tidying up after failed sp2 update

I recently tried to download and install SP2 which failed half way through
the install and I had to recover to SP1.
I then tried again and although this time the install completed, my windows
XP pro system was left unstable so I used the 'add or remove programmes'
option to once more revert to SP1 where I shall now stay.
Everything seems to work OK but my drive is now full of SP2 files, I think I
can recognise many of these in the windows 'download' directory but am not
sure.
They take up an enormous amount of space and have left the partition in
which I have my operating system too full to defrag.
How can I safely identify and delete these files?

Cheers.

Reg

How large is the drive / partition where windows is installed and how
much free space is there? Is it formatted as FAT32 or NTFS?

Have you run Disk Cleanup with the box checked to remove Temporary files
checked followed by Disk Defragmenter.

--


Hope this helps.

Gerry
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"Reg" wrote in message
...
I recently tried to download and install SP2 which failed half way
through
the install and I had to recover to SP1.
I then tried again and although this time the install completed, my
windows
XP pro system was left unstable so I used the 'add or remove
programmes'
option to once more revert to SP1 where I shall now stay.
Everything seems to work OK but my drive is now full of SP2 files, I
think I
can recognise many of these in the windows 'download' directory but am
not
sure.
They take up an enormous amount of space and have left the partition
in
which I have my operating system too full to defrag.
How can I safely identify and delete these files?

Cheers.

Hi Gerry,

My Windows OS partition is 5.85GB and only 759 MB is left free.

I only have the operating system and a few other programmes associated with
it like WinRAR compression, mouse software etc, everything else is in other
partitions.

It is NTFS formatted.

I have run the disk cleanup and defrag tools but disk cleanup is limited in
what it looks for and wont be able to look in my windows system folders for
unwanted and un-needed 'wreckage' from an unsuccessful installation of the
sp2 update.

I was hoping that there might be a list of all the files typically left
behind that I could safely, manually delete.

When I do a windows directory file search using 'sp2' as a key word, I get a
mass of files and folders mostly in Windows/software Distribution/download/
directory which I assume are unnecessarily filling up my drive, there is for
example a sp2.cab file and dozens of sp2 folders like sp2GDR, QFE etc etc

I have a second PC with almost identical set up but which wasn't subjected
to an attempted sp2 installation and that only takes up 3.85 GB of space
leaving 2GB free, so I guess there must be nearly 1.5GB of 'rubbish' on the
other PC.

Interestingly, a comparative search on the 2nd PC shows many 'sp2' folders
in a similar software distribution folder (even though sp2 has never been
installed) but not the dozens of sp2 folders in windows directory's with
names like $hf_mig$lkb901214 and not a SP2.cab.

Is there anyway that I can safely use the directory and file set up on the
unaffected second PC to identify un-needed files on the other ?

Is there any service or software that can identify non essential files in
the operating system directory that can be deleted ?

Thanks

Reg

Reg

You should be able to get Windows SP2 into a 5.85 gb partition. My
partition is 5.61 gb with 1.43 gb free space.

Here are some suggestions on how you might achieve this objective.

To investigate how you are using hard disk space you need to make sure
that you can see all files. Go to Start, Control Panel, Folder
Options, View, Advanced Settings and verify that the box before "Show
hidden files and folders" is checked and "Hide protected operating
system files " is unchecked. You may need to scroll down to see the
second item. You should also make certain that the box before "Hide
extensions for known file types" is not checked. Next in Windows
Explorer make sure View, Details is selected and then select View,
Choose Details and check before Name, Type, Total Size, and Free Space.

Download Dirsize.dll plug-in and place the file in Windows\System32
folder. Select Start, Run and type "regsvr32 dirsize.dll" without the
quotes and hit ENTER. Next in Windows Explorer open a folder and set it
to Detail view. From the View menu, click Choose Details. Put a
checkmark near Folder Size, and click OK. Use CTRL and + key ( Numeric
Keypad ) combination to resize the column width, so that the Folder Size
column is displayed correctly. To apply this setting for all the
folders, click Tools, Folder Options. In the View tab and click Apply to
all folders. You can download Dirsize from:
http://markd.mvps.org/

If you are you using Norton Utilities say as Norton Protected Storage
can hide piles of junked files without the user realising it.

