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#1
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O.T. Computer Cleaning Maintenance:
I have a Dell XPS 8500, with Windows 7 Professional, SP1,
with Spywareblaster, SuperAntispyware, Avast, Malwarebytes, Malwarebyte AntiExploit, Windows Defender and Windows firewall. . (1) TB HD Intel (R) Core (TM) i7-33-3770 CPU @ 3.40 GHz 3.40 GHz Ram 12.0 GB System type : 64-bit operating system I also have I have a Dell Dimension 8200 with XP, SP3, with Spywareblaster, SuperAntispyware, Avast, Malwarebytes, Windows Defender and Windows firewall. Seagate Barracuda 7200 160 Gb HD Intel (R) Pentium (R) 4 CPU 1.80 GHz Ram 1.79 GHz, 1.00 GB of RAM System type : 32-bit operating system and a Seagate Backup Plus 1TB 2.5" USB 3.0 external HD (for both computers) I've noticed I've used allot of my HD on the 8500 (317 GB) and while that still leaves 589 GB free it still concerns me. Whereas on the 8200 I have 27.6 Used and 100GB free. (its main purpose is a backup to the 8500) I've run disk cleaner and defragmenter on both computers and have been thinking of going through and deleting unnecessary files/folders but would CcCleaner but good to use also for deleting unwanted programs and files? I have no idea about the settings though? Any other advice would be appreciated. I realize that at some point I'll need to invest in an external HD to transfer/store files to keep the 8500 as clean as possible. Thanks Robert |
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#2
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O.T. Computer Cleaning Maintenance:
In passing, some of you may have noticed
that I put a 160GB HD and then lower down I noted its usage as 27.6 Used and 100GB free, giving a total of 127GB. A tech friend explained that when the 8200 was built they didn't envision 160GB hard drives then so when I upgraded it with the Seagate 160GB HD it truncated it to 127GB. That's how he explained it to me. Robert |
#3
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O.T. Computer Cleaning Maintenance:
Mark Twain wrote:
I have a Dell XPS 8500, with Windows 7 Professional, SP1, with Spywareblaster, SuperAntispyware, Avast, Malwarebytes, Malwarebyte AntiExploit, Windows Defender and Windows firewall. . (1) TB HD Intel (R) Core (TM) i7-33-3770 CPU @ 3.40 GHz 3.40 GHz Ram 12.0 GB System type : 64-bit operating system I also have I have a Dell Dimension 8200 with XP, SP3, with Spywareblaster, SuperAntispyware, Avast, Malwarebytes, Windows Defender and Windows firewall. Seagate Barracuda 7200 160 Gb HD Intel (R) Pentium (R) 4 CPU 1.80 GHz Ram 1.79 GHz, 1.00 GB of RAM System type : 32-bit operating system and a Seagate Backup Plus 1TB 2.5" USB 3.0 external HD (for both computers) I've noticed I've used allot of my HD on the 8500 (317 GB) and while that still leaves 589 GB free it still concerns me. Whereas on the 8200 I have 27.6 Used and 100GB free. (its main purpose is a backup to the 8500) I've run disk cleaner and defragmenter on both computers and have been thinking of going through and deleting unnecessary files/folders but would CcCleaner but good to use also for deleting unwanted programs and files? I have no idea about the settings though? Any other advice would be appreciated. I realize that at some point I'll need to invest in an external HD to transfer/store files to keep the 8500 as clean as possible. Thanks Robert You can use WinDirStat to visually identify large files. If you click on them, you can get "Properties". This is the download site. http://www.fosshub.com/WinDirStat.html The download page looks like this. You have to scroll down a bit to see the actual project data. The Download link is just that four word phrase, and isn't in a larger font or anything. WinDirStat This software runs on Microsoft Windows XP Vista 7 and 8 Download WinDirStat Windows Installer - 630.59 KB | version: 1.1.2 | Screenshot | MD5/SHA1 -------- I cannot directly link to the file, which is why I have to draw you a little picture. There is an advertisement right underneath the Download link. They don't allow direct linking, so you'll have to look at the advertisement underneath the Download link. windirstat1_1_2_setup.exe 645,729 bytes MD5sum = 3abf1c149873e25d4e266225fbf37cbf SHA1sum = 6fa92dd2ca691c11dfbfc0a239e34369897a7fab The information site is here. And basically this is just another version of SequoiaView (a university project). http://windirstat.info/ If there are any obviously big files, the size of the colored rectangle will stand out. And the lines of text above the diagram, also give a strong hint as to what is eating the space. Paul |
#4
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O.T. Computer Cleaning Maintenance:
Mark Twain wrote:
