Cleaning up the Clutter
by Robert Bolanos
Creswell - Many of us who own a home with an attic or garage know very well over time that, despite our best intentions and weekend dump runs or garage sales, we gather more and more clutter and odds and ends in the corners. Many things we forget we ever had or some we even think we have already disposed of. Our computer hard drive is the same way. We gather more and more clutter with each web page visited, each program installed or upgraded, every download completed and every file opened.
Much like a cluttered garage may slow down your search for that box of summer clothes, a cluttered hard drive can also slow down your computer access to programs and resources. Running Scandisk on a regular basis and using Add/Remove Programs to uninstall unused programs can give you more space on your drive and give you some performance gain, but neither is a one-stop solution.
Instead, use the Windows XP Cleanup utility to more easily and conveniently manage your hard drive clean up and organization. The Disk Cleanup utility helps you free up space on your hard disk by searching your disk for files that you can safely delete. You can choose to delete some or all of the files. Use Disk Cleanup to perform any of the following tasks to free up space on your hard disk:
• Remove temporary Internet files.
• Remove downloaded program files. For example, ActiveX controls and Java applets that are downloaded from the Internet.
• Empty the Recycle Bin.
• Remove Windows temporary files.
• Remove optional Windows components that you are not using.
• Remove installed programs that you no longer use.
There are a couple of ways to start the Disk Cleanup utility. You can click on Start, go to All Programs, then Accessories, System Tools and then click on Disk Cleanup. Another method for launching disk cleanup is to right click on the drive you want to clean up from within My Computer and click on Properties. Then click on the Disk Cleanup button in the middle of the window.
At this point you are looking at the same window, no matter which method you used to launch the utility. The utility automatically ran a scan of your hard drive to determine which files could be deleted from your computer and how much space you would gain by deleting them. A window now appears with the various file and locations that could be cleaned up and shows how much space they are taking up. You can safely keep or place a check box in all of these locations and click OK to run the clean up process. Depending on how much clutter the scan found, this step may take anywhere from about 15 seconds to several minutes, so be patient.
This process is more than sufficient in most instances, but for those who want to be more thorough you can do additional cleanup from the More Options tab. From here you can remove unused Windows components such as Fax Services or MSN Explorer and also launch Add/Remove Programs which can also be found in the Control Panel. To remove Windows components that you are not using from within the More Options tab, click the Cleanup button under the Windows Components heading. A window appears showing a list of all available Windows Components. Those already installed have a check box next to them. Simply click the check box to remove the selected component that you want to remove. A shaded check box next to a component indicates that only some of its subcomponents are installed. Simply click Details to view and remove subcomponents. Once you made your selections, simply click OK.
To remove programs that you no longer use, follow these steps while in the More Options tab, simply click the Clean Up button under the Installed Programs heading.
In the Currently installed programs list, click the program that you want to remove, and then click Remove (or Change/Remove). You may receive a prompt to confirm the removal of the program; click Yes. Repeat this step to remove other programs that you no longer use, and then click Close. You will then be returned to the main Disk Cleanup window. Click OK to launch the final cleanup. The system may prompt you to confirm you want to run the cleanup. After you click Yes, the utility will run and then close upon completion.
As I mentioned earlier, the first portion of this process is more than enough in most instances. You will not need to run the Installed Components cleanup utility on a regular basis and only if you have recently upgraded your version of Windows or have a brand new computer and want to remove some of the default installation clutter from the manufacturer. As for the Installed Programs cleanup, you can also launch that utility from the Control Panel and again only need to run it if you have unused programs you want to get rid of. Much like your garage or attic, a good cleaning is in order, even if only a couple of times a year.
Robert Bolanos
All Things Computing
PO Box 916
Creswell, OR 97426
541.556.7564
www.atcsite.com
by Robert Bolanos
Creswell - Many of us who own a home with an attic or garage know very well over time that, despite our best intentions and weekend dump runs or garage sales, we gather more and more clutter and odds and ends in the corners. Many things we forget we ever had or some we even think we have already disposed of. Our computer hard drive is the same way. We gather more and more clutter with each web page visited, each program installed or upgraded, every download completed and every file opened.
Much like a cluttered garage may slow down your search for that box of summer clothes, a cluttered hard drive can also slow down your computer access to programs and resources. Running Scandisk on a regular basis and using Add/Remove Programs to uninstall unused programs can give you more space on your drive and give you some performance gain, but neither is a one-stop solution.
Instead, use the Windows XP Cleanup utility to more easily and conveniently manage your hard drive clean up and organization. The Disk Cleanup utility helps you free up space on your hard disk by searching your disk for files that you can safely delete. You can choose to delete some or all of the files. Use Disk Cleanup to perform any of the following tasks to free up space on your hard disk:
• Remove temporary Internet files.
• Remove downloaded program files. For example, ActiveX controls and Java applets that are downloaded from the Internet.
• Empty the Recycle Bin.
• Remove Windows temporary files.
• Remove optional Windows components that you are not using.
• Remove installed programs that you no longer use.
There are a couple of ways to start the Disk Cleanup utility. You can click on Start, go to All Programs, then Accessories, System Tools and then click on Disk Cleanup. Another method for launching disk cleanup is to right click on the drive you want to clean up from within My Computer and click on Properties. Then click on the Disk Cleanup button in the middle of the window.
At this point you are looking at the same window, no matter which method you used to launch the utility. The utility automatically ran a scan of your hard drive to determine which files could be deleted from your computer and how much space you would gain by deleting them. A window now appears with the various file and locations that could be cleaned up and shows how much space they are taking up. You can safely keep or place a check box in all of these locations and click OK to run the clean up process. Depending on how much clutter the scan found, this step may take anywhere from about 15 seconds to several minutes, so be patient.
This process is more than sufficient in most instances, but for those who want to be more thorough you can do additional cleanup from the More Options tab. From here you can remove unused Windows components such as Fax Services or MSN Explorer and also launch Add/Remove Programs which can also be found in the Control Panel. To remove Windows components that you are not using from within the More Options tab, click the Cleanup button under the Windows Components heading. A window appears showing a list of all available Windows Components. Those already installed have a check box next to them. Simply click the check box to remove the selected component that you want to remove. A shaded check box next to a component indicates that only some of its subcomponents are installed. Simply click Details to view and remove subcomponents. Once you made your selections, simply click OK.
To remove programs that you no longer use, follow these steps while in the More Options tab, simply click the Clean Up button under the Installed Programs heading.
In the Currently installed programs list, click the program that you want to remove, and then click Remove (or Change/Remove). You may receive a prompt to confirm the removal of the program; click Yes. Repeat this step to remove other programs that you no longer use, and then click Close. You will then be returned to the main Disk Cleanup window. Click OK to launch the final cleanup. The system may prompt you to confirm you want to run the cleanup. After you click Yes, the utility will run and then close upon completion.
As I mentioned earlier, the first portion of this process is more than enough in most instances. You will not need to run the Installed Components cleanup utility on a regular basis and only if you have recently upgraded your version of Windows or have a brand new computer and want to remove some of the default installation clutter from the manufacturer. As for the Installed Programs cleanup, you can also launch that utility from the Control Panel and again only need to run it if you have unused programs you want to get rid of. Much like your garage or attic, a good cleaning is in order, even if only a couple of times a year.
Robert Bolanos
All Things Computing
PO Box 916
Creswell, OR 97426
541.556.7564
www.atcsite.com