(What can I delete after switching from ME to XP Pro SP2 (..

[Dalamar]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsme.general (More info?)

I just switched from WinME to XP Pro SP2 and couldn't be happier (even though
I liked ME).

I was just wondering what I can delete in order to save HD space since having
switched to the new OS. When I installed XP, I upgraded (installed over ME) &
opted to not save any "backup" files as the XP disk is Microsoft and not OEM
(capable of repair installs), so that saved a little space.

Anyways, I was wondering if I need the C:\Windows\Options\ folder for any
reason. Does XP use it for anything? I have already formatted to NTFS (using
command line, not fdisk) so I have no intentions of switching back to ME.

Is there any other folders/files that you all may know of that I will no
longer need that would regain HD space (or a link to where I can find this
information)?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[galen]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsme.general (More info?)

In news:Zmo8e.72609$f%4.61658@bignews1.bellsouth.net,
Dalamar <nospam@nospam.net> had this to say:

My reply is at the bottom of your sent message:

> I just switched from WinME to XP Pro SP2 and couldn't be happier
> (even though I liked ME).

Then this probably would have been better posted in an XP group? I'm not too
particular where posts go but other people might flame or ignore your post.

Try this link to clean up some space:

http://www.dummies.com/WileyCDA/DummiesArticle/id-2633.html

(Yes, I know it's one of the Dummies books but they're really not that bad.)

As for deletion of whole folders and the like you might want to hold off.
If, after a nice shiney new installation, you're hurting for drive space
then you probably do NOT want XP on there... Just a guess...

HDDs are VERY inexpensive these days and you could most likely afford one
with just a bit of saving or with your spare change in your nightstand
drawer. XP, and many of the applications for it, expects more drive space
than the older OSes do.

Galen
--
Signature changed for a moment of silence.
Rest well Alex and we'll see you on the other side.

 

[Dalamar]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsme.general (More info?)

"Galen" <galennews@gmail.com> wrote in
news:OFbc0B$QFHA.1980@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl:

> In news:Zmo8e.72609$f%4.61658@bignews1.bellsouth.net,
> Dalamar <nospam@nospam.net> had this to say:
>
> My reply is at the bottom of your sent message:
>
>> I just switched from WinME to XP Pro SP2 and couldn't be happier
>> (even though I liked ME).
>
> Then this probably would have been better posted in an XP group? I'm not
> too particular where posts go but other people might flame or ignore
> your post.
>

Thanks for your responce Galen. Just a side note but I don't really see
any reason to care if anyone flames my post. As I see it, this is ME
related. Actually I did post to the XP group as well. However, one would
expect that the many excellent & knowledgable people who frequent this
group (Noel, etc.) might know what files and folder are exclusive to ME
(and ME installations) and not used by XP or other OS. I have come to
trust the knowledge of several here, that is why I turned to this group
first.

> Try this link to clean up some space:
>
> http://www.dummies.com/WileyCDA/DummiesArticle/id-2633.html
>
> (Yes, I know it's one of the Dummies books but they're really not that
> bad.)
>

Thanks but I don't believe it will be much help in this instance. I run
Windows Washer every day or so and dump my restore points at regular
intervals and then create a new one if everything is running ok. Aside
from any junk that ME left behind from prior installations, you might say
that I keep my HDD free from any unneccesary Windows/internet by-products.

> As for deletion of whole folders and the like you might want to hold
> off. If, after a nice shiney new installation, you're hurting for drive
> space then you probably do NOT want XP on there... Just a guess...
>

Drive space isn't really the problem. I run a very "tight ship" you might
say. I have 70% free space on a 120gig HDD as is, but I don't see much use
in having any old ME junk left behind collecting dust.

> HDDs are VERY inexpensive these days and you could most likely afford
> one with just a bit of saving or with your spare change in your
> nightstand drawer. XP, and many of the applications for it, expects more
> drive space than the older OSes do.
>

Adding to my 120gb HDD would be overdoing it a bit in my situation as I
keep most data stored on removable media and install it only when needed.

I am just trying to get rid of any junk left behing from Windows ME.

> Galen

Thanks again.
~Dalamar

 

[galen]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsme.general (More info?)

