Installation question

[loribee59]

I don't remember where I've read it, but when you install a new program or software, you're to delete the installation file(s) from the HD...true?

also: if it's true, I'd like to know what file extension they are so I can remove them from my HD safely.

Thanks!

~loribee59

 

[paulewog]

you don't have to.... it saves space, but that's usualyl not an issue anymore.

 

[pinPoint]

browse in DOS to that particular downloaded folder and do a dir/w/l or dir filename*.* whatever suits you.

pin

 

[loribee59]

Yesterday at 11:22 PM pinPoint said this in Post #3

browse in DOS to that particular downloaded folder and do a dir/w/l or dir filename*.* whatever suits you.

pin

it'd be nice if I can...I have WinME on my computer (pre-installed)...and it's been a loooooooong time since I've done DOS.

however, I *can* bring up DOS to do that--if I can remember to do that too! LOL

~loribee59

 

[Michael0701]

loribee59,

do you mean the "setup" files? I do believe that once the application is installed there is no need for these files.

I would caution doing it through a DOS command unless you are quite sure of what you are doing. Windows is pretty good at prompting you if it feels you are removing a needed file, but nothing is 100%.

It would depend on the type of file that was downloaded, (i.e., .exe or .zip). The problem is that just because it's a .exe doesn't mean it's no longer needed.

If the application was installed from a disk they generally put those temporary files into a temp folder. In that case it is pretty safe to run a disk cleanup program and delete all temporary files.

Good luck, I hope this helps.

 

[paulewog]

one program you might try - CleanSweep

It's pretty nice at those kinds of things

 

[godismyjudge]

some of those nifty tools are cleaning to much. That means they delete stuff what they shouldn't delete at all.
Maybe it is that I had some bad experince with such tools.

 

[Rafael]

Most installations take place and there is no need to go back and delete any files.
There are good registry cleaners available for free, though, if you are careful in using them. The registry of Windows constantly grows with useless files that need to be cleaned out periodocally.
http://www.jv16.org/ has PowerTools that can be downloaded for free and used to clean the registry, but caution must be used in deleteing registry entries and only someone knowing what to do should use it. It does keep things running fast, and has a duplicate file finding tool. Best of all its free.

 

[SirKenin]

programs almost never leave their installation files behind anyways. You only see that from lazy programmers and Windows Me. Windows, it's a good idea to leave them there. Windows Me adopted the NT style of protecting system files, replacing them when you delete them. It draws on those resources.

Other programs go in and clean up after themselves. I would bet my timbits that you have little to nothing to worry about.

 

[wrench_twister]

you can run diskcleanup, or whatever its called in XP,and rid yourself of a lot of unnecessary files.I usually do this once a month or sr look in C:\Temp as that is where most installations stores the temp install files

 

[vajradhara]

actually, this is very dependent upon which operating system that you are using.

If you have Win2K or higher then it's going to be different for you than it would be if you were using WinNT or Win9x.

basically, with the new operating systems the installation file is left behind in a special folder. have you noticed that you have the "change" or "repair" option in add/remove programs? the reason that you can do this is because the OS has kept the installation file that was used.

this is actually a "good" thing, by and large, however it does pose some problems. on some machines, the WinInstaller gets whacked and will start to require the "original source" media to install updates or even to simply run the software. this is a know bug in the installer and the solution, which you won't find hard to believe, is to upgrade to the latest OS.

by and large, installation files are all denoted with the extension .exe, however, you should not delete all files with this extension or your machine will cease to function.

also something to keep in mind is that with the advent of Win2K "dos" is no longer present. what you have now is called the "command shell" and emulates many of the old dos commands, however it is not, in fact, dos. so if you have software that requires DOS to run, it will not run in these command shells.