In passing, some of you may have noticed that I put a 160GB HD and then lower down I noted its usage as 27.6 Used and 100GB free, giving a total of 127GB. A tech friend explained that when the 8200 was built they didn't envision 160GB hard drives then so when I upgraded it with the Seagate 160GB HD it truncated it to 127GB. That's how he explained it to me. Robert The OS did the truncation for safety. The hardware might not have provided any advice at the time. You can get some information from this archived article. http://web.archive.org/web/200701210...c/tp/137gb.pdf At the time, this KB article was referenced, but the originally written article wasn't all that good. The current version is a bit better, but still leaves a lot to the imagination. The reason for setting this registry setting, is to give the OS permission to make partitions outside the allowed space. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/303013 What's interesting about the problem, is that not all disk interface types are affected. You'll notice that your 1TB USB drive didn't break, and it doesn't have that issue. If the 8200 had a SCSI interface (my first computer had one of those), that's a different cabling standard than IDE, and it is also transparent to the issue. The SCSI standard kept evolving to support larger and larger CDB (command/data block formats). What I can tell you, is the "127GB" state your 160GB drive is in right now, is "perfectly safe". No harm can come to you. If you attempted to harvest the extra space on the disk (and I think it *is* possible to do it), you have to be careful to never put WinXP Gold ancient OS version back on the thing as your C:. As then the extended disk can become corrupted. I ran a Win2K box that way for about a year. I ran the box in "dangerous" mode, and every time I did something OS related, fooled around with disk partitioning, I had to carefully review the rules for dealing with that issue. And I managed to get through a year of that, without breaking anything :-) You have sufficient materials on hand, to do all the necessary experiments (safely). Why ? Because you have your backup drive, your Macrium boot CD, and you can keep a copy of the 8200 hard drive, safely tucked away for emergencies. So you can attempt to do all the necessary work, to get a few more GB of space. I only recommend this if you're bored, and need a project :-) Paul |
#6
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O.T. Computer Cleaning Maintenance:
You might try deleting the temp file. Do this by starting run and typing in
%temp% to get to the temp file. You can safely delete all of the temp files there. I would guess you have a lot of them. Mark Twain wrote: I have a Dell XPS 8500, with Windows 7 Professional, SP1, with Spywareblaster, SuperAntispyware, Avast, Malwarebytes, Malwarebyte AntiExploit, Windows Defender and Windows firewall. . (1) TB HD Intel (R) Core (TM) i7-33-3770 CPU @ 3.40 GHz 3.40 GHz Ram 12.0 GB System type : 64-bit operating system I also have I have a Dell Dimension 8200 with XP, SP3, with Spywareblaster, SuperAntispyware, Avast, Malwarebytes, Windows Defender and Windows firewall. Seagate Barracuda 7200 160 Gb HD Intel (R) Pentium (R) 4 CPU 1.80 GHz Ram 1.79 GHz, 1.00 GB of RAM System type : 32-bit operating system and a Seagate Backup Plus 1TB 2.5" USB 3.0 external HD (for both computers) I've noticed I've used allot of my HD on the 8500 (317 GB) and while that still leaves 589 GB free it still concerns me. Whereas on the 8200 I have 27.6 Used and 100GB free. (its main purpose is a backup to the 8500) I've run disk cleaner and defragmenter on both computers and have been thinking of going through and deleting unnecessary files/folders but would CcCleaner but good to use also for deleting unwanted programs and files? I have no idea about the settings though? Any other advice would be appreciated. I realize that at some point I'll need to invest in an external HD to transfer/store files to keep the 8500 as clean as possible. Thanks Robert |
#7
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O.T. Computer Cleaning Maintenance:
On Tue, 07 Jul 2015 13:38:49 -0500, Henry wrote:
You might try deleting the temp file. Do this by starting run and typing in %temp% to get to the temp file. Temp file? Do you mean temp *folder*? Please don't mix up files and folders; they are two different things. You can safely delete all of the temp files there. That's almost always true, but note that there are some program installations which work in two steps. The first step concludes by writing temporary files and rebooting. The second step starts automatically after rebooting and needs to find those files there (and then deletes them when it's done). Other than doing it automatically when rebooting (that would interfere with installations like the kind I described), it's always safe to delete the contents of the temp folder. Because it's safe to delete any temp files that aren't open and in use by an application, and since Windows won't let you delete open files, it's safe to (try to) delete them at any time. If any fail to delete because they're open, they'll either be deleted automatically when the app using them closes, or you'll get them the next time you delete manually. Some people may suggest that you reboot before deleting anything, but that's not necessary, for the reason described above (on the other hand, it doesn't hurt to do it). |
#8
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O.T. Computer Cleaning Maintenance:
Of course I meant folder. Sometimes I get writing faster than I think :-)
