The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Unused DLL's

    Discussion in 'Security and Anti-Virus Software' started by BNHabs, Oct 18, 2008.

  1. BNHabs

    BNHabs Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    74
    Messages:
    1,009
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    What does deleting them do, does it affect anything? Should I use CCLEANER to do it?
     
    BNHabs, Oct 18, 2008
    #1
  2. Charr

    Charr Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    415
    Messages:
    1,564
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    I wouldn't get rid of them, because if you do, and install a program down the line that calls a function in the deleted library, it is going to not work.
     
    Charr, Oct 18, 2008
    #2
  3. Shyster1

    Shyster1 Notebook Nobel Laureate

    Reputations:
    6,926
    Messages:
    8,178
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    205
    Well, if they're truly unused, then deleting them shouldn't, logically, cause any problems. The rub, however, is making sure that they're really unused, including that they won't need to be used in the future. Unless you're really, really hurting for disk space, and cannot delete anything else or upgrade the hdd, I'd tread very carefully here.
     
    Shyster1, Oct 20, 2008
    #3
  4. BNHabs

    BNHabs Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    74
    Messages:
    1,009
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    Well I deleted them and I have no issues what so ever. IS this fine now?
     
    BNHabs, Oct 20, 2008
    #4
  5. entropy.cz

    entropy.cz Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    110
    Messages:
    386
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    ...that is the answer. If they won't need to be used in the future, then you are fine. Hard to say without a crystal globe :cool:
     
    entropy.cz, Oct 20, 2008
    #5
  6. Shyster1

    Shyster1 Notebook Nobel Laureate

    Reputations:
    6,926
    Messages:
    8,178
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    205
    Only time (and a possible BSOD or other error) will tell. :eek:
     
    Shyster1, Oct 21, 2008
    #6
  7. entropy.cz

    entropy.cz Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    110
    Messages:
    386
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    LenovoT61B... OK, without irony now: things like "deleting unused DLLs" aren't the kind of stuff which should be done by someone who is not absolutely sure about what he's doing. there's one simple rule: when messing with the computer, if you don't know if it's safe to do something, *don't* do that.

    the way "ok, i'll try that and will see what it does" is definitely interesting and one can learn something, but sometimes (and the chance is quite big if you don't know what you're doing) you can learn that something was a pretty bad idea, ending up with reinstalling whole system.

    but if you're fine with that... do what you please. :) i remember myself deleting registry entries manually... without knowing yet what exactly it is, but i needed to get rid of some trojan (and then finally installed a proper antivirus & firewall). well, the system survived somehow...
     
    entropy.cz, Oct 21, 2008
    #7
  8. BNHabs

    BNHabs Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    74
    Messages:
    1,009
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    CCleaner knows what it doing... In any case it backs my registry up for me. never had an issue.
     
    BNHabs, Oct 21, 2008
    #8
  9. Shyster1

    Shyster1 Notebook Nobel Laureate

    Reputations:
    6,926
    Messages:
    8,178
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    205
    Actually, I just had a thought - to the OP, are you sure those "unused" dlls are still deleted? I seem to vaguely recall that the WinOSes have a dll cache that's used to keep uncorrupted (supposedly) copies of dlls so that if the system detects a change to the copy that's in use, it just replaces it - seems to me that deleting the dll might provoke the same response.
     
    Shyster1, Oct 21, 2008
    #9
  10. BNHabs

    BNHabs Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    74
    Messages:
    1,009
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    OOPS. It deleted "Missing Shared DLL's" and "Unused File Extensions". Is this fine?
     
    BNHabs, Oct 21, 2008
    #10
  11. Shyster1

    Shyster1 Notebook Nobel Laureate

    Reputations:
    6,926
    Messages:
    8,178
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    205
    I dunno, you tell me; is the computer still working?
     
    Shyster1, Oct 22, 2008
    #11