# Help with space on my computer.



## airwalkskate (Mar 28, 2003)

I need help with clearing up space on my computer because it's completely full, I don't seem to have any large files on it, and I don't know why it's so full, is there either a some way to find out what is taking up the most room or are there maybe some temporary files that I don't need that I don't know about, I'm using Windows 2000. Any help would be appreciated thnx.


----------



## GoJoAGoGo (Dec 26, 2002)

Hi airwalkskate:

Do you use any cleaning tools to remove temporary internet files, spyware or registry files? Here are a couple of cleaning tools that will eliminate junks files.

http://www.vtoy.fi/jv16/shtml/jv16powertools.shtml

http://downloads-zdnet.com.com/3000-2144-10122137.html


----------



## brushmaster1 (Jun 15, 2002)

*Welcome to TSG!*

Go to START>FIND, make sure you are searching "all local hard drives", make sure "include subfolders" is checked, and search for *.TMP, then delete all the files you find. Next, empty your recycle bin.

If you haven't been doing this on a regular basis, you'll be surprised how much junk can accumulate!

Another way to free up space is to uninstall any programs that you don't use.


----------



## airwalkskate (Mar 28, 2003)

That did it Brushmaster1, I just got back 6.70GB, but if you could help again, I'm having another problem, whenever I start up my computer my background comes up, and the cursor but the cursor isn't a arrow it's a hour glass, and my desktop and taskbar won't appear, even if i let it sit for awhile, i can get everything to appear if i press CTRL+ALT+DEL and go to taskmanger open a certain program and then restart my desktop and taskbar will appear, but i don't think it's suppose to start up like that >.< if you could help with this too, my computer problems would be over for now


----------



## Ethmer (Jul 6, 2002)

You might want to repost your second problem as a new thread. Reason being that some of the people who might be able to solve your problem may have already viewed your initial thread and aren't inclined to come back to it ( about 50 people had viewed this thread as of this posting).

Maybe title it "Cursor problem" or something to get their attention.

Just a thought.


----------



## brendandonhu (Jul 8, 2002)

Take brushmaster1's tip and repeat for the following files to delete more junk

*.bak
*.chk
*.gid
*.fts

Then do 
*.001
*.002
*.003
and keep going until its not finding any more files to delete. Usually you will only have to go to 7 or 8.
Then go to these folders and delete everything in them. Each folder might tell you there is a file in it that can't be deleted, this is normal.

C:\Windows\Temp
C:\Windows\Cookies
C:\windows\temporary internet files


----------



## DERALAAND (Mar 28, 2003)

airwalkskate, by the sounds of it you could use a defrag also. This could take a while but before you do it, set your screen saver to none so there is no interuptions in the process. Everything will run a little smoother after a de frag. Then consider a maintenance prog. that you can set and forget
http://www.executive.com/products/products.asp

But most importantly...Have Fun


----------



## MaggieDee (Mar 30, 2003)

hi there ;

GoJo! i was reading your response and clicked on the link you displayed, now I'm wondering, i have spybot & destroy downloaded. you think i will also need a cleaning tool too? the first link you have with your message...I think i have alot of unwanted files myself in my computer... i just cant recognize them.. also, when I unzip files, can i go to the folder and delete all thats in there? I'm not sure if i am explaining this rite. I hope you understood what I meant, thanks in advance


----------



## griffinspc (Nov 16, 2001)

> _Originally posted by airwalkskate:_
> *That did it Brushmaster1, I just got back 6.70GB, but if you could help again, I'm having another problem, whenever I start up my computer my background comes up, and the cursor but the cursor isn't a arrow it's a hour glass, and my desktop and taskbar won't appear, even if i let it sit for awhile, i can get everything to appear if i press CTRL+ALT+DEL and go to taskmanger open a certain program and then restart my desktop and taskbar will appear, but i don't think it's suppose to start up like that >.< if you could help with this too, my computer problems would be over for now  *


I have some serious doubts here. First you said at the beginning that you were *completely* full. Then you just deleted temp files and the recycle bin and you restored 6 plus GIG's. can't be from natuaral causes.