A System Restore default wastes disk space. The setting has not been not
modified since Windows XP was first marketed 5 / 6 years ago. You can
limit the disk space used by System Restore. Right click on the My
Computer icon on your Desktop and select, Properties, System Restore,
Settings. This will give you the amount of Disk Space allocated to
System Restore in terms of % of size of Drive and megabytes or
gigabytes. The default maximum is 12%. You can move the slider to the
left to reduce the size of the allocation. For your Windows partition I
suggest 10%. Once the allocated space is fully taken the oldest restore
point is removed when a new restore point is created ( or it should
be ). The saving is modest for your windows partition as partitioning
has reduced the impact of the default

System Restore only needs to monitor the Windows XP partitions on each
machine ( if any machine has another version of Windows installed e.g.
Windows98 you need to say so that I can check out the implications for
that operating system. If you have System Restore monitoring removable
drives they should not be monitored. All these non-windows partitions
will gain free space once monitoring is turned off

In the Windows Directory of your C partition you will have some
Uninstall folders in your Windows folder typically:
$NtServicePackUninstall$ and $NtUninstallKB282010$. These files may be
compressed or not compressed. If compressed the text of the folder name
appears in blue characters. If not compressed you can compress them.
Right click on folder and select Properties, General, Advanced and check
the box before Compress contents to save Disk Space. On the General Tab
you can see the amount gained by deducting the size on disk from the
size. Folder compression is only an option on a NTFS formatted drive /
partition.

If they do not turn blue Start, Control Panel, Folder Options, View tab
and you will see the Advanced Settings List below Folder View. Then
scroll down the list to it's end and you will see "Show Encrypted and
Compressed NTFS Files in Color" on the line above.

Create a My Documents folder in another partition and copy ( not move )
the contents of My Documents to your new folder. Then delete the files
( not the folder ) in your My Documents folder ( if you encounter
problems deleting use Shift + Delete to bypass the Recycle Bin ). You
will also need to change Default File locations in the Microsoft Office
programmes you use. For Word go to Tools, Options, File Locations,
highlight Documents, click on Modify and change file path. For Excel go
to Tools, Options, General and change default file path.

For Temporary Internet Files select Start, Control Panel, Internet
Options, Temporary Internet Files. Settings, Move Folder.

To move the Outlook Express Store Folder select in Outlook Express
Tools, Options, Maintenance, Store Folder, Change.
http://www.tomsterdam.com/insideoe/files/store.htm

For routine maintenance and after significant system changes try Start,
All Programmes, Accessories, System Tools, Disk CleanUp to Empty your
Recycle Bin and Remove Temporary Internet Files. If more than one
person is using the computer you need to do this for each User Profile.
Delete all but the most recent Restore Point ( Start, Programs,
Accessories, System Tools, Disk Cleanup, More options, System Restore,
OK and OK ). Run Disk Defragmenter by selecting Start, All Programs,
Accessories, System Tools, Disk Defragmenter.

I would forget about Windows XP SP2 remnants and check the position
after installing SP2. Get an SP2 disk if you do not have one. It is
easier to install off the CD than downloading off the internet.

Did you partition your hard drive or was it done for you? If you did it
what program / utility did you use?

--


Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FCA

Using invalid email address

Stourport, Worcs, England
Enquire, plan and execute.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please tell the newsgroup how any
suggested solution worked for you.

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


"Reg" wrote in message
...
Hi Gerry,

My Windows OS partition is 5.85GB and only 759 MB is left free.

I only have the operating system and a few other programmes associated
with
it like WinRAR compression, mouse software etc, everything else is in
other
partitions.

It is NTFS formatted.

I have run the disk cleanup and defrag tools but disk cleanup is
limited in
what it looks for and wont be able to look in my windows system
folders for
unwanted and un-needed 'wreckage' from an unsuccessful installation of
the
sp2 update.

I was hoping that there might be a list of all the files typically
left
behind that I could safely, manually delete.

When I do a windows directory file search using 'sp2' as a key word, I
get a
mass of files and folders mostly in Windows/software
Distribution/download/
directory which I assume are unnecessarily filling up my drive, there
is for
example a sp2.cab file and dozens of sp2 folders like sp2GDR, QFE etc
etc

I have a second PC with almost identical set up but which wasn't
subjected
to an attempted sp2 installation and that only takes up 3.85 GB of
space
leaving 2GB free, so I guess there must be nearly 1.5GB of 'rubbish'
on the
other PC.

Interestingly, a comparative search on the 2nd PC shows many 'sp2'
folders
in a similar software distribution folder (even though sp2 has never
been
installed) but not the dozens of sp2 folders in windows directory's
with
names like $hf_mig$lkb901214 and not a SP2.cab.

Is there anyway that I can safely use the directory and file set up on
the
unaffected second PC to identify un-needed files on the other ?

Is there any service or software that can identify non essential files
in
the operating system directory that can be deleted ?

