Windows XP [Electronic resources] : Visual Quickstart Guide, Second Edition نسخه متنی

Cleaning up a Disk

Over time, your hard disk will accumulate temporary files, stale components, recycled junk, and space-wasters that you can remove safely. Use Disk Cleanup to reclaim disk space if you're running out of room.

To remove unneeded files:

1. Choose Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Cleanup; select a drive (if you have more than one); then click OK.

or

Right-click a drive icon in My Computer; then choose Properties > General tab > Disk Cleanup.

or

Choose Start > Run; type cleanmgr and press Enter; select a drive; then click OK.

2. In the Disk Cleanup dialog box, check the boxes of the files that you want to delete (Figure 19.17 ).

The right column shows how much space you can make available. The text below the list box describes the selected option.

3. Click OK.

Tips

The More Options tab contains three other cleanup tools that let you remove optional Windows components, installed programs, and all but your most recent System Restore restore point.

Avoid deleting Downloaded Program Files, which often are useful add-ons.

The Temporary Files option deletes only temporary files more than one week old, so the right column may show 0 KB even if your temporary folder contains many files. To clean out this folder manually, close all programs; choose Start > Run; type %temp% and press Enter; then delete the files in the folder window that appears.

A few other disk cleaners: Empty Temp Folders (free; www.danish-shareware.dk/soft/emptemp) and DLL Archive (free; www.analogx.com/contents/download/system/dllarch).