What large files can safely be removed on a computer using Windows xp ?

My sisters laptop has a small 40gb hard-drive, had 1% space left.

I've done the following

1. Ran windows clean up program
2. Download & ran "ccleaner"
3. Removed a bunch of unused programs
4. Deleted photo's , videos, music, and everything I could think of and still only have 4% free.
5. Removed duplicate files

I used the feature under tools so I could see the hidden system files, What could I be missing ?

Thanks for any ideas.

[This message has been edited by CoolBlue87GT (edited 01-12-2009).]

Do you have the Windows XP CD? If so, you can delete the i386 folder. It is the same as the CD - just on the HDD so you don't have to insert the CD anytime you want to make changes to your Windows install. If not sure, burn the i386 folder to a CD to be sure.

Do a search for the following file extensions. They can typically be safely deleted.
*.00?
*.chk
*.bak
*.tmp

quote Originally posted by Formula88:. Do a search for the following file extensions. They can typically be safely deleted. *.00? *.chk *.bak *.tmp

Thanks, I looked & deleted most of the above.

I'm at 5% free now.

There has to be something some where taking up space that I can't find.

Anyone have any other ideas ?

Search for large files something over 10000 kb and see if there are any you don't need.
You can also use compressed folders for files you don't open very often, pictures and documents that you want to keep but don't open.

I occasionally run a search for Temp folders while in safe mode and then delete everything found in them. Make sure to go into advanced options and select type of file - Folder - and to look in all folders (three tick marks). It's amazing how a ton of crap builds up in those folders.

[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 01-12-2009).]

You have got some crazy crap going on there. My netbook with my needed software has about 12GB free. This is on a 16GB SSD with 14.2GB avaialbe. Not sure what all is loaded on there, best bet would be to backup what you need and format. The only install the necassary programs. If this isn't feasible, check pagefile, hibernation, restore points and make sure your trash is cleared out. As mentioned the i386 folder is just basically your Windows disk and it can be tossed. After unistalling programs don't forget to go into Program Files and delete their respective directories.

Good luck.

Thanks for all the ideas, got it up to 8% !

what is this machine used for?
i'm running xp pro sp2 on a 20 gig hd. i currently have morrowind with tribunal and bloodmoon and a bunch of mods, MS office and firefox, a full copy of my previous win2000 drive, and pictures ive offloaded from my camera. i dont download pictures or video or music, and after i'm done with a game i uninstall it. i have 12g free space.

quote Originally posted by lurker: what is this machine used for? i'm running xp pro sp2 on a 20 gig hd. i currently have morrowind with tribunal and bloodmoon and a bunch of mods, MS office and firefox, a full copy of my previous win2000 drive, and pictures ive offloaded from my camera. i dont download pictures or video or music, and after i'm done with a game i uninstall it. i have 12g free space.

She uses it for internet surfing, email & banking. It's about 4 years old Compaq. 1.3 processer, 1gb ram.

quote Originally posted by CoolBlue87GT: She uses it for internet surfing, email & banking.

Hmmm...

Have you checked the size of the folder containing her emails? Chances are she's been sent a ton of images or videos and she's never bothered to delete them.

And don't forget that it's not only the Inbox that could be huge, the Sent Items box could be just as large if she's the one sending a ton of images and/or videos and she keeps a copy of all emails sent.

[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 01-11-2009).]

quote Originally posted by Patrick: I occasionally run a search for Temp folders while in safe mode and then delete everything found in them. It's amazing how a ton of crap builds up in those folders.

A little trick for finding temp files is go to your run command and type in %tmp%. It will give you a list of all the temp files you have stored on my machine, making it easy for you delete.

You can also right click on her profile under Documents & Settings and click Properties. That will tell you how much data is in her personal profile. If it's big, that means she's got data in her profile - documents, pics, emails, something. You can check properties on each subfolder to narrow down where the bulk of the files are to see if they can be deleted or not.

quote Originally posted by loafer87gt: It will give you a list of all the temp files you have stored on my machine, making it easy for you delete.

I'd be pretty surprised if any of my temp files are stored on your machine!

Seriously though, doesn't the command you just mentioned only look in ONE particular Temp folder? If you do what I suggest, you'll find a whole lot more stuff to delete. On my boot drive there are 11 Temp folders.

