SP2 Bloat and $....$ files

Okay - one more time...I've gotten rid of temp files, a bunch of extra non-essential files, etc. But I haven't figured out what to do about the $.....$ files yet.

Wisewiz told me:

I didn't PM him back because he's busy and I want to know this soon so...

Here's a pic: I've never deleted these.
Do I delete them?
Do I go in somewhere and "uninstall" them?
All or some of them?

These are all in C:Windows

 

You can't uninstall them, because that are in themselves uninstall information!

If everything is running okay, you don't need to uninstall any hotfixes etc.

... then delete them.

 

I'm not sure that was as clear as goldfish intended it to be, pegg, so here's the bottom line:

YES. Select ALL of the $...$ files/folders and dump them.

The point is this, pegg: you only need those files/folders IF something is wrong with the way your machine is working AFTER an UPGRADE/PATCH/HOTFIX. If you're happy with the way your machine is working, you don't need to UNINSTALL anything, and the only thing those files/folders do is make it possible for you to UNinstall what they recorded.

When I've done a couple of days of normal computing after any hotfix/upgrade, and all's well, I dump the danged things. I've got tons and tons and tons of space on my drives, but even so, ...

Nothing I have on them is useless trash, and I make sure of that. Nothing.

But I learned computing in an era in which we had no hard drives (or, later, hard drives that wouldn't hold a text editor today), and I got into what I think is a really good habit: I clean my browser caches, empty my Temp folder, and inspect and selectively weed my cookies at least once every day. And there's NEVER anything in my Recycle Bin for more than about two minutes.

That's compulsive, by some people's standards. By my standards, it's damned good computing, and my computers love the freedom from trash.

 

It's like magic - you must have heard me talking about you, Wisewiz.

Thanks goldfish and Wisewiz -- now it's CLEAR as can be.