Hi everyone. My computer is less than three years old and yet while I thought
the hard disk would never be filled, now it is. While my computer still
functions, it is unbearably slow. This is strange because I've deleted every
non-essential program. I suspect that a big part of the problem is Windows.
I recall that when I installed a major update to Windows XP, it recommended
that I leave in place part of the older version in case I experienced
difficulties with the new version. However, that was months ago, so I think
I can safely delete that file. Does anyone know how? I also noticed that
when I clicked on Windows Explorer and look under "Windows" there is
literally dozens of files with names such as $NtUninstallkB841873$. Can they
be safely deleted? Finally, does anybody have advice on any techniques to
free up space on one's hard disk? (Yes, I need a new computer, but that will
have to wait another three months.)
Thank you.
Bob

"Robert McN" <RobertMcN@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:D5EE96AE-AB7C-4CEF-8DC6-90FC58EAA11F@microsoft.com...
> Hi everyone. My computer is less than three years old and yet while I
thought
> the hard disk would never be filled, now it is. While my computer still
> functions, it is unbearably slow. This is strange because I've deleted
every
> non-essential program. I suspect that a big part of the problem is
Windows.
> I recall that when I installed a major update to Windows XP, it
recommended
> that I leave in place part of the older version in case I experienced
> difficulties with the new version. However, that was months ago, so I
think
> I can safely delete that file. Does anyone know how? I also noticed that
> when I clicked on Windows Explorer and look under "Windows" there is
> literally dozens of files with names such as $NtUninstallkB841873$. Can
they
> be safely deleted? Finally, does anybody have advice on any techniques to
> free up space on one's hard disk? (Yes, I need a new computer, but that
will
> have to wait another three months.)
> Thank you.
> Bob

A few comments:
- Suspecting that Windows is causing your problems is unsafe.
It might as well be something else. Use one of these tools to
find out:
DriveUse:
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~nulif...are/index.html
Bullet Proof Folder sizes: http://www.foldersizes.com/
- Check your System Restore settings. This function might gobble
up a very large amount of space.
- There is no need to buy a new computer. Buying a larger
hard disk will suffice - disks are cheap!

All those folders with the $NtUninstall**** can be deleted. They are the
uninstalls for hotifex/patches/etc and once installed and you are happy with
them there is no reason to keep them around.

Look in Add or Remove Programs for the listing of the backup prior to the
upgrade.

"Robert McN" <RobertMcN@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:D5EE96AE-AB7C-4CEF-8DC6-90FC58EAA11F@microsoft.com...
> Hi everyone. My computer is less than three years old and yet while I
> thought
> the hard disk would never be filled, now it is. While my computer still
> functions, it is unbearably slow. This is strange because I've deleted
> every
> non-essential program. I suspect that a big part of the problem is
> Windows.
> I recall that when I installed a major update to Windows XP, it
> recommended
> that I leave in place part of the older version in case I experienced
> difficulties with the new version. However, that was months ago, so I
> think
> I can safely delete that file. Does anyone know how? I also noticed that
> when I clicked on Windows Explorer and look under "Windows" there is
> literally dozens of files with names such as $NtUninstallkB841873$. Can
> they
> be safely deleted? Finally, does anybody have advice on any techniques to
> free up space on one's hard disk? (Yes, I need a new computer, but that
> will
> have to wait another three months.)
> Thank you.
> Bob

Also take a look at CCleaner as a tool to remove temp files and other junk.
http://www.ccleaner.com/

JS

"Robert McN" <RobertMcN@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:D5EE96AE-AB7C-4CEF-8DC6-90FC58EAA11F@microsoft.com...
> Hi everyone. My computer is less than three years old and yet while I
> thought
> the hard disk would never be filled, now it is. While my computer still
> functions, it is unbearably slow. This is strange because I've deleted
> every
> non-essential program. I suspect that a big part of the problem is
> Windows.
> I recall that when I installed a major update to Windows XP, it
> recommended
> that I leave in place part of the older version in case I experienced
> difficulties with the new version. However, that was months ago, so I
> think
> I can safely delete that file. Does anyone know how? I also noticed that
> when I clicked on Windows Explorer and look under "Windows" there is
> literally dozens of files with names such as $NtUninstallkB841873$. Can
> they
> be safely deleted? Finally, does anybody have advice on any techniques to
> free up space on one's hard disk? (Yes, I need a new computer, but that
> will
> have to wait another three months.)
> Thank you.
> Bob

Robert McN wrote:

> Hi everyone. My computer is less than three years old and yet while I
> thought the hard disk would never be filled, now it is. While my
> computer still functions, it is unbearably slow. This is strange
> because I've deleted every non-essential program.


Deleting programs has no effect on the speed of the computer. What is
running has an effect, but what is installed but not running is irrelevant.


> I suspect that a
> big part of the problem is Windows.


I suspect that the major part of the problem is malware infestation. That
is, by far, the most common culprit for a slow computer these days, and is
the first thing you should be looking at. I recommend that you go to Malke's
Malware Removal site at
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/...moving_Malware and follow
the instructions there.







> I recall that when I installed a
> major update to Windows XP, it recommended that I leave in place part
> of the older version in case I experienced difficulties with the new
> version. However, that was months ago, so I think I can safely
> delete that file. Does anyone know how? I also noticed that when I
> clicked on Windows Explorer and look under "Windows" there is
> literally dozens of files with names such as $NtUninstallkB841873$.
> Can they be safely deleted?


They are uninstalls for the various hotfixes you've installed. If you are
sure that you will never need to ununstall the hotixes, yes you can delete
these files


> Finally, does anybody have advice on any
> techniques to free up space on one's hard disk? (Yes, I need a new
> computer, but that will have to wait another three months.)


Although there are ways to free up space (I'll mention one below), if space
is that tight, you probably need to consider buying a new larger drive. You
don't necessarily need a whole new computer to get more disk space.

One thing you might do is check whether you are using the default 12% of
your drive for System Restore points. If you are it's almost certainly much
more than you need or can make effective use of. Trying to use System
Restore to go back more than a week, or at most two, seldom works because
if you restored back that far, the operating system would likely be out of
synch with other files on the drive. So you can cut back to around 1-2GB.


--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
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