What can I delete under the "Wiindows" folder on C:?

just got dell 1555.
my "Windows" Folder on C: has 21GB used up. What can i delete under there to free space?

 

Here's a suggestion I STRONGLY recommend: do NOT touch that folder.

 

21GB? How do you get this information?

Vista and Windows Explorer? This will possibly be wrong.

And basically - leave it as it is - period.

There may be some very, very specilized cases where people who know the intrinsicacies of a Windows OS may modify a file, but for nearly all computer users its best to leave it alone.

 

Use the disk cleanup wizard. That should be able to clean up a fair amount of disk space safely.

 

Does that clean up files in the Windows folder though?
Maybe one temp folder.

But else, true
Or CCleaner is another possibility.

 

I believe it'll clean up temporary install files and stuff like that. The main point is "If you have to ask, you shouldn't touch it". Playing in the Windows directory is a great way to make a system unbootable, even for "power users".

 

Very true

I agree on that

 

If you just got your computer from dell though, i would suggest a clean install of windows from a retail disk.

 

What Windows do you have ? There are a "illegal" copies that are "ripped". I recommend that you get rid of drivers, sounds, programs, DellBackup and get it cleaned by CCleaner

 

If you're confident that your install is fine and hardware drivers are not problematic you could disable the Restore & Recovery utility which will also free up considerable space.

 

Wouldn't it be easier to just ue disc cleaner (Windows Utility) to delete all but the last restore point in that case?

 

Probably the best thing to do is use Disk cleanup. Few people fully understand the dependencies involved with all the Windows files. And I wouldn't take anyone's word for it either. Not unless I feel like experimenting myself.

 

The major space-eater in your scenario is likely to be Volume Shadow Copy and/or Restore points.

You could disable volume shadow copy, but to be honest, (and not offensive, I hope), it doesn't sound like you know the area enough.

I'd recommend leaving it alone. How much space do you have? If it bothers you, get a Flash/External/Express (if you have an expresscard slot) Drive and store your documents etc on that.

 

As they said you can remove most of the restore points but I think you can delete the back up of the previous service pack by using the command line ''Compcln.exe'' (without the quotes) in the Run tool. This will remove the backup files of the previous service pack and they are kept in case something is going wrong with the service pack 2 in Vista. If you don't have any problems with service pack 2, you can safely use the command line and probably it will release a lot of GB from your Windows folder.

 

There is actully a lot of stuff you can delete in the windows folder.
But if you make a mistake, you need to use a windows installation disk to "repair" the OS.

I don't suggest deleting stuff in the folder, just compress all of your files and run "disk cleanup".

And uninstall any unused programs.

 

Have you looked first at other folders and/or removing un-needed software to free some space?

There is not of a whole lot you can do with the Windows folder; and concurring with many posters above, I would not touch this folder with a 10-foot pole, expert or not.

This comp comes with 250gb drive minimum, running out of space so soon?

cheers ...

 

i agree with the others dont touch that folder . run dishcleanup etc like they have suggested to u but if u want more space that what that can give u then install a bigger harddrive

 

Delete the following safely (you may or not find all of them):

1) c:\MSOCASH [this is the Microsoft Office installation temporary folder, after you have installed all options then you don't need it, i never had a problem with it since I always choose the RUN ALL FROM DISK option]

2) c:\users\your user name\app data\local settings\temp [delete everything in there]

3) c:\Windows\Software Distribution\Download [delete everything there, this is just the temporary location for windows updates to be downloaded, after the updates are installed, windows forgets to delete them, also 100% safe to delete!]

 

Probably winsxs ^^.. cant do nothing about it

 

... 1) the MSOffice Cache is best left alone - simply because in case you would like to change features that's where you look.
I suggest the OP searches a bit on NBR on what exactly it does.
I suggest that "things like these" are only suggested with a comment on what the side effects are.

2) Temp file - personally, can't name a problem like that, but that should be cleaned by disccleaner/CCleaner anyway - with less chance of the user breaking something.

3) This should be cleaned by disccleaner/CCleaner - and one definitely does as I only have the most recent updates in it.
Again, less chance of something going wrong.

winsxs should be left as it is - period.
Especially since the reported size by Vista is wrong and its a pretty essential part of the OS.

 

Do we REALLY have to go through this again? It is NOT safe to just delete the directory. It is safe to delete it through diskcleanup so that Office knows that the cache no longer exists and then IF AND ONLY IF you have an office installation CD. We have discussed this before. Every time, you ignore the warning that giving this advice can be harmful for folks when a service pack comes out. Every time, one of us has to correct your erroneous "information". Why can't you just tell folks the proper way to do this and the warning about making sure they have the installation CD, before they attempt this?

Here is just one of those warnings with links to the REAL information from Microsoft. http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=2968040&postcount=29

Gary

 

I can't see any inexperience person deleting enough of the right files from the windows folder to make any huge difference in space. Windows folder & it's sub folders are mostly tons of small sized files. If you try to manually delete every single one you don't need(which is basically killing yourself for no reason) it's more than likely you will make a mistake and delete a wrong file.

Best to just listen to other posters and leave the Windows folder alone.

 

I've learned my lesson before.. don't fool around with the Windows directory. How big a drive do you have? Do you really need more drive space? I don't mess with Office either because one of these days if my system crashes while working at least it may recover my last work... and this also includes restore points.

 

Thats what i said.