• Dare I delete these? (XP sp2)

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    #454667

    I need to clear space on my c: drive.
    Is it safe to delete pagefile.sys?
    hiberfil.sys?
    System Volume Information?

    When my box was new booting took only 13 blue crawlers to reach Loading your settings.
    Now it takes 24.
    Is it safe to take out from the startup sequence these items which I don’t think were there long ago?:
    system32dlatfswctrl.exe?
    system32hkcmd.exe?
    dumprep 0 -u
    dumprep 0 -k

    Please remind me of the website where such files are described with advice on such questions.

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    • #1129300

      You can’t delete any of the items that you mentioned.

      Pagefile.sys is the virtual memory file. You can change its size, but it’s best to leave it alone.
      If you never hibernate your computer, you could turn off the hibernate feature in the Power Options control panel. The hiberfil.sys file would be removed.
      System Volume Information contains the system restore points. You can specify how much disk space is alloted for them in the System Restore tab of the System control panel.

      tfswctrl.exe is part of the software needed to write to CDs. You shouldn’t remove it.
      hkcmd.exe provides hotkeys for Intel graphics. It’s not essential but probably takes up very few resources.
      dumprep.exe is part of Windows’ error logging software. You shouldn’t remove it.

      Why don’t you get an extra hard disk? They’re very cheap nowadays.

      • #1129581

        Thank you so much Hans:
        I have lots of room on my data disk but the system-and-programs disc got 90% full due to some program updates and all these Microsoft updates plus a GB of online gaming software that loaded itself into administrator’s documents and won’t allow deletion – invariably pretends to be in use.
        With your help I got rid of hiberfil.sys and the Volume file – system restore usually fails and never says why not, so I’ve stopped using it anyway. Got to 84% full.
        Now defragmented and all’s well but I’m going to have to watch the upgrades.

        • #1129583

          You might try Revo Uninstaller (free) to remove unwanted software, and/or Unlocker (also free) to unlock files that claim to be in use.

          • #1129607

            Great – Thank You, HansV – Unlocker set me free!

            • #1129919

              Final contribution to this thread:
              In order to get the missing security updates for Internet Explorer, I had finally to risk SP3.
              No regrets so far – we see just 13 blue crawlers during re-start, which suggests that most of the reboot delay was due to working through a long list of updates.
              Another benefit is that I have gained almost 2% more free space on my system drive!

            • #1129958

              If you do not have System Restore disabled the free space gain will be wiped out soon enough. Installing a service pack wipes out all prior restore points. They will be created again as the days go by.

              Joe

              --Joe

            • #1130021

              Thanks Joe:
              Restoring usually failed for me after taking several minutes, so I was glad when Hans told me where to shut it down.

      • #1140032

        > You can’t delete any of the items that you mentioned.
        > Why don’t you get an extra hard disk? They’re very cheap nowadays.

        …. then I have a gazillion files accumulated on my twin backup drives. Unlocker did the trick! Thanks.

    • #1129301

      In addition to all that good stuff from Hans, we usually ask: are you running an AV program and some (one or more) anti-spyware programs? If bad guys get in a system one of the first symptoms is bad performance. Let us know if you need some advice.

      Now, you certainly can and should take a look at what’s running at startup aside from the ones you initially picked. If you want to stay simple, run MSCONFIG but be sure you Google on the names of stuff that you find or ask here, as you did. Sometimes the “path” will give you a better clue than the filename, but you do need to be careful and choosy about what you turn off. The good (safe) thing is that you can always turn them back on. It’s unfortunate that lots of software loads us down with startup programs and most of us don’t need tending to slow our computers to a crawl.

      Another excellent alternative to MSCONFIG is AutoRuns for Windows

      • #1129582

        Thanks once again, BigAl:
        I run the complete Kaspersky security and find it’s pretty good – nothing catches every specimen of spyware, and some of the catcher programs try to worry us about trivia.
        Performance is now “as new” once I get past the initial booting sequence.
        I suspect most of its deterioration is due to working through all those Microsoft updates.
        Maybe SP3 has consolidated those into a quicker-loading OpSys but I’m uneasy about getting SP3.

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