Thanks

Reg

Hi Gerry,

First apologies for not responding before now to your excellent and generous
advice.
I didn’t see it until today.
I thought I had selected the ‘inform me of replies’ option but perhaps not.
To be honest, I got so frustrated with the unstable XP installation SP2
seemed to have left me with that I bit the bullet and did a complete rebuild,
so I have been off line for a couple of days and have just received your
reply to my original problem.

I was gratified to note that many of the things you advise I had already
done, reflecting the way I normally customise my system, so at least I seem
to have learnt something over the years!

When I rebuilt, I of course increased the size of my C partition (now a
healthy 10GB, it seems a lot now but I suppose we will probably laugh at it
in a couple of years time).

I have resigned myself to having to rebuild on a regular basis to keep
things moving smoothly, probably every year or so.

With that in mind, I kept careful and detailed notes as I rebuilt this time,
so next time should be a walk in the park ;0)

There are a couple of points you raised however that are still relevant.

Firstly it isn’t clear to me what the dirsize.dll does ? can you explain
please ?

Secondly, I formatted and partitioned originally using FDISK but this time I
used the XP installation CD programme.
I took the opportunity to delete one of the original partitions (to give its
space to my C drive) and replaced the lost drive with a second physical hard
drive, I note that my drives are now designated C, D, E then jump to the
second hard drive on G missing out F which was the now deleted partition, on
the old installation, ( my DVD drive is H) does this mean it is still hiding
somewhere using up resources, or is it a simply matter or physically renaming
G the F drive and if so how do I do that and why hasn’t my PC done it
automatically, will changing it affect automatically rename H ?

Thirdly, everything seems to wok nicely now, I learnt a couple of things:
[a] re-building using a previously installed broadband ADSL modem (which
seems to have all the settings saved internally) was blissfully simple in
contrast to the normal amazing battle to re-set a dial up connection!), I
just plugged it in and it worked !
[b] I was told that installing SP2 on a system that has been running XP
(sp1) for a while is not the same as installing on a freshly installed one
and that the former is full of bugs, my experience seems to support that view
for what its worth.

Finally; the only glitch seems to be a very slow moving Outlook Express, I
made a mistake trying to import my old e-mail data via Outlook (I thought
wrongly that it was the only way) I then uninstalled Outlook as I don’t
really like it, maybe that caused some problems, I am definitely not going to
rebuild again so soon, so is there a way of re-installing Outlook Express or
should I just live with it ?

Many thanks for your help.

Reg

P.S.
Further to my last post.
I have made 2 discoveries, the latter may be of help to someone else.
[a] the ‘uninstall windows components’ option in control panel only
uninstalls access to Outlook Express from the start menu not the program
itself (what a waste of time adding that option).
[b] There is a conflict between Outlook / Outlook Express and Norton Anti
Spam.
I have two PC’s both with Windows XP Pro, Outlook Express and Outlook. The
only difference is that PC 1 has now been upgraded with the SP2 pack and PC 1
has also used Outlook, albeit only once to transfer some files.
On PC1 I suddenly found that Outlook express was running in porridge,
everything took too long to open, directories of e-mail taking several
seconds to reveal their content and although the typing of mail showed no
sign of being slow, the delete key took several seconds to respond.

On PC 1 in Norton security Centre under [options] [Norton anti spam] [e
mail] [client integration] I found reference to both outlook and outlook
express and the option to integrate with outlooks address book was selected.
I tried all combinations of integration with either outlook or Outlook
express but only when I selected no integration with either did the problem
with my slow running Outlook express cure itself and it is now fine.

Note:
[1] uninstalling Outlook (which I don’t use anyway) had no effect.
[2] On PC 2 even though Norton antispam is integrated with outlook express
it suffers no slow down or any other problem.
[3] the only differences between the 2 PC’s a
[a] I have never actually used Outlook on PC2
[b] On PC2, Norton does not display the option to integrate with Outlook so
unlike on PC1 seems not to know that Outlook is there (connected to (a) above
?)
[c] PC2 has not yet had the SP2 upgrade (I don’t think this is relevant).

Hope this helps someone, sometime, somewhere.

Reg

I seem to be doing a pretty good job at answering my own questions here, so
for the benefit of anyone else who comes across this thread and who finds any
of it helpful, try this, I have just been to this page:
http://aumha.org/win5/a/sp2faq.php#after
and following the simple instructions in Alex Nichol's short article,
created an extra 1GB of space by deleting just two folders of extraneous data
on C drive.
Don't actually now need the space but if your a bit fussy about blowing away
all the cobwebs its a nice feeling.

Reg