Coupled with the problems you now descibe; 1. Have you scanned for any virus? and 2. Have you scanned for any spyware?


----------



## GoJoAGoGo (Dec 26, 2002)

Hi MaggieDee:

It's always a good idea to use cleaning tools. Temporary Internet Files are collected on your HDD everytime you use the Internet. Also unneeded Registry Files remain in your Registry after you uninstall programs that you thought were completely removed from your system.

By already using Spybot you have made a good start by eliminating the nasty spyware. I suggest you use a Disk Cleaner to eliminate Temporary Internet Files. Below is a Freeware link that contains several different ones to choose from. I can't recommend which way may be the best. Each one is rated so I guess you can go with the highest rated one first. I use a Disk Cleaner that I paid for. I didn't realize at the time that there were so many good Disk Cleaners available as Freeware. Good Luck and post back to let me know how you made out....

http://www.webattack.com/freeware/system/fwdiskclean.shtml


----------



## randyrayd (Feb 5, 2003)

I've opened Windows Explorer>window$>temp. internet>content IE.5> and deleted any subfolders and that rids your puppy of any of those .tmp files. IE recreates these subfoldes as soon as you go to a site and starts all over again. After doing this Spybot or Adaware generally finds nothing.

Do the cleaning Brendan suggests also. 

Although I'm not as knowledgeable as most here, there was a post recently about an almost identical amount of disk space freed up by deleting the temp files, so I'm not certain if this is unusual for someone who has never deleted the temp files.

By the way, if you delete the temp net files through tools>internet options, the empty files are still there. I know they're empty, but it annoys me, so I select all and delete unless I do the method I described above.

Comments on this post from the more knowledgeable are appreciated

Randall


----------



## griffinspc (Nov 16, 2001)

Some good arguments Randall but my concern with his space recovery was because it was recommended that he remove **.TMP* extension files only and the recycle bin.

I would agree that if you removed all the internet temp files that a lot of space could be freed up, though 6 gig's would still be a real chunk, but internet temp files don't end with *.tmp*

That's where my concern came from. 95% of all files with that extension are in the C:\Windows\temp folder and are 1, 2 or 5 KB's.

The recycle bin is generally set to 10% or less of the drive space before dumping so since he said his drive was completely full and then said he had 6 plus gig's returned he'd have to have a 60 GB drive filled with ?? since he said he had no large files. Weird.

If he did as he said and followed the advice he was given then 6 gig's of temp files means something is amiss.

Just explaining my point, no flames here and it seems airwalkskate isn't posting back.


----------



## randyrayd (Feb 5, 2003)

griffinspc, I appreciate your patience as I am in a learning process. I wasn't aware the parameters of the recycle bin capacity related to the HD size. I learn, but still stay in a state of confusion.

A question though:



> but internet temp files don't end with .tmp


Several of mine end in TMP.

Randall


----------



## MaggieDee (Mar 30, 2003)

hi Gojo;

thanks for the link, and i have gone and checked it out.. I have downloaded "oddessay clean" something on that line. Now that one is too complicated, then i unzipped "emptyfol" something on that line as well... and again, that seemed complicated as well. so i gave up... I am a simple kinda gal , who is not "smart " with computer stuff and only can understand "basic" steps.... they seem to be good freeware , but it seems that is not for me, but thanks for trying to help, i do appriciate it,and if you have anything that maybe much simplier for me, let me know, thanks again ....


----------



## griffinspc (Nov 16, 2001)

> Several of mine end in TMP.


 Sure, you'll see a few in relation to the whole but if you sort by type in explorer I bet you won't find much. Not 6 GB's worth.

Like I said I wasn't being critical it's a good conversation, I just think his solution raises flags particuarly with the other symptoms. You'll also find a few *.tmp files in other locations on the "C" drive but all told (and I could still be wrong) in all my years I've never seen 6 gig's of *.tmps.


