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vegplot

Joined: 19 Apr 2007
Posts: 21301
Location: Bethesda, Gwynedd

Posted: Thu Apr 28, 16 8:28 am Post subject:

mochyn wrote:

Okey doke. I'll just leave it...

Next time you're here, could you have a look at the m/c, please?

Sure! I can look but I'm not that good at working on computers. I use them all day but make no pretentions about knowing how to fix them or make them run better. I'm quite good at destructively taking them apart though.

mochyn

Joined: 21 Dec 2004
Posts: 24585
Location: mid-Wales

Posted: Thu Apr 28, 16 8:44 am Post subject:
But you might be able to tell me which programmes (or whatever they are) I need

Nick

Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 34535
Location: Hereford

Posted: Thu Apr 28, 16 8:44 am Post subject:

mochyn wrote:

I only ask because I don't think I have much space on my laptop but there's a huge list of things on it. I'm sure there must be some I don't need!

Why don't you think there's much space?

mochyn

Joined: 21 Dec 2004
Posts: 24585
Location: mid-Wales

Posted: Thu Apr 28, 16 9:03 am Post subject:
Can't remember now, not can I remember how to find out! Durrr...

Nick

Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 34535
Location: Hereford

Posted: Thu Apr 28, 16 9:08 am Post subject:
Do you have a My Computer icon?

mochyn

Joined: 21 Dec 2004
Posts: 24585
Location: mid-Wales

Posted: Thu Apr 28, 16 9:15 am Post subject:
I don't think so. What does it look like?

mochyn

Joined: 21 Dec 2004
Posts: 24585
Location: mid-Wales

Posted: Thu Apr 28, 16 9:20 am Post subject:
Ooh: I've just found 'storage' in the settings thingy. It says 71.8 out of 74.5 gb used. That sounds full to me...

Nick

Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 34535
Location: Hereford

Posted: Thu Apr 28, 16 9:24 am Post subject:

mochyn wrote:

Ooh: I've just found 'storage' in the settings thingy. It says 71.8 out of 74.5 gb used. That sounds full to me...

Yep, hard to disagree.

I'd get rid of anything in a folder called temp, temporary or tmp, and my downloads folder accumulates crap I don't need. And then music, pictures, and documents can be moved onto memory sticks, or external drives.

mochyn

Joined: 21 Dec 2004
Posts: 24585
Location: mid-Wales

Posted: Thu Apr 28, 16 9:27 am Post subject:
Right. I shall have a go at that later when I get back from college You're a star. Well, both of you are.

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45674
Location: Essex

Posted: Thu Apr 28, 16 9:46 am Post subject:
Didn't I once give you an external hard drive? (I might be wrong)

mochyn

Joined: 21 Dec 2004
Posts: 24585
Location: mid-Wales

Posted: Thu Apr 28, 16 9:53 am Post subject:
I shall have a look in the basket of cables &c...

mochyn

Joined: 21 Dec 2004
Posts: 24585
Location: mid-Wales

Posted: Fri Apr 29, 16 8:36 am Post subject:
I think I've found it: little flat black thing with solid state drive on it?

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45674
Location: Essex

Posted: Fri Apr 29, 16 9:30 am Post subject:
yep

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46235
Location: yes

Posted: Fri Apr 29, 16 11:14 am Post subject:

when freeing disc space on a windows system my order of battle usually goes something like

back up all important files (data,photos,books, saved webpages etc ) to an external hard drive.

run c cleaner(free download if you dont have it already) to delete temporary files and lots of other junk cluttering the system

run a disk defragmenter(there should be one in accessories in the all programs list but defraggler(a free download)is very good.(this might take a while so overnight with the power settings set to disk always on ,screen always on cos if it turns itself off after 20 mins it might stop defragging)

run c cleaner again this time with the wipe free space options turned on(this will take a while but if the disk is fairly full not too long)

by now the files on the disk should be in a fairly tidy order which makes it easier to see what you have and speeds up the next stages

in my computer find the disk drive and get a list of files up,delete redundant files and unused previous versions of things,delete all but one copy of each file.delete corrupted files(this takes quite a bit of time to do ) move files to places you can find them,my photos,documents etc etc create folders for groups of files which helps finding stuff.

de frag and clean again

use the external hd to reinstate any files deleted in error(keep a note if you press the wrong button)

defrag and clean with wipe free space,defrag again(allow some time for these)

if i have got owt wrong in that list will somebody please point it out before i help trash mochyn's world

the last time i did this i managed to get from 238 /195 g to about 160/90g on my 2hard disk lappy ,it took a couple of days pooter time and maybe 8 hrs dpack time but it not only made it easier to find stuff but made the system faster and much more stable.

it seems a lot of faff but it does work to rejuvenate a well used older machine

im sure we can talk you through any bits that get confusing

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46235
Location: yes

Posted: Fri Apr 29, 16 11:32 am Post subject:

ps at some point fairly early in the process ( before the back up is a good place) use malawarebytes and spybot(free download versions are fine) which will find and help you remove a load of un necessary/possibly malicious stuff.
this might not be a lot of disk space but the sort of stuff they remove do clutter the system more than their size might suggest.

pps much of the above can be done in safe mode(see help for starting up in safe mode)which as safe mode will not autostart many programs that use processor and ram capacity will speed up many of the stages.

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