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malc_whiley
regular
Reg'd: Fri
Posts: 121
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I have XP Pro with SP2 and am looking to clean up my little 40 Gig HD . I went through add/remove progs and noticed a long stream of Windows updates listed . My question is simple , is the a point at which you can remove them or will they all reappear at my next update check ?
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BurrWalnut
Chippendaler
Reg'd: Tue
Posts: 3458
Loc: London, England
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Go to My Computer and click on the hard drive, then the Windows folder. Look at the dates alongside files beginning $NTUninstall..... These are Microsoft updates and providing your PC has no problems, they can be deleted. Only delete those over a month or two old.
Make a note of the ones you have deleted and go to Control Panel, Add/Remove programs and delete those that you deleted in the \Windows folder. You will get an error message as they have become orphaned in the registry but you can delete them.
Make sure you don't delete anything in Add/Remove programs that you didn't delete in \Windows as you will be uninstalling the update.
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Fine English furniture is the new rock 'n' roll
The Chippendale Society
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malc_whiley
regular
Reg'd: Fri
Posts: 121
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Thanks for the speedy reply , will have a go in the morning.
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Madeline
regular
Reg'd: Wed
Posts: 14628
Loc: Wales
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If you delete Windows Updates (Hotfixes), they may well appear the next time you check for updates. One way to find out is to delete them and see what happens. These are all critical/security updates which you probably need to protect your PC.
Madeline. 
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"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." Lord Acton, 1887.
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malc_whiley
regular
Reg'd: Fri
Posts: 121
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Thanks for that Madeline , i was just trying to free up some space on my C drive and they seemed the obvious option . I have a friend who like me has a 40 Gig C drive yet he only uses 8 Gig of his and i'm currently using 28 Gig . Ok we've different progs installed but i've no idea where a 20 Gig difference can come from .
I suppose Straws and clutching at come to mind
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BurrWalnut
Chippendaler
Reg'd: Tue
Posts: 3458
Loc: London, England
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Madeline
The only way you will get the updates a second time is if you uninstall them in Add/Remove Programs without first deleting the files in \Windows.
By deleting the files in \Windows you will not be able to uninstall those fixes, that's why I said don't delete any under 1 to 2 months old, i.e. the fixes have not caused any problems over the past 2 months.
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Fine English furniture is the new rock 'n' roll
The Chippendale Society
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Madeline
regular
Reg'd: Wed
Posts: 14628
Loc: Wales
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I'm sure that what BurrWalnut says is right, but I don't think that removing some of the Hotfixes will make a vast difference to the space available on your C drive, but it's up to you. When Windows XP SP2 was reinstalled on this PC late last year, all the Hotfixes were downloaded automatically from MS again, so I assumed they were necessary and they're still there. I'd be a bit wary of getting rid of them, but I'm probably too cautious!
Like you, I have a 40GB drive, but I'm using only about 8GB. I've got all the Hotfixes, 49 if I've counted them correctly, and 8 Office updates, so they can't be taking up all that much space. In your Add or Remove Programs, are there any very big programs? One quite big program is J2SE Runtime Environment 5.0 Update 6, which weighs in at 119MB. When Java does updates, the older versions are left there, so if that's the case with you, get rid of the previous versions.
Another thing you can do is run Disk Cleanup regularly, this might free up some space, run Disk Defragmenter too. Also, don't keep a lot of stuff in the Recycle Bin, every little helps! Another thing which can take up a lot of space over time is System Restore; if you've got a lot of restore points, you can get rid of all of them except the most recent one by clicking on the 'More Options' tab on Disk Cleanup and doing it there. Be sure that you're not likely to need any earlier restore points before doing this, but if you're PC's running OK, it should be all right. I do it quite often and it hasn't caused me any problems so far. Your PC sets aside 12% of its capacity for System Restore by default, you could reduce this by going to Control Panel>System>System Restore tab and change it by using the slider there. Mine's set at 5% and I still get plenty of restore points.
The same thing applies to the Recycle Bin. I think the default for that is 10%, but you could try reducing that too. Right click on the Recycle Bin and then on 'Properties', there's a slider there too.
I can't think of anything else at the moment!
Madeline.
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"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." Lord Acton, 1887.
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malc_whiley
regular
Reg'd: Fri
Posts: 121
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Thanks Madeline ,
I've done all that and i'm now :
Total size 38.2 GB Free space 21GB
so used capaxity is 17.2GB
I only have these folders on it
Docs and settings 3.68GB
LxK1100 25.8MB
NVIDIA 61.2MB
PROG FILES 5.20GB
TEMP 4.5MB
WINDOWS LARGER THAN 3.11GB
So i'm guessing Windows is about 8Gig , can't be normal but it's the only thing that makes any sense . Just no clue how to sort it out . i have a file ;
C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\Local Settings\Temp
That is 2.04 GB , is it ok to delete it ?
Thanks ,
Malc
Edited by malc_whiley (Mon May 22 2006 06:14 PM)
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greysts
regular
Reg'd: Thu
Posts: 17961
Loc: Colchester
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How big is your Windows Virtual Memory? Have you tried using CCleaner to remove the rubbish, in particular all the temporary files?
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Do you know that we're all in line for succession to the throne? Really?
Well, if forty-eight million, two hundred thousand, seven hundred and one people died I'd be Queen.
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evilmonkeyzz
regular
Reg'd: Sun
Posts: 2170
Loc: Newcastle
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Quote:
So i'm guessing Windows is about 8Gig , can't be normal but it's the only thing that makes any sense.
Your right there, a full install is about 3-4GB.
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Ambition makes you look pretty ugly
Kicking squealing Gucci little piggy
http://www.last.fm/user/evilmonkeyzzz/
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malc_whiley
regular
Reg'd: Fri
Posts: 121
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I haven't Greysts , i was a bit warey of it as i'd heard others elsewhere advise not to use it in the past as it did more harm than god but as you've never steered me wrong before i'll download it and have a go . Are there any specific settings i need to alter in CCleaner or it a run out of the box type thing ?
The only thing i saw as "unusual" was the "temp" file i named above which wseemed somewhat large .
Thanks ,
Malc
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evilmonkeyzz
regular
Reg'd: Sun
Posts: 2170
Loc: Newcastle
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I use ccleaner all the time, its best to steer clear of the issues tab as I have heard this can cause problems and before you run it, go to option, cookies and move any cookies you want to keep into the 'cookies to keep' side. this will stop all of the info you may want keeping form being deleted. You may need to analyse first.
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Ambition makes you look pretty ugly
Kicking squealing Gucci little piggy
http://www.last.fm/user/evilmonkeyzzz/
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Madeline
regular
Reg'd: Wed
Posts: 14628
Loc: Wales
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You're welcome, at least all that's given you a bit more space on your C drive. I don't know about that file you mention, I've got one too. Try CCleaner (with caution) and ask if there's anything you're unsure about, you don't want to get rid of anything you need. Windows couldn't be 8GB, or I'd have nothing else on my PC! Remember to do the things I said regularly to avoid using up space unnecessarily. System Restore points really eat up space, so once you're sure that anything you've downloaded/installed is OK and that you aren't likely to need to restore for any reason, get rid of all but the most recent one.
Madeline.
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"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." Lord Acton, 1887.
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