Years ago, I wrote a column for the now-defunct Computer
Currents magazine entitled "Quick Tips and Fixes," wherein I attempted
to answer reader's questions about problems they were having with their
PC's. Though that column is long gone, I still get questions about
working with Windows. In this issue, we've decided to answer a few of
them.
Taking out the Trash
I'm tired of
constantly having to empty the trash, cull old temporary files, and
delete the remains of partial installations on my Windows XP Pro system.
Is there a way to do all of these things automatically?
Jason
Aldaver
San Francisco
There are many third-party
shareware programs available that do exactly as you described, but for
my money Trash It! (from Optimus Software) beats them all. In addition
to deleting temp files and doing all of the other things you asked for,
the program also monitors installations.
Why is this important?
If you've ever setup a program on your hard drive and then had to remove
the software, you've probably noticed that not everything gets deleted.
This is because most setup programs not only create new folders to house
their various parts, but also use existing folders such as c:\Windows
and c:\Windows\System. The uninstaller program does not always uninstall
all of the files it spreads around, especially system and DLL files.
Setup programs can also alter your registery, autoexec.bat,
config.sys, windows.ini, and system.ini files. All too often,
uninstallation doesn't clear out the deadwood that should be deleted
when you delete the program in question. And that can cause your system
to slow or even crash.
Because Trash It! monitors all
installations, it knows what to remove when you uninstall a program,
keeping your system folders and registry free of virtual debris.
The program also comes with a built-in scheduler that allows you
to automatically delete files you no longer need, such as the
aforementioned temporary files. And while it doesn't do windows, (though
it obviously does Windows) it will "take out the trash" (empty your
recycle bin) for you, leaving you free to spend your time installing and
removing various shareware programs at your leisure.
Trash It! is
free to try for 15 days. After that, you must pay $30 to register it.
You can download and read more about the program at
www.optimussw.com.
Getting a Better View
Is
there any way to view your hard drives without having to go through the
menus and open Windows Explorer?
Todd Heiler
Little
Rock, Ark
You are in luck, for there is indeed a way.
Left-click and hold the "My Computer" icon and drag it to the far left
side of your screen, and then release. This should instantly produce a
vertical menu of the contents of that folder. Then left-click and hold
the "c:\" drive icon (or whichever drive you want to display) and drag
it to the top of the screen. This will create a horizontal bar across
the top of your display that shows the entire contents of your hard
drive. If you get tired of it, you need simply right-click on each (or
either) toolbar, select "close toolbar," and, voila, things are back to
normal.
What are We, Bears?
I was
browsing through my Windows files and found a huge (nearly 1GB) file
called hiberfil.sys. I have no idea what this is. Is it safe to delete
it? I only have a 100GB hard drive, so every little bit counts!
Alicia McDonald
Ft. Madison,
Iowa
Hiberfil.sys is a component of a feature called
Windows Hibernation. New to XP, the goal of this feature is to save
power while keeping your system responsive. Ostensibly, it's supposed to
be a shortcut that allows you to leave your PC in suspended animation
until you're ready to use it again. Windows essentially takes a snapshot
of everything in memory and saves it to your hard drive, and then powers
down until you move the mouse or click on a key. In practice, however,
the time saved through hibernation is negligible at best, and usually
not worth the space the files takes. Normally located in your root (c:\)
drive, hiberfil.sys can often be huge--the size, in fact, is determined
by the amount of RAM you have in your system. If you have 512MB of RAM,
hiberfil.sys can be up to 512MB in size, and so on. And while it's
perfectly safe to delete this file, Windows won't let you do so without
first forcing you to jump through a few hoops.
Hibernation is, by
default, turned on when you first install Windows XP. You can, however,
disable it, effectively removing the file.
Here's
how:
* Open the Windows Control Panel
* In your
Control Panel, double-click Power Options
* Click the Hibernate
tab
* De-select the "Enable hibernate support" check box
*
Click Apply.
* Restart your computer. When it starts up again,
you'll find that hiberfil.sys has been deleted and that your hard drive
suddenly has more room
And that's it. If you ever change
your mind and want to re-enable hibernation, just follow the directions
above but instead select the "Enable hibernate support" check box.
Contributing Editor Joe DeRouen writes Windows Advisor
monthly for ComputerUser.
