only 3 percent of memory left....need crash course in copying photos and removing programmes before computer/dolally meltdown

[dolally]

...please!

computer shared amongst 3 kids....loads of photos on it and I know we must copy them onto a cd. Not sure if I trust myself to do it tho!

Also know I could remove programmes but can I delete stuff which calls itself Windows Hotfix? And google toolbars and Adobe updates melarky....sigh.

Also kids on msn all the time, do their conversations use up memory?

(the geeks on here roll their eyes to heaven)

yes, though I was hoping there'd be 1000s of them so you'd gain more space

Do the other people who use the PC have their own logon name? If so in documents and settings there will be each of those names and you can work your way down to their temp folder too

yes, other files in kids' usernames...

have just found a music file and gone completely mad deleting shakira madonna and winnie the pooh....throwing caution to the winds!

also found a folder entitled with a long line of letters and numbers size 41.8 MB ....when I open it - there's a load of Windows-type icons called things like dx.trans.dll. Not sure if I should start messing.

well, deleting shakira madonna and winnie the pooh has got me from 794MB of space to 1.34 GB. The slice of free space on my pie chart is so small it's not a slice but a thin black line. Am afraid puter will self- combust, and then what will I do without mn.

Right, will not touch the dll. etc stuff.

Off to find more kids' stuff to annihilate.

thanks LL, i have tried to delete programmes and games that I know we don't need. Others like antivirus, and blasted messenger seem vital.

I suppose (getting a bit geeky myself now) I could uninstall something like the MP3 organizer thingy temporarily if I was that desperate for space couldn't I? Only just thought of that.

Will have another look and let you know if there's any others I'm not sure about.

have now got five per cent of my disc free!

Well that's better, but don't throw caution too far as you might want it back

Under the kids usernames did you also find their Local Settings folder containing their Temp folders?
There should be one each plus the C:\WINDOWS\Temp

I suspect there is an innocent looking folder somewhere containing something huge that's been downloaded and kept - perhaps in My Documents. However you might just need a 2nd drive anyway.
It's worth thinking about and they are not so expensive now. You wouldn't need to go for a 750GB Sata. Right now 160gb more would be great wouldn't it and would cost about £30.

quick question for Grey/LL/Nighby/anyone who's passing:

am in hidden folders/temp file - am deleting everything in it as instructed - but a window comes up to say that some of the files are read-only and do I still want to delete them? Do I?

help, help, help!!!!!!!!

just went to check my emails and can only get my old email account...same address but old version of outlook express with none of my current messages visible.

help!

everything is still in the recycling bin I think. But don't know what to look for.

thanks LL. Think have bitten off more than can chew. As you say - perhaps its better to go to the computer shop.

Yes have searched for and deleted all files in TEMP folder, though some of them may not have .tmp as a file extension. I think it's all still in by recycle bin - perhaps I should restore everything that isn't named .tmp?

No not hotmail, email is through my adsl server - can access emails through the website.

DD downloaded a newer version of Outlook Express 18 months ago - think I have deleted this in my wild deleting session this morning.

think will change nick to justanamateur

dolally, as for the email I'm sure that's still there. There should be a folder containing a couple of dozen files with filetype .dbx

Am looking up the default location for them since I moved mine years ago. brb

C:\Documents and Settings\yourname\Local Settings\Application Data\Identities\somereallylong_number\Microsoft\Outlook Express

Ok this is where they should be. with each username having their own store of emails.

Assuming they are still there it must just be that you have confused outlook express somehow. I know what to do about that, but perhaps you should save a copy of your emails to CD before you go any further

Hi littlelapin. Fairly new yeah Though I lurked for a bit as my DP kept sending me links I might be interested in.

TY

dolally, just to recap what I was saying.
For each user you will have a folder with several files in that end in .dbx similar to this. These are all your emails.

Sent Items.dbx
Deleted Items.dbx
Drafts.dbx
Folders.dbx
Inbox.dbx
Offline.dbx
Outbox.dbx

If they are still there you are ok and they can be backed up to be on the safe side.

To find this folder let's say that your username on the PC is dolally too.

With 'show hidden files' on you look in C:\Documents and Settings\dolally\Local Settings\Application Data\Identities

You should now see a folder named something like {B3EEEE93D-85CF-773F-9202-A5279384B814530}

Have a look inside it and there should be a folder called Microsoft and one inside that called Outlook Express which contains the DBX files.

You want to copy them somewhere just for now, but you also want to copy those for the other users too without getting them mixed up.

If you have plenty of blank CDs then just copy each set of .dbx files to a different one and write their names on it

Or create a folder on C: called
EmailsBackup and inside it a folder for each user
dolally
DH
DC1
etc
and put their dbx files in their folder.
Then you can sort out outlook express without risking losing them entirely

If you can't find these files post to say how far you got and we'll see if you have deleted them and see if we can get them back from the recycle bin

blow me I think I've found them just as you've described. Well done! There are also some outlook files -dated 2004/5 probably these are the old ones from before dd downloaded new Outlook version - can I delete them?

Now do I really have to copy them onto a cd?Never done this before.

Think I don't have to do it for the kids and as they use hotmail dh uses office computer.

Ok, while you're pondering Outlook can I pester you some more?

I know I will gain more space if I empty recycle bin. I have 350 odd items in there at present. some questions:

1. if their original location was a file ending.../temp does that mean it's only a copy and can be safely deleted?

2. three that worry me have Windows icons and seem to be WLMessenger - customer installable..blah blah - ok to delete?

3. lots of IMTDOCS ending XML - Ok to delete?

4. JPD file are photos I reckon - they were also originally located in /temp files - so ok to delete?

5. Messengercache - 2.368KB worth deleting - is this my kids' messenger conversations recorded? Must remember to threaten them with that.

6. Several empty folders with names like WPDNSE and Cookies - ok to delete?

thanks so much again.

leave the outlook ones for now until we are sure, but remember them.
You don't need to put them onto a CD, but copying them to another folder just for now might be wise just in case.

The next step is to work out why it's not showing them. There are a couple of possible reasons.

What exactly did you do? uninstall outlook express from "add remove programs" ?

Anyway run Outlook express
Go to Tools Menu and click on Options.
Click on the Maintenence Tab

Now you should see a store folder button. Be careful here, but click on it and it should show a pathname to the folder where the DBX files are. If not then where is it pointing? you should be able to cut and paste the path to post it here and then click cancel (you can XXX out the username for privacy)

IF it's wrong and you use the Change button to point it to the right folder you have to be careful as it asks if you want it to switch to that store or delete old emails. You have to say yes to switching.