Solved: What are these weird files on my drive?

[Sief9]

On my C Drive there's all these weird folders with just random names. Is it OK to delete them?

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Also I just noticed now, there's a file on my C Drive titled "pagefile.sys" I saw it on WinRAR (It doesn't show on explorer) It's taking up about 2GB.

What is it? Can I delete it? And if I can, how can I delete it?

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Computer Specs:
* System:

• Microsoft Windows XP
• Professional
• Version 2002
• Service Pack 3

* Computer:

• Intel(R)
• Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.80GHz
• 2.79 GHz, 2.00 GB of RAM

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[DoubleHelix]

They're left-overs from various Windows Updates. It's usually safe to delete them.

 

[Sief9]

They're left-overs from various Windows Updates. It's usually safe to delete them.

Oh alright, but what happens if anything goes wrong? But what's the worst that can happen if I delete them?

And also I just edited my topic, can you take a look at my problem there?

 

[valis]

pagefile.sys is your swap drive. You can mange the size of that if you wish, but I woudn't recommend deleting it.

 

[Sief9]

pagefile.sys is your swap drive. You can mange the size of that if you wish, but I woudn't recommend deleting it.

Swap drive? Umm, okay whatever that is. And alright I'll just leave it there.

 

[valis]

it's your pagefile, swap file, whatever you wish to call it. When ram is full, the OS allocates x amount of space on the hd to write to; that's what it's there for.

page file.

You can change the settings manually, but it's generally easier to just let the system manage it. Technically, it's supposed to be ~ 1.5 times your ram size, or in that vicinity.

 

[Sief9]

it's your pagefile, swap file, whatever you wish to call it. When ram is full, the OS allocates x amount of space on the hd to write to; that's what it's there for.

page file.

You can change the settings manually, but it's generally easier to just let the system manage it. Technically, it's supposed to be ~ 1.5 times your ram size, or in that vicinity.

Oh I think I understand, so basically it's 2GB cause I have 2GB of RAM, correct?

So I just read the wiki article, I'm kind of understanding it. But for now I guess I'll just let windows handle it. Thanks for the help!

 

[valis]

de nada. sorta what we're here for....

 

[Sief9]

well I think that sums up my problem, those files are leftover from Windows Update, and the weird 2GB file I shouldn't touch. Thanks everyone!

 

[valis]

glad to help. What was the end you were hoping to achieve? Cleaning up disk space? There's a good little app called ATF (All Temp Files) that you can d/l at majorgeeks.com that will get rid of all the kludge windows leaves laying around. If you do a lot of work in word or adobe this program is essential; if you don't, it's still nice to clean up a a gig or so monthly.

 

[Sief9]

glad to help. What was the end you were hoping to achieve? Cleaning up disk space? There's a good little app called ATF (All Temp Files) that you can d/l at majorgeeks.com that will get rid of all the kludge windows leaves laying around. If you do a lot of work in word or adobe this program is essential; if you don't, it's still nice to clean up a a gig or so monthly.

Yeah that's exactly what I was trying to achieve. I lost like 15GB after formatting my windows, so I was wondering where it all went. (I formatted last week).

And I haven't gotten around to it, but I need to install 4 different adobe programs that I use (Photoshop, flash, aftereffects and dreamweaver) so I'll look up that app, if I can find it on the site. There's like 100 different programs on that site.

 

[valis]

here ya go....

Please download ATF Cleaner by Atribune.
This program is for XP and Windows 2000 only

• 
  Double-click ATF-Cleaner.exe to run the program.
  Under Main choose: Select All
  Click the Empty Selected button.

If you use Firefox browser

• Click Firefox at the top and choose: Select All
  Click the Empty Selected button.
  NOTE: If you would like to keep your saved passwords, please click No at the prompt.

If you use Opera browser

• Click Opera at the top and choose: Select All
  Click the Empty Selected button.
  NOTE: If you would like to keep your saved passwords, please click No at the prompt.

Click Exit on the Main menu to close the program.
For Technical Support, double-click the e-mail address located at the bottom of each menu.

 

[Sief9]

here ya go....

Please download ATF Cleaner by Atribune.
This program is for XP and Windows 2000 only

• Double-click ATF-Cleaner.exe to run the program.
  Under Main choose: Select All
  Click the Empty Selected button.

If you use Firefox browser

• Click Firefox at the top and choose: Select All
  Click the Empty Selected button.
  NOTE: If you would like to keep your saved passwords, please click No at the prompt.

If you use Opera browser

• Click Opera at the top and choose: Select All
  Click the Empty Selected button.
  NOTE: If you would like to keep your saved passwords, please click No at the prompt.

Click Exit on the Main menu to close the program.
For Technical Support, double-click the e-mail address located at the bottom of each menu.

Alright I got it, thanks! It's a small program that doesn't require like, installing it and stuff (I hate it when I have to install something fully with the wizard and such, and it's only a 1MB file).

It cleared up 100MB! Yay! (I already do the temp cleaning manually. )

Thanks a lot!

 

[valis]

de nada....there's a zillion files out there for stuff like that...

just beware; NEVER use a registry cleaner. Never. It's not worth the hassle, and the registry doesn't take up that much space anyhow.

How did you lose 15 gigs after reinstalling?

 

[Sief9]

I've always been using registry cleaner, there's a registry cleaner on BitDefender that I've been using for the past week.

And how did I loose 15GB? That's what I should be asking! Me and my brother always save our music/videos on the D Drive we have. And 5GB went to Windows, 2 to Program Files, and 5 to Document and Settings.

The other 3GB are just scattered around in the other folders. I formatted the computer, basically to clean it up from a couple viruses and mess ups on it. So I brought all the files I needed back on. It's not like I started from scratch again.