In news:xLL8e.82413$vL3.16091@bignews4.bellsouth.net,
Dalamar <nospam@nospam.net> had this to say:

My reply is at the bottom of your sent message:

> Thanks for your responce Galen. Just a side note but I don't really
> see any reason to care if anyone flames my post. As I see it, this is
> ME related. Actually I did post to the XP group as well. However, one
> would expect that the many excellent & knowledgable people who
> frequent this group (Noel, etc.) might know what files and folder are
> exclusive to ME (and ME installations) and not used by XP or other
> OS. I have come to trust the knowledge of several here, that is why I
> turned to this group first.

Noel will certainly know... If he doesn't than Mike will certainly know...
If they don't know it then nobody does. <g>

I'm searching, as I type this, for an authoratative answer for this and it's
remarkable how vague the information I'm coming up with is.

I guess I can't find one that's as reputable as I'd like. I got a PM from a
very reliable source recently about this site and I'll leave the contents of
that message aside and post the link as it's the best that I'm able to come
up with at this time.

http://www.theeldergeek.com/disk_cleanup_utility.htm

Again, the disk cleanup utility... It has the option to clean out files left
behind from earlier operating systems. I think that it's only there if you
did the upgrade to a new OS as you did. Basically it kills the backup files
and any other left over bits of junk that you will no longer need. As I
scroll back and see the link that I posted in the first place I now notice
that they don't mention that. My bad... Basically it's the answer to your
question but it's not on the site so I can see why my post seemed a bit odd
perhaps. The option to remove backups from the old OS is only available if
you'd upgraded to a new OS like you did. The silly Dummies site doesn't
mention that. Sorry for not adding that to the original post and there's no
way I should have ASSumed that you'd know it was an option.

I've only run it as an upgrade twice just to see how to do it and to find
out if it worked. The first one was an upgrade from ME and didn't work... It
failed... The second one was from a 98se system and it worked like a champ.
Using the disk clean-up utility worked like a champ at ridding the system of
the older files and the backups of the old OS. Deleting these will, of
course, mean that you won't be able to revert to ME which is an operation
I'd be skeptical about anyhow.

Galen
--
Signature changed for a moment of silence.
Rest well Alex and we'll see you on the other side.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsme.general (More info?)

That's the problem, Galen - "authoritative"!!
I don't have a system to hand that's been upgraded from ME to XP to play
with (and don't have the available time to create one).
However - a clean install of XP certainly does NOT contain a
C:\Windows\Options\CABS (or ....\INSTALL) folder, which I suspect is left
there to reduce the amount of bu&&ering about that the installer has to do,
and reduce the pain if a reinstall of ME is required.

If you have a full install copy of the ME CD handy, I'd say it's safe to
delete this folder(s)



--
Noel Paton (MS-MVP 2002-2005, Windows)

Nil Carborundum Illegitemi
http://www.btinternet.com/~winnoel/millsrpch.htm

http://tinyurl.com/6oztj

Please read http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm on how to post messages to NG's

"Galen" <galennews@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:OM9$ZrBRFHA.508@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
> In news:xLL8e.82413$vL3.16091@bignews4.bellsouth.net,
> Dalamar <nospam@nospam.net> had this to say:
>
> My reply is at the bottom of your sent message:
>
>> Thanks for your responce Galen. Just a side note but I don't really
>> see any reason to care if anyone flames my post. As I see it, this is
>> ME related. Actually I did post to the XP group as well. However, one
>> would expect that the many excellent & knowledgable people who
>> frequent this group (Noel, etc.) might know what files and folder are
>> exclusive to ME (and ME installations) and not used by XP or other
>> OS. I have come to trust the knowledge of several here, that is why I
>> turned to this group first.
>
> Noel will certainly know... If he doesn't than Mike will certainly know...
> If they don't know it then nobody does. <g>
>
> I'm searching, as I type this, for an authoratative answer for this and
> it's remarkable how vague the information I'm coming up with is.
>
> I guess I can't find one that's as reputable as I'd like. I got a PM from
> a very reliable source recently about this site and I'll leave the
> contents of that message aside and post the link as it's the best that I'm
> able to come up with at this time.
>
> http://www.theeldergeek.com/disk_cleanup_utility.htm
>
> Again, the disk cleanup utility... It has the option to clean out files
> left behind from earlier operating systems. I think that it's only there
> if you did the upgrade to a new OS as you did. Basically it kills the
> backup files and any other left over bits of junk that you will no longer
> need. As I scroll back and see the link that I posted in the first place I
> now notice that they don't mention that. My bad... Basically it's the
> answer to your question but it's not on the site so I can see why my post
> seemed a bit odd perhaps. The option to remove backups from the old OS is
> only available if you'd upgraded to a new OS like you did. The silly
> Dummies site doesn't mention that. Sorry for not adding that to the
> original post and there's no way I should have ASSumed that you'd know it
> was an option.
>
> I've only run it as an upgrade twice just to see how to do it and to find
> out if it worked. The first one was an upgrade from ME and didn't work...
> It failed... The second one was from a 98se system and it worked like a
> champ. Using the disk clean-up utility worked like a champ at ridding the
> system of the older files and the backups of the old OS. Deleting these
> will, of course, mean that you won't be able to revert to ME which is an
> operation I'd be skeptical about anyhow.
>
> Galen
> --
> Signature changed for a moment of silence.
> Rest well Alex and we'll see you on the other side.
>