----------



## walkeriam (Feb 19, 2002)

I would be careful Deleting the *.001, *.002 ect... because your Anti-Virus uses some of these files and may make it inoperable. You can go to START, FIND and where it says NAMED type in **.tmp,~*.*,*.chk* after it stops searching go to EDIT, SELECT ALL then go to FILE, DELETE and that will put them in your recycling bin. Restart your computer and if everything works OK, you can then empty your recycling bin.


----------



## DERALAAND (Mar 28, 2003)

Are you using win95/98?
check out something called cleanup.bat
I don't have a link but i do have the program if you can call it that. It's only 3kb and you just run it. No installation as straight forward as you can get
But remember to check your space before and after to see if it made any difference.

Have fun,

"D"


----------



## MaggieDee (Mar 30, 2003)

hi DERALAAND;

Do you mean to look for it online? thanks


----------



## MaggieDee (Mar 30, 2003)

oh and yes , i am using windows 98


----------



## GoJoAGoGo (Dec 26, 2002)

Hi MaggieDee:

I'm sorry to here that the Cleaning Tool Link didn't work out. The Cleaning Tool I use is Shareware and they give you a 15 Day Free Trial period to try it out before you buy it. It's 2 cleaning tools in one, what I mean is you can run it to delete Temporary Internet Files and you can run it delete unused Registry Files. I bought mine just over 1 year ago and it cost me $29. They came out with a newer version about 2 months ago and increased the price to buy to $39. I would hate to see you spend that kind of money when there are so many good Freeware Cleaning Tools out there. It's very easy to use. I'll provide you with the link in case you may want to try it out for the 15 Day Free Trial. Good Luck...

http://www.haysoft.com/hs/untproduct.php3?fid=100


----------



## GoJoAGoGo (Dec 26, 2002)

Hello Again MaggieDee:

I just saw DERALAAND post about cleanup.bat. I ran a search at Google and found the link for it. This also sounds like a good one and it's Freeware.

http://www.langa.com/cleanup_bat.htm


----------



## griffinspc (Nov 16, 2001)

MaggieDee,
if you want a good free tool for registry cleanup that's safe try: http://www.vtoy.fi/jv16/shtml/software.shtml and download RegCleaner.

For general housecleaning of a Win98 system you can use C:\WINDOWS\CLEANMGR.EXE

Just go to start / Run and type CLEANMGR and hit enter. That's the same as going through program files, accessories, etc., etc., etc.

last I'll copy a response I posted to another thread months ago but you may find some use for it.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

A tweaking primer and just my opinion I wrote for another thread a while back.

1st, Use Find and locate all:

*.tmp
*.chk
*.bak

files and delete to recycle bin or use Disk Cleanup, re-boot. If all is OK (it should be) then empty the recycle bin.

then delete all browser temp files.

2nd, Use Add/Remove and uninstall all programs you don't use or want.

3rd, Go into Add/Remove/Windows setup and uncheck any Windows apps and tools you don't use such as the Accessibility line (that's if you don't need it). When you get to accessories click on details and uncheck any boxes you don't need like that lame "Calculator" or games. Address Book. Whatever you don't need under details of communications (be careful here, do not uncheck if you aren't sure), desktop themes completely, details in internet Tools, Multiple Language support, details in Multimedia (again be careful here), details in On-Line services, details in system tools, Microsoft FAX, The Microsoft Network, Windows messaging.

This list of Windows items is partial Win95 and 98 and depends on what was installed during the initial setup. You may not see some of these is what I'm saying and if you are unsure of an entry post back and ask.

Everything you uncheck will be removed when you click "Apply". If you have your original Win9X CD or the CAB files on your hard drive you can recover any of these at a later date if you decide you want it.

4th, Go through all your Word or other text writing program documents and delete all you don't need anymore. The same goes for spreadsheets such as Excel or Access. Music files?

5th, rid yourself of excess fonts. They load slow, take up space and use resources and about half are never used by anyone. They are installed by 3rd party software, games, etc. Obviously if you don't speak Hebrew you don't need Hebrew.

