Deleting Files

When can I, or when should I, delete outdated program files. I am running AOL 8.0, but still have AOL 4,5,6, & 7 on my HD. I also still have Netscape 6 after having upgraded to Netscape 7. The same is true with AD aware, I started with version 5 and upgraded to 5.83 and recently downloaded version 6.
Is there some rule of thumb for when to keep and when to delete? THANKS IN ADVANCE FOR ANY HELP.

 

Hello and Welcome to Major Geeks!!

Your decision is pretty much a personal preference. It's up to you really.

for me, once there is a newer version, I uninstall the old one and install the new one. But I keep the setup files for the older one incase I want to go back to it. I generally don't keep software older than 1 generation. So if version 9 of something came out, I would only keep version 8 and delete anything prior to that along with the setup files.

How's AOL8 working for you by the way?

 

Set Up Files

Hello Kudo and Thanks for the response. Why would I want to keep the set up files, how can I go back to an older version of a program if I have deleted the application program?
On the AOL question, I am (I think) like a lot of AOL users, it is what I started with (7 years ago) and I have just never gotten mad enough to hit the uninstall button. I have never been able to decide whether my problems are caused by a bad file in AOL corrupting Windows or if a bad file in Windows is corrupting AOL.

 

what do you use aol for? For surfing the net minimize aol and use ie. I use aol only because it is free and find anything run within it is slower than what I suggested. Also, I would delete all previous versions of aol as I have friends that have run into problems, i haven't, keeping a couple of active versions around.

 

you might also want to get a regcleaner of some description (avaiable at this site.. http://www.majorgeeks.com/showfiles.php?cat=15 ) to get rid of old applications dead registry entries.

 

Little disturbing with so many registry cleaners and no recommendation (Poor guy who had to try them all to find the one to like). Maybe time for majorgeeks to provide some grade system so we can vote and maybe even give some comments, and not just "popularity".
Also funny when using popularity then Microsoft registry cleaner is on the top, and it is known for ruining the registry for the newer office applications (Not saying that the rest of the registry cleaners are free from bugs)

 

I prefer to use JV16 powertools' registry cleaner.
http://www.majorgeeks.com/article.php?sid=462

 

I second that motion!