a ton! I'll use several of the tips you all gave me.

 

[Toby]

@bevbor: that's why someone made autoruns. enjoy ^^

nb: still can f**k the system up, but you get a nice gui.

 

[CPU64]

Windows 2000 Pro is the best for me.