[XP Tweak] Retrieve Hard Drive Space
1. Record the current amount of free space you have :3
2. Get Updates - Run Windows Update and get all the most recent updates to your computer. Including SP3!
3. Clean Up Windows Update - After it installs and you're satisfied everything is still working, do the following:
Open windows explorer to C:\Windows\ and delete EVERY folder that looks like '$NtUninstall....$' (sort the folder by name, it helps) The icons will be shaded, and the text will most likely be blue (which signifies the folders are compressed).
If you don't see any, you need to enable seeing hidden files and folders. (Tools>Folder Options>View>'Show hidden files and folders')
If you've never done this before, there could be literally hundreds of them.
Double check before you press the delete key that the only files you've selected are Those $NtUninistall.. folders. If you see one called $hf_mig$ you can delete that too.
Tip: Use [Shift]+[Del] to skip the recycle bin
Next, there is a folder there called ie7updates. You can nuke that, its just like the $NtUninstall.. folders. Keep digging until you see 'ServicePackFiles.' You can nuke that.
Once this is done, we should have freed you up ooohh maybe 1-3GB.
But we're not done yet! :D
4. Temp Files - In the address bar in windows explorer (if you don't have one do View>Tool Bars>Address Bar. You may need to move it over by clicking the text so you can drag it bigger) type in %temp% and hit enter. Also, if you have multiple users, you'll need to do this for every user!
Close all your open programs ('Cept the browser). Microsoft programs like office, outlook, visual studio, or other ones like Photoshop, paint shop, video editors, whatever, will write files to here that you can't delete (because they're in use) and cause hell when you try to delete stuff.
Do a [ctrl]+A to select everything in this temp folder and delete it. If you do get errors, just skip the offending files. (Stuff like 'Perflib_PerfData..' or ones like '~de984.tmp' just skip over those and keep deleting)
This should get you ~1-2GB
Still not done!
5. Clean Up System Restore {for users with system restore enabled (on by default)} - First go to Start>All Programs>Accessories>System Tools>System Restore and create a restore point right now.
Close it when done.
Now, open disk cleanup by hitting [Windows Key]+R and typing in 'cleanmgr' and hit enter.
Select the drive which windows is installed on (C:\ 99% of the time). Let it 'calculate' for a few minutes. Go get a drink and a cookie and then come back :)
Go to the More Options tab and click 'Clean up...' under System Restore. Click yes on the message box.
This step alone can theoretically save you up to like.. 7GB of hard drive space.
Back in the main window, go back to the Disk Cleanup tab.
You can check everything in there EXCEPT 'Compress old files'. DON'T BE TEMPTED BY IT.
Let it do its thing and now check out how much free space you just earned yourself :D
6. Last things - These are small things usually, but *can* have a substantial hard drive paw-print.
C:\MSOCache (a hidden folder) This contains Office setup files, so that if you want to install new features that weren't installed the first time, you don't need your CD. So if you still have your CD, you can safely delete this. Mine was 464MB
C,D,E..:\{various} (sometimes hidden) Look for folders in the root of your partitions that have long names with numbers and lower case letters only. These are temporary extraction spaces for updates or programs. You can delete these safely. I didn't have any this go, as I deleted them before. Probably 500MB
C:\Temp, C:\Windows\Temp (not hidden) These are places older programs store temporary data, and the *contents* can be safely deleted. 0-100Mb
C:\i386 - This one is up to you. This is the Windows XP installation cache folder. Nothing in here is needed to *run* windows after the fact, but if you don't have an XP disk, or certain OEM computers, plugging in a flash drive, scanner, printer, whatever can require drivers from this location. Most of the time, it is left over from an OEM install of windows, and you really don't need it. This one will get you somewhere between 500MB-1GB.
Clear your browser cache(s). Yes, IE too, even if you don't use it!
7. Recycle Bin - Empty it.
8. IMPORTANT! Defrag! While defragging may only free up 1 or 2 Mb of free space, it is an important step after deleting as many files as we have. Run it once, and then run it a second time right after to further densify the files. This can help with performance..
