Low on computor memory?

[Kaston]

My poor laptop was about to explode because of all the **** I had on it and I was not looking forward to "spring cleaning" of all of the files I no longer needed to make space for new stuff.

Today I was introduced to a program called WinDirStat that visually shows you what is taking up space on your hard drive so you can easily select and delete files.

Download it here.

Here is a screen shot of the program:

As you can see, I have the top right box selected and it shows me exactly what it is. If it were some movie I had downloaded and did not need, I could easily delete it from the directory tree and free up the space.

I was able to quickly free up 25 gigs from mt hard drive in under 5 minuets!

 

[ZambucaLu]

Without looking, is there a fee for this Kaston?

Lu

 

[breakfastchef]

I will check that app out.

Don't forget to trim down on applications that are resource hogs. CTRL+ALT+DEL will bring up the task manager. If you click the Processess tab, I bet you probably have close to 80 or more processess running. Many of those unneccessary process will bog down system performance.

 

[wv2win]

I will check that app out.

Don't forget to trim down on applications that are resource hogs. CTRL+ALT+DEL will bring up the task manager. If you click the Processess tab, I bet you probably have close to 80 or more processess running. Many of those unneccessary process will bog down system performance.

How do you know which ones are unneccessary?

 

[bizzyb0t]

Without looking, is there a fee for this Kaston?

Lu

It's free and open source

For Mac Os X users, check out: http://grandperspectiv.sourceforge.net/ or http://www.id-design.com/software/whatsize/index.php

 

[Kaston]

Without looking, is there a fee for this Kaston?

Lu

Yes, it is 100% FREE

 

[breakfastchef]

How do you know which ones are unneccessary?

Trial, error and Google.

Most apps that automatically check for software updates (i.e. Google Toolbar, Adobe, etc) are the first you can kill safely. Unless you really want those services running.

Next are apps that start up with your computer, but don't need to be running until you want to use them. For example, I have an external Maxtor HD I use to backup my laptop. All the apps that came with the HD run at startup. Since I only need them to run when I want to use them, I can safely disable them. Another example is the synchroniztion app I use to synch my laptop with my PDA. I no longer synch everyday, so having the app running only eats up system resources.

Lastly, take some time to Google other running processes. A good many are necessary to be active, others may be optional. You can always use the End Process button to see what happens. If the PC burps, just restart it.

Stopping these processes from starting in the first place (as opposed to ending them after they start with Task Manager) is more challenging. Sometimes applications will have a checkbox somewhere in their menus that will stop a process from loading. Other times, you have to make advanced changes to your system by editing the registry or going through Start>All Programs>Accessories>System Tool>System Information (in XP), for example. I am not well-versed enough with many of these changes to make any specific recommendations.

 

[ZambucaLu]

I really don't know a lot about this stuff but to stop programs from opening at startup, you can go to Start...run....type in msconfig....then go to the startup tab. I have XP but also used this on my prior version....unchecked anything I was sure I didn't want at startup. The ones I wasn't sure about, I left. Works great!

Lu

 

[breakfastchef]

...go to Start...run....type in msconfig....then go to the startup tab.

That's the place to go, Lu! Everyone should know this tip.

 

[Kaston]

IStart...run....type in msconfig....then go to the startup tab.

Lu -or anyone else- know where this is on Vista?

 

[Busaholic]

Same. Start>Run>MSCONFIG

 

[tribalmasters]

Ermm there is an easier way to kill off startup tasks CCleaner - Home it cleans out all the temp folders, the registry, startup items and all that junk and its free!

 

[Kaston]

Ermm there is an easier way to kill off startup tasks CCleaner - Home it cleans out all the temp folders, the registry, startup items and all that junk and its free!

I use that program all the time!

 

[tribalmasters]

Its good fun!!

 

[surbitonPete]

Ermm there is an easier way to kill off startup tasks CCleaner - Home it cleans out all the temp folders, the registry, startup items and all that junk and its free!

ccleaner really rocks for a free program.