Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.basics (
More info?)
"Sanjay" <anonymous@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
>hi,
>
>When accessing the internet, WinXp on my PC automatically
>scans for updates. I have a lot of Hotfixes e.g. Windows
>XP Hotfix KB821557 which can be located on the Add/Remove
>Programs option. If I click Remove the following message
>is displayed:
>
>This program removes Windows XP Hotfix KB821557 and
>restores your previous configuration.
>
>To remove Windows XP KB821557 click next.
>
>If I remove the Hotfix what will happen? If the previous
>configuration is restored then what was the purpose of
>the Hotfix? Can I safely remove all the Hotfixes?
>
>Also I assume one Hotfix is linked to another Hotfix and
>so on.
>
>The main reason for the removal of the Hotfix is to
>recover hard disk space as I am rapidly running out of
>the valuable hard disk space.
>
>Thanks,
>
>Sanjay Mehta
Hotfixes are Windows Critical Updates. Removing them opens up the
vulnerabilities that they patched or blocked.
Hard drive space is "cheaper than dirt" at today's hard drive prices
but if you are temporarily short of space pending the acquisition of a
larger hard drive then there are a few things you can do to safely
free up a bit more space.
1. Open Windows Explorer and look at the content of the \Windows
folder. Make sure the option to "do not show hidden files and
folders" has been unselected. In the Windows folder you will see a
number of folders with names beginning $NtUnintall....
These are the actual uninstall files etc for removing Windows Updates
and can be removed, except for the more recent ones which you might
want to keep. On my machine I deleted all of the folders dated 2003
or earlier and will be cleaning it up further in the near future.
Note that removing these files means that you can no longer unintall
the related Hotfix from Control Panel - Add/Remove programs.
2. Open Control Panel - System - Advanced and go to the System Restore
tab. Click on the Settings button and see how much disk space is
being used for System Restore. On larger hard drives System Restore
tends to take more space that it really needs. I find than having 600
mb to 800 mb of disk space for System Restore files gives a reasonable
number of restore points to choose from, but if you are very
frequently installing and uninstalling major applications you may want
to have more System Restore space than this.
3. Open Control Panel - Internet Options and click on the Settings
button in the Temporary Internet Files section. How much space is
being allocated to these files? If you have a high speed Internet
connection (cable or DSL) you can probably reduce the T.I.F. to 100 mb
or less without impacting your Interent browsing speed to any
substantive degree. With a dial-up Interent connection there is
seldom much performance benefit gained from having more than 300 or
400 mb of T.I.F.
4. Check your Temporary folder (C:\Documents and Settings\(your user
name)\Local Settings\Temp) and see what it contains. If the computer
has just been booted up then everything in that folder can be safely
deleted, unless of course you installed or saved something there. If
the computer has been running for a while then reboot it and "clean
house". You could create a DOS batch file to delete these files
automatically and put a shortcut to run that file into your Startup
group on the Start menu. That will keep the folder clean.
Good luck
Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca
"The reason computer chips are so small is computers don't eat much."
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