Here's How without using 3rd party software: 
Click on CONTROL PANEL
Double Click on the FONTS Icon
Highlight the Fonts you wish to uninstall
Click FILE (in the top navigation bar)
Click DELETE
Click on OK (in the WINDOWS FONT FOLDER alert window)
Tips:
You can see what a font looks like by right clicking on it's name an clicking "open".
You can select specific font files by holding down the CTRL key.
You can select a range of font files by holding down the SHIFT key.

DO NOT DELETE THESE FONTS:
Arial (TrueType)
Arial Bold (TrueType)
Arial Bold Italic (TrueType)
Arial Italic (TrueType)
Courier 10,12,15 (VGA res)
Courier New (TrueType)
Courier New Bold (TrueType)
Courier New Bold Italic (TrueType)
Courier New Italic (TrueType)
Marlett (Windows 95/98)*
Modern (Plotter)
MS Sans Serif 8,10,12,14,18,24 (VGA res)
MS Serif 8,10,12,14,18,24 (VGA res)
Roman (Plotter)
Script (Plotter)
Small fonts (VGA res)
Symbol (TrueType)
Symbol 8,10,12,14,18,24 (VGA res)
Times New Roman (TrueType) -
Times New Roman Bold (TrueType)
Times New Roman Bold Italic (TrueType)
Times New Roman Italic (TrueType)
Wingdings (TrueType)
Any font with a red A for its icon.
Any font that begins with the letters MS.

6th, Right click on My Computer and Properties. Go to the Performance tab / File System and change "Typical role of this computer" to Network Server.

PERFORM YOUR RE-BOOTS, DEFRAG THE DRIVE(S)


----------



## MaggieDee (Mar 30, 2003)

Hi again;

while i was waiting for your response, i have decided to keep looking at the site u linked me to.. i figured it wont hurt to just read them, as i had alot of time on my hands today. I decided to try one more time and download"empty temp folder" something like that, and hey,  it seems pretty cool, im still giving it a chance to learn about it, it seems pretty cool, i am just not understanding it the "temp files" yet, i thought temp files were temp files, and not go wrong in deleting them.. now im not sure, so i have to keep learning. And again, thanks


----------



## MaggieDee (Mar 30, 2003)

gosh, thanks; 

i didnt see your response, and i will look at it very carefully. I want to thank all of you who have tried to help me today. I do appriciate every help i got since i have joined this forum.. this will be a great place to go for any difficult or even simple help i am going to need. I do wish i would of discovered this long time ago. thank you again,  and grittinspc, thanks i will seriously read your post very carefully and see what i can do at this end to clean my computer,


----------



## vlrbsf (Jan 11, 2002)

Pardon the interruption-after reading some of these posts I did a search for .TMP files and when I attempted to delete them I got an error message saying "xDBF191.TMP isa read-only file. Are you sure you want to delete this?" There were about 30 of these. All different-but still read-only. I also have several .TMP files that show the path as being Symantec definitions. I am using winMe.


----------



## compilerxp (Feb 24, 2002)

Another thing to do to help reduce wasted space...

With Internet Explorer, Microsoft stupidly has it set to a HIGH amount for cache. A default setting can be 500mb or higher!

I set mine and my clients to 3-5mb...

I've cleaned out hundreds of megabytes and even over a gig from c:/windows/temp for clients computers...


To adjust your IE cache size.. go to Internet tools - its on the first tab "Temporary Internet Files". - change it to the smaller size.

You MAY hit delete... but it tends to NOT WORK.


----------



## brendandonhu (Jul 8, 2002)

> _Originally posted by vlrbsf:_
> *Pardon the interruption-after reading some of these posts I did a search for .TMP files and when I attempted to delete them I got an error message saying "xDBF191.TMP isa read-only file. Are you sure you want to delete this?" There were about 30 of these. All different-but still read-only. I also have several .TMP files that show the path as being Symantec definitions. I am using winMe. *


You can click Yes on all those, but Windows will probably tell you it can't delete them. This is normal with recent temp files, so don't worry about it.


----------



## GoJoAGoGo (Dec 26, 2002)

Hi MaggieDee:

I'm glad you found a Cleaning Tool that is working out for you. Yes Temp Files are exactly that, Temporary Files that can safely be deleted and cause no harm to your system. Keep me updated on your progress and feel free to ask questions about anything that you may not be sure about....


