Disk clean up

[fleetwood]

Hi all, thought I would give my daughters computer a spring clean (xp) however the program disk clean up seems to hang when it gets to scanning compressed files. Have had a look for another program to do the same job, but not sure what to try. What would you recommend that is, free,and easy to use . Thanks in advance

 

[Dickieboy]

It's not hanging it just takes a long time if it's the first time you've done it and the computer is a year or two old.

 

[Ash]

they can 'hang on' as you call it for quite some time while it calculates what needs to be cleaned from the computer.ie old internet files/compressed files/
recycle bin etc.
it might also be a good thing to de fragment the computer it's in system tools.
it puts all the moved files back in the right place[i believe].
the more internet use the more often these things need doing[i believe]

 

[fleetwood]

OK thanks for the advice will de frag and try again, fairly sure disk cleanup hasn't been run for about a year and the young lass is on the Internet (MSN) most nights

 

[ovenpaa]

Two nice ones to use are Diskeeper Lite - still available FOC if you look hard enough, like here:

http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=1207

This does what the m$ Defarg should do but properly, the alternative is defragging at command line - I have an application every bit as good as this if you want but you will need to have a vague understanding of DOS

Also Crap Cleaner works well for general tidying up:

http://www.ccleaner.com/

Both these are free and safe.

EDIT - If you go down this route run Ccleaner first then Diskeeper

 

[fleetwood]

started de frag at 12.30 and its still plodding on, only 47% done is this normal

 

[ovenpaa]

started de frag at 12.30 and its still plodding on, only 47% done is this normal

Not really Are you using the Microsoft defrag utility? If so it will only do a partial job anyway. Have you deleted the contents of the TEMP and %TEMP% folders, emptied the Recycler bin and dumped your Internet cache? These can all be got rid of an will vastly reduce the number of files to be Defragmented, also turn off your Anti Virus OAS (Real time or On access scanner) This will reduce the file I/O scanning and give a real speed up in defragging.

If you have not used the apps I listed above I would seriously consider stopping what you are doing and using them, it will save a huge amount of time and do a far better job.

EDIT - don't forget to start the AV again after you are finished, and if you have any concerns about background applications running disconnect from the Internet.

 

[fleetwood]

Not really Are you using the Microsoft defrag utility? If so it will only do a partial job anyway. Have you deleted the contents of the TEMP and %TEMP% folders, emptied the Recycler bin and dumped your Internet cache? These can all be got rid of an will vastly reduce the number of files to be Defragmented, also turn off your Anti Virus OAS (Real time or On access scanner) This will reduce the file I/O scanning and give a real speed up in defragging.

If you have not used the apps I listed above I would seriously consider stopping what you are doing and using them, it will save a huge amount of time and do a far better job.

EDIT - don't forget to start the AV again after you are finished, and if you have any concerns about background applications running disconnect from the Internet.

Ok have stopped the MS defrag its been stuck at 47% for the last hour,and will try your suggested apps thanks for the help with this

 

[fleetwood]

Ovenpaa ffs wish Id followed your advice earlier, thought it would be easier using the supplied MS tools everything now done and dusted, computer now running like a young un, de frag took about an hour and all the crap cleaned out cheers

 

[ovenpaa]

Good to hear it sorted it out, beware of the 'Fix issues' button or whatever it is called on Ccleaner- I am always wary of tools that tidy the registry for you. Also it is worth checking in Add/remove programs to see what is installed, it is very easy to install something, not use it but never remove it, getting rid of such things is always good practice when performing housekeeping on a PC.

 

[centaur]

I always select the 'fix issues' on C Cleaner, especially as it prompts you to backup b4 you do so....pretty near foolproof

 

[ovenpaa]

I always select the 'fix issues' on C Cleaner, especially as it prompts you to backup b4 you do so....pretty near foolproof

Yes it is pretty near foolproof and I have used it out of curiosity however I remember the good old days of building a 95 box, getting it spot on and then running a reg cleaner to remove 'orphaned entries' - Oh well, only 8 hours of my life lost....

Those days I was rebuilding my box every 3 months anyway, these days I cannot be doing with the hassle (Probably why this machine still runs Suse 9.3)

 

[centaur]

Yes it is pretty near foolproof and I have used it out of curiosity however I remember the good old days of building a 95 box, getting it spot on and then running a reg cleaner to remove 'orphaned entries' - Oh well, only 8 hours of my life lost....

Those days I was rebuilding my box every 3 months anyway, these days I cannot be doing with the hassle (Probably why this machine still runs Suse 9.3)

I remember those days too, weren't they fun ?

 

[wildbeeste]

Two nice ones to use are Diskeeper Lite - still available FOC if you look hard enough, like here:

http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=1207

This does what the m$ Defarg should do but properly, the alternative is defragging at command line - I have an application every bit as good as this if you want but you will need to have a vague understanding of DOS

Also Crap Cleaner works well for general tidying up:

http://www.ccleaner.com/

Both these are free and safe.

EDIT - If you go down this route run Ccleaner first then Diskeeper

Thanks for these Ovenpaa I had forgotten about Ccleaner