* Important note for anyone doing what I suggested is that you only delete the contents of folders named "Temp". Do NOT delete the contents of folders where Temp is only part of the folder's name, such as "Temporary".

quote Originally posted by Patrick: I occasionally run a search for Temp folders while in safe mode and then delete everything found in them. Make sure to go into advanced options and select type of file - Folder - and to look in all folders (three tick marks). It's amazing how a ton of crap builds up in those folders.

[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 01-12-2009).]

No mention of music files, check for files with mp3 extension, can add up to a bit of space over time.
Have you tried clearing the Temporary Internet Files, from Tools menuu --> Internet Options ---> Delete files - button.
Internet Cookies can build up after four years too.

Outlook store files use .pst extension.

quote Originally posted by StockGT: Have you tried clearing the Temporary Internet Files, from Tools menuu --> Internet Options ---> Delete files - button.

"Disk Cleanup" for XP takes care of that (as long as the tick is in the box). The OP stated "Ran windows clean up program", assumed he meant "Disk Cleanup", but you never know.

Buy an external HD I have one thats 350 Gigs

quote Originally posted by 88_Fiero_2M4: Buy an external HD I have one thats 350 Gigs

That should hardly be necessary for this computer.

quote Originally posted by CoolBlue87GT: She uses it for internet surfing, email & banking.

quote Originally posted by Patrick: Everything in C:\WINDOWS\SoftwareDistribution\Download can be deleted. That folder can REALLY build up over time.

I do see a bunch of folders & files in this directory. Does everyone agree it's safe to delete ????

Do a Google search on it...

quote Originally posted by Patrick: Do a Google search on it...

Just did that , looks like 85% are saying no problem, a few said to leave the folders, delete the files.

Most .log files can be deleted as well, tho they are almost always text and shouldn't take up much room at all.

Temp internet files often are found in more than one directory, and can be very large in total, if not deleted. A lengthy session of browsing can leave a whole crapload of small jpg and gif files, that total quite a bit.

ZA used to keep a log each session--dunno if the current versions do or not, but on one of my older machines, that grew quite large, as well as the update folder for my AV.

....

[This message has been edited by PaulJK (edited 01-23-2010).]

And, it's not really gone, till you empty the recylce bin. Even in the recycle bin, it's still taking up space.

quote Originally posted by PaulJK: There are TEMP files that Windows makes and uses WHILE it's running. Delete one of those and you might get in trouble. it's generally a bad idea to look too hard for files you don't need because all you need to do is delete 1 essentail file and something is not gonna work right

I've been doing the process copied below for the last ten years with Win98 and XP on my own and on my client's computers and have never had a problem. Files in Temp folders that Windows requires while running simply do not allow themselves to be deleted. Doing the process in safe mode reduces (or eliminates) any files that refuse to be deleted in this manner.

quote Originally posted by Patrick: I occasionally run a search for Temp folders while in safe mode and then delete everything found in them. Make sure to go into advanced options and select type of file - Folder - and to look in all folders (three tick marks). It's amazing how a ton of crap builds up in those folders. * Important note for anyone doing this is that you only delete the contents of folders named "Temp". Do NOT delete the contents of folders where Temp is only part of the folder's name, such as "Temporary".

[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 01-12-2009).]

I recently downloaded Ccleaner www.ccleaner.com which got rid of a bunch of junk on my desktop and freed up lots of space. Best of all it was free software.

Thanks for all the ideas.

I did find that she uses Quicken, she had it set up to create a different backup file each time she used the program.

There were a couple hundred back files, over three years worth. Her excuse was she wanted to have more than one saved copy of the data file, in-case one became corrupted.

I deleted all but the last four files. Now she will be keeping two, one in a backup folder, and one in the Quicken folder.

Each data file was fairly small, but multiplied by 400 was ridiculous.

Thanks again for all the help. Always turns out to be something weird with these computers. (or their owners)

[This message has been edited by CoolBlue87GT (edited 01-12-2009).]

quote Originally posted by CoolBlue87GT: Thanks again for all the help. Always turns out to be something weird with these computers. (or their owners)

I am transferring files from one computer to another and thought about your situation as I was doing this part.

Make sure she doesn't have some wild obsession (like I do) with never seeing the same wallpaper(background) lol.