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04-26-2004, 03:08 PM
Finally someone made a Safe list of things deletable
There are a lot of "junk" you can delete in windows folder if you do not need them.
Tour Files
The folder "C:\Windows\Help\Tours" contain the Windows XP tour and maybe even Windows Media
Player. Those files are not needed for normal operations. Delete the entire contents of the
folder. The only side effect that I know is that you won't be able to "have a tour".
Downloaded Installations
The folder "c:\Windows\Downloaded Installations" contains *.msi files that are unneeded
(from my point of view). Usually if you install powertoys for XP, there will be installation
packages saved in the folder.
Document Templates
The files in "C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Templates" can be safely deleted if you do
not need the document templates. Templates are also found in "C:\Windows\ShellNew" and
"C:\Documents and Settings\UserName\Templates". Use TweakUI for XP to delete the items found
in the "New" submenu when you right click on the desktop. This may speed up the showing of
the submenu.
Search assistants
Search assistants ( animated characters which show up during a search ) are found in
"C:\Windows\srchasst\chars\". Delete the *.ACS files if you do not want them. Can also be
found in "C:\WINDOWS\msagent\chars". I would recommend leaving at least one character
undeleted.
Unused Screen Savers
Delete the *.SCR files in C:\Windows\System32 that you do not want.
The following is the list of default screen savers.
logon.scr
ss3dfo.scr
ssbezier.scr
ssflwbox.scr
ssmarque.scr
ssmypics.scr
sspipes.scr
ssstars.scr
sstext3d.scr
ssmyst.scr
Cursors
Delete unused cursors in C:\Windows\Cursors
Start RegEdit and go to the key
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Control Panel\Cursors\Schemes
. From there, you can delete the schemes that you do not want. Values such as "3D White" and
"3D Bronze" can be safely deleted. The cursor files used in the schemes are stored in the
values. Find out the cursor files and wipe them out. I would recommend leaving "Windows
Default" alone though.
Wallpapers and User Accounts Pictures
Picture files are huge and you can safely remove them when not needed.
The wallpapers are found in the following folders:
"C:\WINDOWS\Web\Wallpaper"
"C:\Windows\" .BMP files
User Accounts Pictures:
"C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\User Account
Pictures\Default Pictures"
Misc Log Files
The following log files can be safely removed:
"C:\Windows\Windows Update.log"
"C:\Windows\imsins.log" (Outlook express log???)
"C:\Windows\imsins.log.bak"
Log Files are also generated when you install updates from windows updates site.
The files KB??????.log and Q??????.log (each ? means a digit) in windows directory can be
deleted though I do not know the possible consequences. Maybe uninstallation of updates are
not possible as a result of deleting. I have deleted the files long ago and no problems so
far.
*.WAV files in C:\Windows\Media can be "compressed", by using sound recorder in accessories
and re-saving the sound files in lower quality. Experiment with the various formats.
I would recommend changing the format to 22.050 kHz, 8 bit Stereo. You can cut down a WAV
file size by half. This will at most save about 1 MB of disk space.
You can use "Sound and Audio Devices" control panel applet to delete event sounds.
Source - http://www.tweakxp.com/display.aspx?id=2121
Need More Space? See this but with Caution - http://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=80511
There are a lot of "junk" you can delete in windows folder if you do not need them.
Tour Files
The folder "C:\Windows\Help\Tours" contain the Windows XP tour and maybe even Windows Media
Player. Those files are not needed for normal operations. Delete the entire contents of the
folder. The only side effect that I know is that you won't be able to "have a tour".
Downloaded Installations
The folder "c:\Windows\Downloaded Installations" contains *.msi files that are unneeded
(from my point of view). Usually if you install powertoys for XP, there will be installation
packages saved in the folder.
Document Templates
The files in "C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Templates" can be safely deleted if you do
not need the document templates. Templates are also found in "C:\Windows\ShellNew" and
"C:\Documents and Settings\UserName\Templates". Use TweakUI for XP to delete the items found
in the "New" submenu when you right click on the desktop. This may speed up the showing of
the submenu.
Search assistants
Search assistants ( animated characters which show up during a search ) are found in
"C:\Windows\srchasst\chars\". Delete the *.ACS files if you do not want them. Can also be
found in "C:\WINDOWS\msagent\chars". I would recommend leaving at least one character
undeleted.
Unused Screen Savers
Delete the *.SCR files in C:\Windows\System32 that you do not want.
The following is the list of default screen savers.
logon.scr
ss3dfo.scr
ssbezier.scr
ssflwbox.scr
ssmarque.scr
ssmypics.scr
sspipes.scr
ssstars.scr
sstext3d.scr
ssmyst.scr
Cursors
Delete unused cursors in C:\Windows\Cursors
Start RegEdit and go to the key
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Control Panel\Cursors\Schemes
. From there, you can delete the schemes that you do not want. Values such as "3D White" and
"3D Bronze" can be safely deleted. The cursor files used in the schemes are stored in the
values. Find out the cursor files and wipe them out. I would recommend leaving "Windows
Default" alone though.
Wallpapers and User Accounts Pictures
Picture files are huge and you can safely remove them when not needed.
The wallpapers are found in the following folders:
"C:\WINDOWS\Web\Wallpaper"
"C:\Windows\" .BMP files
User Accounts Pictures:
"C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\User Account
Pictures\Default Pictures"
Misc Log Files
The following log files can be safely removed:
"C:\Windows\Windows Update.log"
"C:\Windows\imsins.log" (Outlook express log???)
"C:\Windows\imsins.log.bak"
Log Files are also generated when you install updates from windows updates site.
The files KB??????.log and Q??????.log (each ? means a digit) in windows directory can be
deleted though I do not know the possible consequences. Maybe uninstallation of updates are
not possible as a result of deleting. I have deleted the files long ago and no problems so
far.
*.WAV files in C:\Windows\Media can be "compressed", by using sound recorder in accessories
and re-saving the sound files in lower quality. Experiment with the various formats.
I would recommend changing the format to 22.050 kHz, 8 bit Stereo. You can cut down a WAV
file size by half. This will at most save about 1 MB of disk space.
You can use "Sound and Audio Devices" control panel applet to delete event sounds.
Source - http://www.tweakxp.com/display.aspx?id=2121
Need More Space? See this but with Caution - http://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=80511