 

[Dalamar]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsme.general (More info?)

"Galen" <galennews@gmail.com> wrote in
news:OM9$ZrBRFHA.508@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl:

> Noel will certainly know... If he doesn't than Mike will certainly
> know... If they don't know it then nobody does. <g>
>

lol

> I'm searching, as I type this, for an authoratative answer for this and
> it's remarkable how vague the information I'm coming up with is.
>

Thank you for your help Galen and yes, I know. It is rather rediculous. I
have searched Google on and off for a couple of days and have absolutely
nothing to show for it. Maybe if I gather enough info I will create a web
page on the subject (as I do web design for a living).

> I guess I can't find one that's as reputable as I'd like. I got a PM
> from a very reliable source recently about this site and I'll leave the
> contents of that message aside and post the link as it's the best that
> I'm able to come up with at this time.
>
> http://www.theeldergeek.com/disk_cleanup_utility.htm
>
> Again, the disk cleanup utility... It has the option to clean out files
> left behind from earlier operating systems. I think that it's only there
> if you did the upgrade to a new OS as you did. Basically it kills the
> backup files and any other left over bits of junk that you will no
> longer need. As I scroll back and see the link that I posted in the
> first place I now notice that they don't mention that. My bad...
> Basically it's the answer to your question but it's not on the site so I
> can see why my post seemed a bit odd perhaps. The option to remove
> backups from the old OS is only available if you'd upgraded to a new OS
> like you did. The silly Dummies site doesn't mention that. Sorry for not
> adding that to the original post and there's no way I should have
> ASSumed that you'd know it was an option.
>

That's no problem. I will snoop around Eldergeek and see what I can find.
The strange thing is, in Add/Remove Programs, I have a Windows ME
uninstall available but when I click on it, it does absolutely nothing. I
then checked the registry key/values for that particular uninstall entry.
It points to files that are still intact on the HDD but the files
themselves have proven to be useless when trying to pinpoint any of ME's
leftover garbage.

> I've only run it as an upgrade twice just to see how to do it and to
> find out if it worked. The first one was an upgrade from ME and didn't
> work... It failed... The second one was from a 98se system and it worked
> like a champ. Using the disk clean-up utility worked like a champ at
> ridding the system of the older files and the backups of the old OS.
> Deleting these will, of course, mean that you won't be able to revert to
> ME which is an operation I'd be skeptical about anyhow.

I'm kind of past that point already as I have already converted to NTFS.
ME will not run on NTFS & Microsoft doesn't support reverting back to
FAT32. I could always use PartitionMagic or something like that but I like
the extra stability that NTFS provides.

Once again, thank you very much for your help but I wouldn't sweat it I
guess. I may just break down one day when I have the time and fdisk then
reinstall XP all together.

>
> Galen

Cheerz!
~Dalamar

 

[Dalamar]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsme.general (More info?)

