Hello geeks,

I've got a small 9782MB hard disk labeled [C:] running XP Pro. At this point 7.22GB are used up. I'm looking for a way to delete some files and free up more space. The only programs I would like to keep are:

Avast!
Microsoft Office Package
Mozilla Firefox & Thunderbird
Outlook
Additional standards in Accessories and Games

I've attempted to remove most programs from the Add/Remove in Control Panel. However, I think some programs are not showing up there. Additionally, I have used CleanUp!, DiskCheck and Defrag to little effect.

Any assistance or advice would be very welcome. Thanks!

oOpsicle

This post has been edited by oOpsicle: Sep 22 2008, 04:42 PM

Realistically XP takes up 1.5Gb on its own, more with service pack backups and patch backups and what not.
Office takes a gig on its own, newer versions do anyway.
Avast isn't big but virus scanners have their own quarantine base which can easily grow, plus the definition files get bigger with each download.

Realistically 7Gb of HDD space with what you're running isn't unusual.

Are you running a desktop or a laptop?
If desktop, you can add another HD as a slave. They are really cheap, and most have 3-5 year warranties.
You could also do a USB enclosure to store data (laptop or desktop).

Thanks for the advice guys. 10G is really too small, and as you say, adding a slave would be an easy way to solve my problem. I think I'll give

oOpsicle

Hi

Obviously the best solution in your case IS to add another hard drive but I'll give you a few more suggestions for freeing up space anyway, as it may help others with similar problems....

BTW - I have a relatively fresh installation of XP Pro SP2 on my laptop at the moment, with Office 2003, Firefox, Outpost Pro and several other programs installed, and it takes up a fraction over 3GB in total including the swap file... Admittedly, I don't use any email clients on my laptop which probably helps.

* Delete the temporary internet cache & cookies (including offline files)

* Delete the contents of the temp folder .In XP, this is located in Documents & settings\%user_profile%\local settings\temp. NB The local settings folder is hidden so you'll need to have hidden & system files visible (See 'My computer -> Tools -> Folder Options ->View' tab)

* Uninstall any Office applications that you don't use.

* If you use an email client (as opposed to web mail), then go through your email mail boxes & delete the contents of the Trash/Junk folders, go through the email in your inbox & sent box and delete any email you don't need to keep. Then empty the Deleted email folder.

* Delete all old restore points. This method allows you to keep the most recent ones however.
Go to Start->Run and type cleanmgr.exe (click OK). Select a hard drive letter (usually C) & wait for disk cleanup to calculate the amount of space that can be freed up, then click on the More Options tab & click the 'Clean up' button under System Restore.

* If you have a lot of stuff in My Documents etc, especially big stuff like music, photos or video files, consider transferring them to CD/DVD etc instead of storing them on the computer. Do not rely on floppy disks or flash sticks as your sole form of storage though for anything important.

* Finially, empty the recycle bin & defragment the drive again

This post has been edited by Samm: Sep 24 2008, 04:41 PM