Henry Ken Blake, MVP wrote: On Tue, 07 Jul 2015 13:38:49 -0500, Henry wrote: You might try deleting the temp file. Do this by starting run and typing in %temp% to get to the temp file. Temp file? Do you mean temp *folder*? Please don't mix up files and folders; they are two different things. You can safely delete all of the temp files there. That's almost always true, but note that there are some program installations which work in two steps. The first step concludes by writing temporary files and rebooting. The second step starts automatically after rebooting and needs to find those files there (and then deletes them when it's done). Other than doing it automatically when rebooting (that would interfere with installations like the kind I described), it's always safe to delete the contents of the temp folder. Because it's safe to delete any temp files that aren't open and in use by an application, and since Windows won't let you delete open files, it's safe to (try to) delete them at any time. If any fail to delete because they're open, they'll either be deleted automatically when the app using them closes, or you'll get them the next time you delete manually. Some people may suggest that you reboot before deleting anything, but that's not necessary, for the reason described above (on the other hand, it doesn't hurt to do it). |
#9
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O.T. Computer Cleaning Maintenance:
On Tue, 07 Jul 2015 15:46:42 -0500, Henry wrote:
Of course I meant folder. Sometimes I get writing faster than I think :-) OK, glad it was just a brain fart, and you understand the difference. Ken Blake, MVP wrote: On Tue, 07 Jul 2015 13:38:49 -0500, Henry wrote: You might try deleting the temp file. Do this by starting run and typing in %temp% to get to the temp file. Temp file? Do you mean temp *folder*? Please don't mix up files and folders; they are two different things. You can safely delete all of the temp files there. That's almost always true, but note that there are some program installations which work in two steps. The first step concludes by writing temporary files and rebooting. The second step starts automatically after rebooting and needs to find those files there (and then deletes them when it's done). Other than doing it automatically when rebooting (that would interfere with installations like the kind I described), it's always safe to delete the contents of the temp folder. Because it's safe to delete any temp files that aren't open and in use by an application, and since Windows won't let you delete open files, it's safe to (try to) delete them at any time. If any fail to delete because they're open, they'll either be deleted automatically when the app using them closes, or you'll get them the next time you delete manually. Some people may suggest that you reboot before deleting anything, but that's not necessary, for the reason described above (on the other hand, it doesn't hurt to do it). |
#10
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O.T. Computer Cleaning Maintenance:
Hello Paul,
I'll read what you've given me but I know this has nothing to do with this post but an issue has come up with the 8200. When I press the power button it seems to start normally and all the lights are green but the screen doesn't come on. I haven't done anything to the computer or changed anything and just used it last night. At present the power light button is on but the indicator light flickers on/off. The ABCD lights are all green and both fans turning. Suggestions? Thanks, Robert |
#11
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O.T. Computer Cleaning Maintenance:
p.s. Now the indicator light is out but all other lights are green. p.s.s. I doubt this matters but I've also tried inserting a CD to force the open but nothing. Robert |
#12
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O.T. Computer Cleaning Maintenance:
The programs I have in place are from suggestions from this site not my own. If Paul or Ken thought I had too much or something was not needed they would have mentioned it long ago. Robert |
#13
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O.T. Computer Cleaning Maintenance:
Hello Paul,
I downloaded/installed and ran WinDirStat. that screen sure is wild looking but it let me where the bulk was. I also read the link on the truncation,. interesting. Thanks, Robert |
#14
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O.T. Computer Cleaning Maintenance:
On Tue, 7 Jul 2015 16:22:22 -0700 (PDT), Mark Twain
wrote: The programs I have in place are from suggestions from this site not my own. If Paul or Ken thought I had too much or something was not needed they would have mentioned it long ago. I never think anyone has too much. Despite what many people tell you, you should be concerned, not with how *many* of these programs you run, but *which*. Some of them can hurt performance severely, but others have no effect on performance. |
#15
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O.T. Computer Cleaning Maintenance:
Regarding the 8200; it did crash last night with
a irrecoverable error but it came back and I restarted it to make sure everything was OK and ran scans. Could it be that my video card has gone bad? Robert |
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