"Noel Paton" <NoelDPspamless@btopenworld.com> wrote in
news:OjZ25FGRFHA.356@TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl:

> That's the problem, Galen - "authoritative"!!
> I don't have a system to hand that's been upgraded from ME to XP to play
> with (and don't have the available time to create one).
> However - a clean install of XP certainly does NOT contain a
> C:\Windows\Options\CABS (or ....\INSTALL) folder, which I suspect is
> left there to reduce the amount of bu&&ering about that the installer
> has to do, and reduce the pain if a reinstall of ME is required.
>
> If you have a full install copy of the ME CD handy, I'd say it's safe to
> delete this folder(s)
>
>
>

Thanks Noel. I have a copy of ME but I have already converted to NTFS. I
do have Partition Magic which is capable of NTFS-to-FAT32 but I like
NTFS' stabilty. I will try putting the entire OPTIONS folder on a
different partition for a few days and if all goes well, I will delete it
entirely.

I may just end up reformatting the system when time permits but honestly,
you would think that MS would offer support for this sort of situation. It
makes me wonder just how many people out there have upgraded to a new OS
and have close to a gig or more of trash on their HDDs without knowing it.

I just wanted to let you know that between your posts & web site, you have
been a great help to me in the past. Having XP now, I suppose I will be
moving on to the 'next group'

In any case, thanks a million!

~Dalamar

 

[galen]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsme.general (More info?)

In news:OjZ25FGRFHA.356@TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl,
Noel Paton <NoelDPspamless@btopenworld.com> had this to say:

My reply is at the bottom of your sent message:

> That's the problem, Galen - "authoritative"!!
> I don't have a system to hand that's been upgraded from ME to XP to
> play with (and don't have the available time to create one).
> However - a clean install of XP certainly does NOT contain a
> C:\Windows\Options\CABS (or ....\INSTALL) folder, which I suspect is
> left there to reduce the amount of bu&&ering about that the installer
> has to do, and reduce the pain if a reinstall of ME is required.
>
> If you have a full install copy of the ME CD handy, I'd say it's safe
> to delete this folder(s)

One of these days one of us will have to test it and see if it does a decent
job (the Disk Cleanup's offering IF it was an upgrade.) Maybe it does a
decent job? I haven't a clue if it does or not but I've a yearning to check
it and see one of these days. I'll add it to my list of things to do when I
get time. <g> So, maybe by 2007?

Galen
--
Signature changed for a moment of silence.
Rest well Alex and we'll see you on the other side.

 

[galen]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsme.general (More info?)

In news:se19e.72884$UW6.38818@bignews5.bellsouth.net,
Dalamar <nospam@nospam.net> had this to say:

My reply is at the bottom of your sent message:

> Once again, thank you very much for your help but I wouldn't sweat it
> I guess. I may just break down one day when I have the time and fdisk
> then reinstall XP all together.

One of the bonuses is that FDISK isn't required as the XP setup utility has
it all built right in. It's pretty speedy too.

Galen
--
Signature changed for a moment of silence.
Rest well Alex and we'll see you on the other side.

 

[Dalamar]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsme.general (More info?)

"Galen" <galennews@gmail.com> wrote in
news:esnQMfSRFHA.2228@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl:

> In news:se19e.72884$UW6.38818@bignews5.bellsouth.net,
> Dalamar <nospam@nospam.net> had this to say:
>
> My reply is at the bottom of your sent message:
>
>> Once again, thank you very much for your help but I wouldn't sweat it
>> I guess. I may just break down one day when I have the time and fdisk
>> then reinstall XP all together.
>
> One of the bonuses is that FDISK isn't required as the XP setup utility
> has it all built right in. It's pretty speedy too.
>
> Galen


I decided to reinstall XP from scratch. Would you believe that after all of
my apps were reinstalled & configured, I am only using 5.5GB. I saved almost
5GB total!

Thanks again for your help.

~Dalamar

 

[galen]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsme.general (More info?)

In news:yXlae.117854$vL3.5795@bignews4.bellsouth.net,
Dalamar <nospam@nospam.net> had this to say:

My reply is at the bottom of your sent message:

> I decided to reinstall XP from scratch. Would you believe that after
> all of my apps were reinstalled & configured, I am only using 5.5GB.
> I saved almost 5GB total!
>
> Thanks again for your help.
>
> ~Dalamar

Well, that saved you far more space than deleting any of the files you'd
probably have deleted will. I take it that's a good thing? In this day and
age the price of HDDs is really low and, if interested, you could easily
toss a large slave drive in there and then partition it it into a number of
smaller sections. I've often found that to be the most handy method.

Galen
--
Signature changed for a moment of silence.
Rest well Alex and we'll see you on the other side.