Vista - System Cleanup - a discussion please

There are various methods and tools to clean up trash files, temp files,
personal settings, Office temp, restore points, IE temp, etc, etc. And,
there are a multitude of places for the trash to accumulate. However, there
is no one list of what to clean, where to clean, how to clean, and in what
order.

Let's say you have your system tuned and want to do a backup without having
all of the trash, temp, and settings be on the backup. What steps, system
tools (ie Disk Cleanup), and methods do you use?

And, for those of us paranoid about using unknown third party tools, what
manual methods can be used?

Doc

Its simple 'Disk Cleanup'.
--
Andre
Blog: http://adacosta.spaces.live.com
My Vista Quickstart Guide:
http://adacosta.spaces.live.com/blog...3DB!9709.entry
"Dr. Strangelove" <DrStrangelove@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:E45DB4FE-CDEE-409B-A839-A1FFDD852553@xxxxxx

Using the Vista Backup utility.
What file types are not included in my backups?
The Back Up Files wizard backs up the most common file types. The following
files are not included:

a.. Files that have been encrypted using Encrypting File System (EFS)

Note
a.. EFS is not included in Windows Vista Starter, Windows Vista Home
Basic, and Windows Vista Home Premium.

b.. System files (the files that Windows needs to run)

c.. Program files

d.. Files stored on hard disks that are formatted using the FAT file
system

e.. Web-based e-mail that is not stored on your hard disk

f.. Files that are in the Recycle Bin

g.. Temporary files

h.. User profile settings

"Dr. Strangelove" <DrStrangelove@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:E45DB4FE-CDEE-409B-A839-A1FFDD852553@xxxxxx

Sorry Andre, but Disk Cleanup only does a fraction of what is needed.

Doc

"Andre Da Costa[ActiveWin]" wrote:

Well, it does crucial areas of the system that often need clean up. If you
want more granular control, you could try browsing the Temp directory with
hidden files shown and clear out any unnecessary files from there.

Click Start > type %TEMP% and hit Enter
--
Andre
Blog: http://adacosta.spaces.live.com
My Vista Quickstart Guide:
http://adacosta.spaces.live.com/blog...3DB!9709.entry
"Dr. Strangelove" <DrStrangelove@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:2DC9BD67-5CC2-4262-9621-7E964E637A45@xxxxxx

I use Disk Cleanup and CCleaner.

CCleaner scans your computer, and lists files that can be deleted. You can
look at the list before you tell it to delete them. You can also tell it
what files to ignore.

http://ccleaner.com/


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"Dr. Strangelove" <DrStrangelove@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:2DC9BD67-5CC2-4262-9621-7E964E637A45@xxxxxx

That is the point, Andre. There is no one-stop shop to do all of the house
cleaning. How many people know about Windows\Temp, and then
AppData\Local\Temp?

There are many other areas to clean, for efficiency and for privacy. That
is why I called this a "discussion".

Doc


"Andre Da Costa[ActiveWin]" wrote:

I have a script that I go through, where Disk Cleanup and Trend Micro's
"Software History Cleaner" play a major role. Still, there are a number of
other places to look and clean manually.

Doc

"Dave" wrote:

Temp is listed in disk clean up anyway.
--
Andre
Blog: http://adacosta.spaces.live.com
My Vista Quickstart Guide:
http://adacosta.spaces.live.com/blog...3DB!9709.entry
"Dr. Strangelove" <DrStrangelove@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:FD88E4DC-951D-4EBE-AB54-67C6F1C992CF@xxxxxx

One man's trash is another man's treasure.

Judging what's garbage for everyone is tough, especially when any program could put temp files anywhere they want (somewhat).

If all programs just used the common Windows Temp folder it'd be easy and Disk Cleanup would do it. Or if all programs offered a way to clean up their own temp files that'd be great to.

But they don't, and what can MS do to enforce that all other developers do this? Nothing. I think the best (only?) answer would be for users to complain to the authors of the software they use and tell them to offer a way to do it, or use a common temp folder, in their products.