----------



## randyrayd (Feb 5, 2003)

Compilerxp, thanks for the hint about cache file size in IE. I knew Netscape had that function, but didn't know about IE. I've reset mine to 4MB.

Thanks again,
Randall


----------



## MaggieDee (Mar 30, 2003)

Hi;

I do have anohter question, but its not really relating to "Help with space on my computer". Do i need to have another topic,? or i stil can post it here?? also.. this "empty temp" i did a search under "find temp files" , and it found 1716, yessssssss 1716, i dont exactly know what that all means, i have read the "help" and i have to decide what is good and what is not, If you know anyting about "empty temp" could you let me know? thanks;
p.s. oh, back to my original question.... its another topic, do i still post it here?


----------



## GoJoAGoGo (Dec 26, 2002)

Hi MaggieDee:

Yes, it's safe to delete all Temporary Internet Files. They are only taking up space on you Hard Drive and should be deleted. 

If you have a different topic it's better to start a new Thread in the Windows 95/98/ME Forum. I'll be looking for your new topic. You can continue to post in this thread if you have anymore questions about "Help with space on my computer".


----------



## griffinspc (Nov 16, 2001)

MaggieDee, if you typed "find temp files" without the quotes, you would have received a hit on any files with the words; temp, files and find and all file names like *temp*erature.doc.

These won't be temp files. DON'T delete them. If I misunderstood what you said, sorry.


----------



## MaggieDee (Mar 30, 2003)

Ok, i am getting two responses, one says, dont remove them and the other says, remove them  i will try to explain as clearly as i can and where i will understand myelf too.. here it goes... with the quotes i used here. it wasnt the quotes ( u mean these " " rite) i used in the empty temp folders. it said, find temp files, and i clicked on that and it gave me that many files that were in my computer:s but, after i taken someones advise in here and i got the cleanup.bat... it cleaned out some of them files i found in the empty file folders..... "am i making sense here"???? i hope soo. so, anywayssssssssss, i dont delete the rest that are left in there or i should leave them there???? and Gojo, i have posted my other question here, "illegal shut downs" its called, thanks again all,


----------



## griffinspc (Nov 16, 2001)

Don't mean to confuse you Maggie. Like I said, maybe I misunderstood what you were searching for or how.

Did you mean that you searched for these temp files using;

Start / Find / Files or Folders and then typed in *find temp files* or were you using an application that you downloaded and got those results, 1716 files?

And maybe the Langa bat file cleanup tool?


----------



## GoJoAGoGo (Dec 26, 2002)

Hi MaggieDee:

I believe griffinspc thought you went to Start > Search > For Files or Folders and entered Find Temp Files. He didn't realize that Empty Temp Folders is a Cleaning Tool Program. Once again it is completely safe to delete Temporary Internet Files.

If you would feel more comfortable could you copy and paste or take a Screen Shot, some of the, (not all 1716), Temporary Files the Cleaning Tool Program found and post it here so we can look at exactly the same thing you are.


----------



## MaggieDee (Mar 30, 2003)

ok, that sounds like a great idea, i think i will do that.... Now if i know how to paste it here, or take a "snap shot"? hmmm, here it goess, "back" no i dont know how to poste them here, sorry, here is one of the path........c:\detlog.old what is that?


----------



## GoJoAGoGo (Dec 26, 2002)

MaggieDee:

If you want to, I'll give you my email address and you can copy and paste all the Files in an email message so I can see them. Let me know if you want to do that?


----------



## MaggieDee (Mar 30, 2003)

oh its not that i didnt want to paste it in here, i just dont know how, unless u dont mind telling me how or teach me, im not a fast learner, i will tell u now. I assure you i will frusterate you if not already, hehehee.. here is my email [email protected] ,


----------



## brendandonhu (Jul 8, 2002)

press "prnt scrn" on your keyboard.

Start>>Run>>Mspaint
Edit>>Paste
Save the file as a JPEG.
In your post, see where there is a "file attach" box? Click browse and choose the file.


----------

