Deleting unnecessary files...

[Northface22]

There are many self-help websites which extoll the virtues of deleting all of those .tmp .bak .dmp files, etc., in order to open up more space on one's C drive, and I do make a habit of manually removing these on a regular basis.

However, regarding .txt and .log files: apparently many of these can also be safely removed, however, the question is, WHICH ones?

I've just discovered that there are 40MB (!) of space taken up by drwtsn32.log (Dr. Watson error checking) which contains every error check log on my laptop since purchasing it three years ago! Needless to say, that's a lot of MB I can put to better use!

From what I've read elsewhere (but not yet in this forum), it would be safe to delete the aforementioned .log file since the logs therein are merely an accumulation of error data which I've either never forwarded to Microsoft for "analysis", or, if I did, I never to my knowledge received any feedback from them as to what action to take regarding those error messages.

I might mention that the only time I ever receive such "error messages" is after I've downloaded certain files via KaZaa Lite, the file won't play, and I'm forced to shut down the "My Shared Files" page--no big deal, since I'm adequately firewalled and spyware-proofed.

Apparently, I believe it is also possible to set up this error checking feature to automatically delete old error logs and keep only the most recent one in order to avoid such over-accumulation.

But, before I actually delete that particular drwtsn.log file or any others, perhaps you could fill me in (along with the rest of us cyber novices) as to WHAT log and txt files are safe to delete and which are not?

Dumb question: let's say I DO delete a log or txt file. Is it only the CONTENTS of the file that is deleted, or does the deletion include the FOLDER as well?
I logically assume that the folder itself must remain for any future accumulation of associated files.

Finally--as with .tmp file deletion--is it wise only to delete such log and txt files which are dated PRIOR to the current date, and what about such files in blue lettering that scroll down in my search bar. Why are they different?

[bookworm]

Have a look at this little programe for cleaning out clutter, make a System Restore point just in case http://www.ccleaner.com/
Hope this helps

[Northface22]

Originally Posted by bookworm

Have a look at this little programe for cleaning out clutter, make a System Restore point just in case http://www.ccleaner.com/
Hope this helps

Thanks for the suggestion. The ccleaner reviews I've read are very persuasive, too, so I'll look into it. :-)

[radspanner]

i use ccleaner all the time and have no problems with it at all....

[Northface22]

Originally Posted by bookworm

Have a look at this little programe for cleaning out clutter, make a System Restore point just in case http://www.ccleaner.com/
Hope this helps

I've been using ccleaner for a few days now and it works very well, although it doesn't remove the prefetch (.pf) files even though the box is checked for it to do so, nor does it remove any unncessary .log files.

I can only assume there's a good reason for this?

[morpheus53]

You could use a program like super cleaner , http://www.southbaypc.com/SuperCleaner/

to clean out all unneccasary files , including index.dat you could try
limewire ( P2P) instead of the virus ridden kazaa , quicker & more uptodate
http://www.limewire.com/english/content/home.shtml