My Windows ( XP ) directory has grown to over 10GB, which for me is over 30% of my C: drive. I need to create some free space on C: because I only have 1GB free. Despite defragmentation, NTFS seems to perform poorly under about 20% free space. ( Yes, my program files & documents take a lot of space, but not nearly as much as Windows. )I suspect that many of the files in my Windows directory are actually obsolete, but I can find no MS documentation on how to identify obsolete Windows files. Unfortunately, MS KB searches return only details of specific software problems, and warnings not to delete contents of directories like Installer & $hf_mig$ which collectively comprise 40% of the file space in the Windows folder.Can anyone point me to MS doc on identifying obsolete Windows files?Can anyone point me to reliable freeware which can scan my Windows folder & identify obsolete files?Thanks, J2 people got this answerI do too

AFAIK, there is no way to identify "obsolete" files in the Windows directory. What is obsolete to one user may be necessary for another.Although there are some obvious candidates for deletion (e.g., the $NTUninstall files -- if you don't care about uninstalling Windows updates) and there are utilities likeCCleaner for deleting unneeded files (but don't use its registry cleaner), in general the best way to deal with a filling-up hard drive is to buy a larger drive and/or a second drive. Hard drivers are pretty inexpensive these days.

Thank you for trying.I had tried Windows Explorer Disk Cleanup, Ccleaner, & TuneUP Utilities before posting my question, & still have a 10.2GB Windows directory.I consider obsolete files to be those no longer in use & no longer of any possible use. For example, I suspect that many uninstall files cannot be used any more because newer MS updates may have made an uninstall of older updates ( virtually ) impossible. In other words, uninstalling an old(er) update may well corrupt a newer update.My second choice would be to move obsolete files to a new disk ( e.g. my 2nd internal drive or an external USB drive ) & modify a Windows environment variable such that Windows updates would move obsolete ( uninstall/etc ) files to the specified disk/dir, leaving only the active file in the Windows directory. But in browsing my system environment variables, I see no obvious candidates. ( Wouldn't it also be nice to configure a temp install directory to be used during a Windows Update, so the update process did not decide this on it's own & perhaps then fail to find adequate free space? )I do make regular full disk backups to my external USB drives, but a full backup is very time consuming. ( I do not trust the incremental backup since Windows XP seems to have trouble managing it's record of backup files. ) So I have some recovery possibilities.I think I will move my $NTUninstall files to an external USB drive. I think I will also move my Outlook Express mail folders to my 2nd internal drive. ( Wouldn't it be nice if the location could be specified separately for each mail folder? ) I think this will suffice for a while.Thanks again for your help. If there are other obvious candidates, please reply again.Thanks, John

I consider obsolete files to be those no longer in use & no longer of any possible use. For example, I suspect that many uninstall files cannot be used any more because newer MS updates may have made an uninstall of older updates ( virtually ) impossible. In other words, uninstalling an old(er) update may well corrupt a newer update.Any MSUpdate that is relevent will replace any previous update.On the assumption your win drive is 40gb you have far to little free space for the correct operation of win, win requires a min of 15% free space, in your case 6gb

I consider obsolete files to be those no longer in use & no longer of any possible use. For example, I suspect that many uninstall files cannot be used any more because newer MS updates may have made an uninstall of older updates ( virtually ) impossible. In other words, uninstalling an old(er) update may well corrupt a newer update.My second choice would be to move obsolete files to a new disk ( e.g. my 2nd internal drive or an external USB drive ) & modify a Windows environment variable such that Windows updates would move obsolete ( uninstall/etc ) files to the specified disk/dir, leaving only the active file in the Windows directory. But in browsing my system environment variables, I see no obvious candidates. ( Wouldn't it also be nice to configure a temp install directory to be used during a Windows Update, so the update process did not decide this on it's own & perhaps then fail to find adequate free space? )I do make regular full disk backups to my external USB drives, but a full backup is very time consuming. ( I do not trust the incremental backup since Windows XP seems to have trouble managing it's record of backup files. ) So I have some recovery possibilities.I think I will move my $NTUninstall files to an external USB drive. I think I will also move my Outlook Express mail folders to my 2nd internal drive. ( Wouldn't it be nice if the location could be specified separately for each mail folder? ) I think this will suffice for a while.Thanks again for your help. If there are other obvious candidates, please reply again.Thanks, JohnYou're on the right track. I've seen several suggestions to burn the $NTUninstall files to a CD or DVD; moving them to an external USB drive is even easier.You can also move My Documents orMy Pictures (as well as other "special" folders)to a second or external drive.

Thank you again.I moved My Documents to my other internal drive, but it was UGLY. Fortunately I made a backup before I started. The Windows Move function fails if a file is locked by a process. It supposedly gives the user a chance to close the locking program, but then aborts the Move rather than retrying. As a result, the Move is only partially complete. The Restore function moves files back, but not all of the original files are recovered. ( Move offers no option to successfully copy all files before deleting any originals. ) With the backup & some file/folder comparison software, I was able to recover ( probably ) all of the lost files.Anyway, the above is not your fault. I just thought you should know about the potential Move problems. I commented back to MS on the Move article. Hopefully similar issues are not present in Win 7.I still have 26G remaining on C, all in Windows, Program Files, and Documents & Settings. But I have 7G free now. Moving My Documents was a good idea, just issues with the MS Move function.Thank you again. I will mark this as answered. John

Just a note on further revelations ...The scripts generated by ntbackup.exe may be rendered unusable after moving My Documents.The script generator does not use the My Document shortcut intact; it interprets the value at the time the script is generated.So when My Documents is moved, the script still points to the prior physical location.And when I try to edit the script in the ntbackup gui, the edit button is inoperable.So I had to generate a new backup script.If only Windows components were synchronized ...