Cleaning up XP pro

I reached the point where I needed to do some serious housekeeping to avoid running out of hard drive space. I've uninstalled several programs that I seldom use but I am left with several Microsoft support programs that may or may not be necessary. As an example, I have 5 different listings of various "NET framework" versions and service packs listed in add/remove programs. I think I may have removed the program that required NET framework but I'm not sure. How can I tell if one program is dependent on another and which Microsoft programs are just taking up space? Also, what other ways are there to get rid if unnecessary windows files? I have a prefetch folder and several "ServicePackUninstal" folders that I suspect are not really needed, but how can I be sure if they are safe to remove? I recall long ago (maybe win 95 days) having some sort of program that told you what program depended on what files or other programs, but I can't remember what it was. Are there any freeware uninstallers or housekeeping programs out there that will help me figure out what programs/files are safe to delete?

 

Ya, get rid of the service pack backups as they take up a lot of space, be aware that you won't be able to uninstall your packs after, but then why would you want to eh? It's those files that start with $xxxxxx. You can safely delete the .NET Framework files and if a program that you use needs one of them, then just simply reinstall.

Another big hog of memory is 'System Restore'. It's set at %15 of the partition size of your hard drive I believe so you can reduce that. If you never hibernate then stop that service.

A good hard drive analyser is TreeSize Free, just make sure you untick both the 'hide files' options to see everything which it seems that you have. You can also run CCleaner to delete temp files etc. but be careful the first time as you could delete cookies or history etc. from your browser(s) unless you wish to of course.

That's about all I have.

 

How exactly do I find the SPK3 back-up files in XP?

 

I don't run XP anymore, but this should be close. Open the Help file and enter

Code:

show hidden files

and then you will get a menu, click on 'view' and untick the two 'hide' boxes and OK out. Then use Treesize above to get there. They're there in one of the Windows folders. Just hunt around in there or use

Code:

$*

to find them.

 

Ed Bott: Beware of Bogus XP Advice

TechRepublic: Safely remove the Windows XP Service Pack 2 Uninstall files

NOTE:
Some references recommend removing the corresponding entries in the system Registry.
However, AFAIK, if you do that, you will not be able to later uninstall those updates, even if you have backup copies of
the required files.

Tech-Pro.Net: How To: Remove $NtUninstall folders

This article Does Not mention removing the registry entries.
ghacks.net: Is it safe to delete $NtUninstall files ?

NOTE:
I do not have a definitive answer as to which method is best.
Also, I do not know how a registry cleaner would treat those "orphaned" entries.
Specifically, since CCleaner is regarded as the only "Safe" registry cleaner, I don't know if it will "find" those entries
and attempt to remove them.

I hope someone more knowledgeable can shed some light on this.

To Make Hidden Files Visible in XP

Goto Control Panel, Tools on the top menu, then Folder Options
On the View tab, make the following adjustments.

Show hidden files and folders - ON
Hide extensions for known file types - OFF
Hide protected operating system files - OFF



Be Careful, as now you can DELETE those files and folders. :eek

 

Thanks for the advice guys. I guess I'll just be slowly removing those microsoft programs one or two a day. I already found out that Avast needs Microsoft visual C++ 2008 to run. Trial and error, here I come.

 

There is no mention of a Visual C++ requirement in the Avast 6 Free System Requirements

 

There are a couple of tools to gracefully remove hotfix updates, i.e. from the registry, too:

Windows XP Update Remover, which worked well for me
http://www.tech-pro.net/windows-update-remover.html

and Doug Knox's XP_Remove_Hotfix_Backup.exe
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_hotfix_backup.htm

A very decent discussion about removing update folders and files can be found at Page Start
http://www.pagestart.com/ntuninstall.html
http://www.pagestart.com/hfmigpart1.html

The gist is don't delete the "mig" folder, but you can get rid of some update.exe files inside, remove ntuninstalls in a graceful manner.

I did some of this recently to shorten the time of my security scans. Not having the convenient place to store elsewhere, I chose to remove the xp uninstals, excluding the last 3 months worth. Additionally, I deleted the corresponding update.exe from the "mig" subfolder. For the time being, I left the IE and Service Pack folders alone.

Its doubtful, I will ever uninstall anything. If an update doesn't fail after 3 months of my use, the uninstall will go. If the unexpected ever happens, it will then be Win7 upgrade time.

Good Luck:wave

 

When I uninstalled Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 redistributable, my Avast icon disappeared and I couldn't do a manual file scan. (Although windows security alerts said virus protection was on) I reinstalled Avast and Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 redistributable was back on my add/remove program list.

 

Thanks! That's some good info. I think I've gotten xp pretty much back down to fighting weight. Amazing how much junk you can accumulate over time if you're not paying attention. :-o