Windows will create many “junk” files after some time in operation. These “junk” file will not only seriously affect system performance, but also affect the normal use of the system, so users need to regularly clean the disk. Hard disk drive cleanup is actually to remove redundant files of the system, such as dynamic-link library DLL files, temporary files downloaded from the Internet, recycle bin for a “garbage” files. It includes the software installation files, software running files, the legacy uninstall software files, registry files, Internet cache files, and various other temporary files.
Software installation file is the result of a lot of software installation, the installation itself is first necessary to extract the files to a temporary directory, and then begin the installation from this directory. In general, when the installation is complete, these temporary files will be automatically deleted, but, sometimes, due to crashes, all of a sudden power failure or defective design of software itself, these documents have not been removed, they are left on your hard disk and become a “garbage.” For Windows 2000 systems, they are generally stored in C: \ Documents and Settings \ Administrator <user name> \ Local Setting \ Temp, and for Windows XP systems, software installation files can be stored in the above described two directory.
Software generate “junk” file types are even more, for example, WinZip create temporary files, some programs will produce *. old, *. bak files. There are some systems troubleshooting software, such as Scandisk or Norton Disk Doctor, generating the lost clustersed backup files Chklist.*,*. chk, file ????._ dd when checking the hard disk, the system will also have some help files “temporary rubbish”, and their extensions are often *. gid, *. fts, *. ftg, some software will have some time to run. tmp as the extension of the temporary file.
Some files are left in the registry or system directory when software uninstalled, for example, Windows \ System directory. Dll,. Ini files, this type of “junk” can not be easily removed, using the common software can not clean them completely, we must clean hard drive with the help of some powerful disk tools.
The “junk” entries in registry are the most complicated and the largest. Most of the Windows software will add some entries to the registry. There are many ways to cleanup the disk; the most commonly used is the Windows operating system built-in Disk Cleanup program. If you want to clean up a disk, just right-click the disk, select “Properties” in the dialog box that appears, click “Disk Cleanup” in the dialog box that appears directly click “OK”.
In the Disk Cleanup program, the first option for the clean-up is system components, if the user think its component is abundant, he can select the option to free up more hard disk space, click the “clean up” and Windows XP Component Wizard will pop up. The second is used to delete software programs which user have installed, click the “clean up” button will prompt a pop-up under Windows XP Add / Remove Programs dialog box.
The Disk Cleanup program provided by windows operating system is our most frequently used disk clean-up program, it has the basic functions of Disk Cleanup, but its function is not perfect, for example, it does not automatically remove redundant dynamic-link library DLL files and unnecessary system registry items, etc,. In order to clean the disk more thoroughly without affecting the system, we need other disk cleanup programs.