9. Report to me with how you made out! :D
2. Get Updates - Run Windows Update and get all the most recent updates to your computer. Including SP3!
3. Clean Up Windows Update - After it installs and you're satisfied everything is still working, do the following:
Open windows explorer to C:\Windows\ and delete EVERY folder that looks like '$NtUninstall....$' (sort the folder by name, it helps) The icons will be shaded, and the text will most likely be blue (which signifies the folders are compressed).
If you don't see any, you need to enable seeing hidden files and folders. (Tools>Folder Options>View>'Show hidden files and folders')
If you've never done this before, there could be literally hundreds of them.
Double check before you press the delete key that the only files you've selected are Those $NtUninistall.. folders. If you see one called $hf_mig$ you can delete that too.
Tip: Use [Shift]+[Del] to skip the recycle bin
Next, there is a folder there called ie7updates. You can nuke that, its just like the $NtUninstall.. folders. Keep digging until you see 'ServicePackFiles.' You can nuke that.
Once this is done, we should have freed you up ooohh maybe 1-3GB.
But we're not done yet! :D
4. Temp Files - In the address bar in windows explorer (if you don't have one do View>Tool Bars>Address Bar. You may need to move it over by clicking the text so you can drag it bigger) type in %temp% and hit enter. Also, if you have multiple users, you'll need to do this for every user!
Close all your open programs ('Cept the browser). Microsoft programs like office, outlook, visual studio, or other ones like Photoshop, paint shop, video editors, whatever, will write files to here that you can't delete (because they're in use) and cause hell when you try to delete stuff.
Do a [ctrl]+A to select everything in this temp folder and delete it. If you do get errors, just skip the offending files. (Stuff like 'Perflib_PerfData..' or ones like '~de984.tmp' just skip over those and keep deleting)
This should get you ~1-2GB
Still not done!
5. Clean Up System Restore {for users with system restore enabled (on by default)} - First go to Start>All Programs>Accessories>System Tools>System Restore and create a restore point right now.
Close it when done.
Now, open disk cleanup by hitting [Windows Key]+R and typing in 'cleanmgr' and hit enter.
Select the drive which windows is installed on (C:\ 99% of the time). Let it 'calculate' for a few minutes. Go get a drink and a cookie and then come back :)
Go to the More Options tab and click 'Clean up...' under System Restore. Click yes on the message box.
This step alone can theoretically save you up to like.. 7GB of hard drive space.
Back in the main window, go back to the Disk Cleanup tab.
You can check everything in there EXCEPT 'Compress old files'. DON'T BE TEMPTED BY IT.
Let it do its thing and now check out how much free space you just earned yourself :D
6. Last things - These are small things usually, but *can* have a substantial hard drive paw-print.
C:\MSOCache (a hidden folder) This contains Office setup files, so that if you want to install new features that weren't installed the first time, you don't need your CD. So if you still have your CD, you can safely delete this. Mine was 464MB
C,D,E..:\{various} (sometimes hidden) Look for folders in the root of your partitions that have long names with numbers and lower case letters only. These are temporary extraction spaces for updates or programs. You can delete these safely. I didn't have any this go, as I deleted them before. Probably 500MB
C:\Temp, C:\Windows\Temp (not hidden) These are places older programs store temporary data, and the *contents* can be safely deleted. 0-100Mb
C:\i386 - This one is up to you. This is the Windows XP installation cache folder. Nothing in here is needed to *run* windows after the fact, but if you don't have an XP disk, or certain OEM computers, plugging in a flash drive, scanner, printer, whatever can require drivers from this location. Most of the time, it is left over from an OEM install of windows, and you really don't need it. This one will get you somewhere between 500MB-1GB.
Clear your browser cache(s). Yes, IE too, even if you don't use it!
7. Recycle Bin - Empty it.
8. IMPORTANT! Defrag! While defragging may only free up 1 or 2 Mb of free space, it is an important step after deleting as many files as we have. Run it once, and then run it a second time right after to further densify the files. This can help with performance..
9. Report to me with how you made out! :D