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Tips and tricks: Operation clean-up
GETTING YOUR PC rid of junk is always a problem. Often, we are left wondering how to reclaim the hard disk space lost to unused, temporary and cache files. Today, we are going to offer some easy solutions, by making use of free disk clean-up tools.
First, a brief background on how disk cleaning tools actually work. Most of the tools perform two types of operations. First, they have a built-in list of categories notorious for holding useless stuff. This includes, temporary internet files (including cookies), Windows temp folder (often used by various setup programs to place installation files), log files, scan disk file fragments and lists of recently used or accessed items like Run list, URL history and recent documents. These entities can be deleted right away.
The second function of disk cleaning tools is to identify conflicting situations, like dead links, fragments of help files, duplicate files, unused or seldom used files, extensions and fonts. Apart from these standard features, there are program specific options which provide added functionality, like data-wipe, startup control, registry fixing and cleanup Windows uninstall list.
Let us take a look at some of the free tools which provide the aforementioned capabilities. Let’s begin with the CCleaner.
It is 530KB in size and sports a straightforward interface. It shows icons on the left and options on the right hand side. Icons include Cleaner and Issues which scans for files that can be deleted and system integrity issues which can be fixed, respectively.
The Cleaner not only analyses standard Windows snags, like IE’s index.dat, old pre-fetch data but also has an Applications tab that can be used to clean installed applications’ data.
The Issues icon lets you select from a list of integrity problems, which you can scan and fix. Also, you can right-click an issue and select ‘Open in RegEdit’ to see which registry entries correspond to the problem.
The Tools button displays the list of installed programs with an uninstallation package as well. Or alternatively, you can remove an entry in case the program has already been deleted and cannot be uninstalled. Other options include Startup control, scanning only selected folders and list of cookies to ‘keep’.
If you are not good at setting options or are extremely short on time, use Disk Cleaner scanner (364 KB). As soon as it is launched, it searches for files that can be deleted, classifying them by their application names, and shows the size of each group. Check the groups that you want to delete and press Clean.
Another useful tool is G-Lock Temp Cleaner (875KB). It provides the option of searching multiple extensions and creation of an exclusion list so that those particular files are not deleted.
Go to File, then Settings, where you can access options like sending files to Recycle Bin instead of deleting them altogether, and enable searching only for files earlier than a specified date.
Along with temp files, duplicate files are often responsible for eating up space, especially for those who download music files very frequently. Clone Spy (609 KB) is a specialized tool for searching identical files with advanced options. You can compare files in different pools, search by the same size and the same name. Be patient as scanning and checksum generation takes time.
Ever wondered where those applications are installed that show up in Control Panel > Add / Remove list? Use MyUninstaller (41KB).
This little tool is of great help in locating original installation locations. After its initial analysis is done, it lists installed programs in a table with columns showing if the program is obsolete (that is, it can no longer be uninstalled), if an uninstaller is present, full path of installation, installation date, un-instillation command line and other such nifty details. Explore the View menu to learn more.
Next in line are the orphan files. The Orphan Remover (700 KB) takes just two clicks to get rid of links that are dead or created by removed source files.
First, press Scan and then Delete. Note that in addition to the eight types of folders already present, you can specifically search for orphans in a folder of your own choice. The program also has the ability to search for broken links to network, files on CD-ROM and removable drives and RAM disks.
Remember, keeping a PC fit requires a little time coupled with the right set of tools. The websites of all the tools mentioned can be found by typing their names in Google.
The writer’s e-mail address is <nizar.ali@gmail.com>
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