Hotfix Uninstallers

[Torgny]

Hi,

Just downloaded CC cleaner, as I read in a magazine that it could delete the hotfix uninstaller files. If you delete them the normal way windows just brings them back again. After deleting over a GB and restarting the computer I did defrag with Perfect Disk and by my surprise, I did not gain any space at all. Where did they all go? Or are they backed up somewhere and therefore I did not gain any more free space on my HDD. If so where are they backe up to?

Lookig under Windows all the files are gone but no space gained.

[Andavari]

Possibly in a restore point. I honestly don't really know since I've never even looked at the available free space after letting CCleaner remove them.

[Jamin4u]

Try using Windows Disk Cleanup to refresh the free space.

[Torgny]

Hi,

Many thanks for your quick reply.

I have a 10.000 rev Raptor 36Gb HDD for my C-drive and was about to run out of space so 1Gb would have been a big chunk to get rid of.

Normally I would believe when a program says it has taken out so much junk and not check for this.

I have gone in and taken out the previous restore point from yesterday from the CC cleaner which you can not take out when you have just done a complete scan. I have also taken out all restore points except the last one, which I just did before using windows system tools, Disc Clean up and restarted the computer. Unfortunately the one GB has not been freed up. My HDD is still about full as before. I also went in to explorer and windows folder and checked the uninstall history files and they are still gone.

This is completely non understandable for me how one GB can disappear from my folder and the hard disk is still full. I can understand this if CC cleaner backs up what you delete somewhere for safety reasons, but I have been unable to read anything if this is the case. Perhaps some one else knows anything about this strange phenomenon?

Kind regards

Torgny

[Jamin4u]

Try running Chkdsk with both boxes checked.

 

[Ishi]

You have to say that 36GB is small size in today's standards. Maybe if you want more space, you can get yourself a new hard drive. If you are using Vista, the space consumption would just be massive and freeing space would soon be filled again anyway. Vista also has this automatic backup feature I guess which may be turned on by default. Its on the Control Panel. I wouldn't fully recommend disabling that.

 

A lot of consumed space could be from Windows Update. Its there in the Control Panel under Programs and Features. You can view installed updates from there and uninstall them but you have to be careful of this. Better disable automatic updates if this is the case.

 

Also, I suspect you might have two or more installed drivers with different versions for just one particular hardware. I suspect this could happen if you have automatic updating turned on. Just correct me on this one.

 

You may also consider removing files and programs that you no longer need.

 

There are more cleaning options in CCleaner under the Advanced category which are unchecked by default. Better have a go at them, however wipe free space will take some time. I do remember using CCleaner on a computer whilst I have those checked and it freed more then 1GB!!!!

 

 

There is this cleaning feature in CCleaner that says, Wipe Free Space. Better check that and run CCleaner. With the size of your hard drive, it should take maybe 10 minutes to complete. I remember using this feature once and I freed up some space which was a lot bigger than I expect when I was using Vista. I don't recall CCleaner notifying me that such a space was freed at that particular time but whether or not its connected there, I can't be sure. Just uncheck the wipe free space option again when you are done.

 

However, there is a free program called Advanced SystemCare 3 which has a disk cleaner function. It has this Utilities button that shows you a number of tweaking tools. The disk cleaner function that does some deep cleaning ability which is safe in my view. It should also free some space. Better Google search this one.

 

 

There is also another free program called Eusing Free Registry Cleaner which I used while I was still using Vista to clean the registry and it freed up a few hundreds of MBs worth of space. However this tool is less safe in my view.

[Alan_B]

By default you may have 12% of 36 GB consumed by System Restore Points.

 

When you purge 1 GB of Hotfix UnInstallers they will probably get added to the current Restore Point,

so that could grow by 1 GB.

 

When you delete the old restore points you are still left with the latest.

 

You need to create a NEW Restore point.

Then Disc Cleanup will be able to purge the previous Restore Point that is preserving 1 GB of Hotfix UnInstallers.

 

Alan

[Torgny]

Eureka, yes yes yes this did it.

 

Fist I wish to thank you all very much for you kind assistance.

Yes 36GB might not be so much in today?s environments in the computer world.

I run a P$ 3Ghz chip and the raptor at 10.000 revs keeps my computer fairly fast win EIN XP and SP3.

 

I fanatical about utilities and keep my computer in top trim at all time so it serves me good for what I do.

 

This is what I have done now:

 

Checdisk gave all clear and no errors.

 

Created new restore point, deleted all but latest and run disc cleaner.

 

Run Ccleaner in advanced category ?wipe free space? this took away 19Mb only.

 

I also noticed that Ccleaner did not delete $NtServicePackUninstall$ but all hotfixes, which it say it will do and saw that the service pack folder was 460Mb, so I also deleted this. As I am soon due anyway to reinstall WIN EXP and have never had to go back or use this. So I took this risk.

 

Now my HDD uses only 23.1Gb and has 7.1Gb free which will last me a long time until I upgrade to a modern computer in a years time.

 

This is the first ever in 15 years I have used a forum for help and I must say that I am pleasantly surprised how quick and friendly people are. My sincere congratulations and thanks to you all.

 

Kind regards

Tony, the old Swedish Viking.

 

PS. Here is some help for those who may not know about the uninstall of the service packs to generate more space:

 

Locate the Service Pack Uninstall folder in the %Systemroot%\$NtServicePackUninstall$ folder.

Select the $NtServicePackUninstall$ folder and delete it.

To remove the Service Pack uninstall option from the Add/Remove Programs menu, delete the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Windows 2000 Service Pack x

where x is the version number of the Service Pack that is installed

[Jamin4u]

Glad you got back the space that you needed Torgny.

 

 

By default you may have 12% of 36 GB consumed by System Restore Points.

This is to much space consumed by restore points for any size HD.

 

If you haven't already, you might want to change the setting on system restore to use less space. For anyone who needs the space, this is a good space saving tip. It's up to you how much Windows uses.

 

Right click on my computer -> properties -> system restore -> slide bar to the desired space then click OK.

[Torgny]

Hi Jamin4u,

 

Yes you are right, I completely forgot about that you can set how much space is to be used.

 

Many thanks for that.

Torgny