Disk Cleaners for XP

It seems like I've been gone forever. We've had some real health scares at home and it looks like it's going to be this way for the long haul.  Anyway, there's  a lot to catch up on!

I was happy to see talk about disk cleaners. One thing has me stumped and has since I first bought XP Home, used it for a couple of weeks and went back to 98SE: HOW do you clean all of the tracks in XP? I dumped it for this very reason. I used all of the well known programs and they just didn't cut it for XP. With 98 it's pretty clear what to clean, the paths, etc. After a disk wipe with a good program with 98 you can be pretty certain you're cleaned up. But with XP? I ran the programs I mentioned above, configured my own using "Eraser" and still would find little text files scattered all over XP that had references to various files. New ones popping up from the ether almost daily. It became very frustrating.

However, I am still intrigued with XP because of the stability of the OS. I have 98SE tweaked to where it's "kinda" stable, but that's about the best you can hope for with 9x/ME. But XP just hums. I see people using it and they swear they haven't rebooted in a week. That's stable. So, I'm back to giving some thought of giving it a shot IF I can figure out a way to clean the thing. I think what is needed (much like we had with 9X/ME) is a full-blown list of ALL known dumping grounds for sensitive information. Path info down to the file names of these mystery TXT files.

Anyone willing to give it a shot? By the way, I check the registry fairly often and eliminate things manually that don't belong there. I know that will always be a problem. I would just be happy with the paths that bits of info are left by the OS itself. I know there are some good plug-ins for programs that will wipe the files for that particular program, but I'm just talking about XP. I also like the ONE "My Documents" in 9X/ME. I was always getting lost in "local settings" and "owner" and having all those extra folders. But, I would find the text files with weird names that meant nothing -- usually in the Windows directory. There's got to be something that REALLY cleans XP.

IEClean, Window Washer, all of those just don't get it all in XP home. A nice long list of all known paths, file names, etc. would really be nice. That is, if anyone has ever figured out yet where they all are!

Ideas anyone??

Glad to be back!

John

 

What worries me about XP is that so many third-party vendors have had so many major problems with it.

What worries me even further is that XP might be so different because it might be a staging level between "traditional" Windows releases and their proposed (and patented - Ha!) "Pay For Contents" model.

I would rather gargle hot chicken fat than trust MicroSoft.

 

L2BS - Good to see you posting again! And I hope you know we're all rooting for an end to those health problems!

Not being familiar at all with XP, I need to ask - doesn't it have the 'Find' function like W98 and Me? So that you could use the wildcard *.txt command and it would find every single one, complete with paths?

I guess it would be time-consuming to track them all down like that, but once you made a list of the paths the txt files were being stored at and added those paths to Erasers' 'Task' list, wouldn't that help? Pete

 

Hi John,

I'm very glad to see you back here !

First of all I wish you and your family all the best and a good recovery !!!

I'm afraid I cannot be of much help here, I only run W98SE. Maybe Nancy (IEClean) has the time to come to a little help.

 

First I would like to say welcome back. Hope things turn out well for you.
I use Window Washer and I think it works for XP. It's supposed to.
I use Win2k and tried XP. Trashed it faster than a virus.
XP does have all kinds of vendor, 3rd party programs, especially security software. I know you already have XP, but to me Win2K is worth every penny. It's the closest think M$ has made to decent software.
Another thing. Are you familiar with 98lite? If you can survive without IE, 98lite is awsome. It makes 98se rock solid. I used it for two years without one single BSOD. I change software a lot too.

 

Thanks for all the "welcome backs"!! It's been a trying time. My wife was in a car accident, we all thought she was fine until one night when things started going wrong and things haven't been the same since. It helps to be back, I need a break.

I appreciate all the replies. FanJ, did you ever talk to Nancy about IE Clean?

Pete, thanks, as always, for your concern. We're hanging in there. You are right, a simple search for text files seems logical. But, have you ever done a text file search in Windows XP? I think the OS must contain the contents of the Library of Congress.

And Checkout, that is SO weird. I have wondered the exact same thing about XP. A transition platform to "pay as you go" Micro$oft products.

Root, I HAVE looked at 98Lite before and have considered making the purchase. I have heard nothing but great things about it. I know I used their IERADICATOR once and, contrary to what Bill Gates says, the OS worked fine without the integration of Explorer.

I am STILL baffled on cleaning XP. If someone could figure it all out and put it on the web, my guess is it would be VERY popular.

Thanks again everyone and it's good to be back!

John Little (Luv2BSecure)

 

John,

All my best wishes to Tracy !!!
I really hope she will recover.
I wish her and you all the strength needed.

PS:
I'll ask Nancy to have a look at this thread.

Warm regards, Jan.

 

John, I don't do a lot of praying, but I will sure send some good thoughts toward you and your wife. May she be well soon.
My Mom just had a tripple bypass two days ago, so I know how major illness affects the whole family.
Good speed in the recovery process.

 

Hey John, our best from this end too.  Perhaps corn-fused, but that TracksEraser program you turned me on to in another thread cleans my XP pretty completely, assuming we're talking the same process.  Unable to verify it technically, I asked a tech to verify if it was doing its job while he was in there - said it was - apparently now impossible for him know what I was doing when I screwed things up - he doesn't seem to like that, so now I like it even more.  Can't verify it technically, but if someone proves him wrong - I get to make him do some free work to make up for it.  Platforms are listed in the FAQ's for that product - XP is on it.   Best Regards, Rickster