Operating on the Operating System

Windows sits on your hard disk like clutter in your grandparents' attic. You can't turn around without falling over it. Here are some prime contenders for system files to delete.

Get Rid of Old Windows
Typical savings: 33MB or more

You've installed Windows 98 over your old copy of Win 95, or perhaps Win 98 SE over Win 98. Guess what? More than 30MB of old configuration information is lurking on your hard drive, just in case you change your mind and want to reinstate your old operating system. If that's unlikely to happen, reclaim the space. The fastest way is to Run Disk Cleanup. Select Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk Cleanup. At the bottom of the list, there should be a "Delete Windows 98 uninstall information" entry. If it's not there, you're golden. If it is, place a check mark next to it, and click the OK button. If you have made the upgrade from Win 98 to Win 98 SE, this process can reclaim as much as a whopping 103MB.

Remove a Few Window Panes
Typical savings: Varies

A typical installation of Windows often throws superfluous codes onto your hard drive. A really careless installation could be trimmed by 100MB without any discernible differences. To trim things down, do the following; select Start, Settings, Control Panel, and double-click the Add/Remove Programs icon. Then click on the Windows Setup tab, and target the sections listed below. To remove an item, click on the box next to it to remove the check mark, then click Apply. If you want to remove some but not all of a setting, double-click on it, and click to remove check marks from the items you want to delete. Here are the prime candidates.

Accessibility Options (entire group). Typical savings: 300KB for Windows 95, 4.7MB for Windows 98

Accessories

 

• Desktop Wallpaper (Typical savings: 600KB-700KB)
• Games (Typical savings: 600KB-900KB, 2.5MB for NT or Windows with Plus Pack)
• Mouse Pointers (Typical savings: 500KB for Windows 98, 1.4MB for Win 95 OSR2)
• Screen Savers (Typical savings: 300KB for Win 95, 1.3MB for Win 95 OSR2 and Win 98)
• Online User Guide Typical savings: 7.7MB, Win 95 only)
• Windows 95 tour (Typical savings: 2.4MB, Win 95 only)
• Win PopUp, under System Tools in Win 98 (Typical savings: 100KB)
• WordPad (Typical savings: 1.2MB for Win 95, 1.7MB for Win 98)

Desktop Themes. Typical savings: 48.2MB; Win 98 and Plus Pack only.

Multimedia

• Multimedia Sound Schemes. If you use Windows default sound effects, delete all sound schemes. Otherwise, load Control Panel's Sounds settings and set Musica as the default sound scheme. At 400KB, Musica takes the least space; others run at 700KB to 3.1MB. While you're still in Sounds, select and delete the other sound schemes one by one. (Typical savings: 6.4MB-6.8MB)
• Sample Sounds. If you use a sound scheme, delete these files. (Typical savings: 700KB)
• Online Services (Win 98). You're already online, or you wouldn't be reading this. So these sign-up programs offer little purpose unless you're Microsoft's antitrust lawyers. (Typical savings: 1.2MB)