Randy Tyndall 1087023 Posted June 22, 2010 at 11:13 PM Posted June 22, 2010 at 11:13 PM I have a general computer question for anyone with more computer savvy than I, which is probably 90% of the people here... I am using Windows XP, Media Center Edition and IE8. Each month I diligently download the Microsoft updates that come out the second Tuesday of each month, although lately it seems it's changed to the third month. I have update manager set to notify me, but not to download and install unless I tell it to. I had a bad experience having automatic updates turned on and losing a flight because my system began downloading and installing right in the middle of approach to Las Vegas during peak hours. I have updates dating from 2007 taking up space in my system. I googled the question, but the only solid answer I saw dealt with clients of Windows Server in an office environment, which I am not. I tried to open a "ticket" with Microsoft to ask this question, but met with no success. I tried to call Microsoft, but being from the United States I had a great deal of trouble understanding the Bangladesh accent and really didn't want to provide all the personal information they wanted just to ask a simple question. Can I delete old updates and if I can, how do I know what updates are safe to delete? I'm talking everything from Malware removal tool, security updates, microsoft.net versions, etc, etc. Any help would be appreciated. Randy Tyndall - KBOI ZLA I-11/vACC Portugal P4 “A ship is always safe in the harbor. But that’s not why they build ships” --Michael Bevington ID 814931, Former VATSIM Board of Governors Vice President of Pilot Training Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher Mauro Posted June 23, 2010 at 12:51 AM Posted June 23, 2010 at 12:51 AM Well... I am not computer expert or anything but I am [Mod - Happy Thoughts]uming the updates are there for a reason.. to update bits and pieces of your OS which is Windows XP. It shouldn't take up too much space on your computer.. As for the malware removal tool, unless you have malware on your computer (which I feel bad for you if you do), then just remove it, because you won't need it. Security updates and microsoft.net versions, like service packs, and other important updates, are pretty vital when talking about Windows. Best regards, Chris Mauro Chris Mauro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luca Benelli Posted June 23, 2010 at 07:27 AM Posted June 23, 2010 at 07:27 AM Are you referring to the files/directories for the updates? i seem to remember they start with a $ sign in XP. If you refer to those you can delete them. They are not the updates in itself but only the "downloadable package" which then gets installed. If instead you want to remove the updates via the install/uninstall option, that's a no... Luca Luca Benelli - C3 - P2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Tutty Posted June 23, 2010 at 02:54 PM Posted June 23, 2010 at 02:54 PM (edited) Edited May 27, 2022 at 02:59 AM by Paul Tutty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luca Benelli Posted June 23, 2010 at 03:04 PM Posted June 23, 2010 at 03:04 PM ah there i have it, somebody more MS savvy said it with the right words: hotfix uninstallers Luca Benelli - C3 - P2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Tyndall 1087023 Posted June 23, 2010 at 06:26 PM Author Posted June 23, 2010 at 06:26 PM A Thousand Thanks to you Paul, and to everyone who responded. Yes, Luca, I was referring to the files that are preceeded by "$". I will look into CCleaner and the hotfix unistaller as soo as I get off the forums. Thanks again. By the way, Paul, I'm "in" Tulsa right now virtually fixing to depart for STL. Also, my oldest son lives in Kansas, OK just a few miles to the East from you. Small world, huh Randy Tyndall - KBOI ZLA I-11/vACC Portugal P4 “A ship is always safe in the harbor. But that’s not why they build ships” --Michael Bevington ID 814931, Former VATSIM Board of Governors Vice President of Pilot Training Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Tutty Posted June 23, 2010 at 09:50 PM Posted June 23, 2010 at 09:50 PM (edited) Edited May 27, 2022 at 03:00 AM by Paul Tutty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Tyndall 1087023 Posted June 24, 2010 at 02:46 AM Author Posted June 24, 2010 at 02:46 AM Okay, I downloaded CCleaner and the hotfix uninstaller and ran both. Freed up 2,000+ MB and got rid of all those uninstaller files. Probbly won't see the freespace until the next time I defrag, but good to know it will be there. Thanks again, Paul. I'm gonna have to get the premium version come payday so I can pick and choose the files to "clean". Why isn't it this easy to get an answer from microsoft... Randy Tyndall - KBOI ZLA I-11/vACC Portugal P4 “A ship is always safe in the harbor. But that’s not why they build ships” --Michael Bevington ID 814931, Former VATSIM Board of Governors Vice President of Pilot Training Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Tutty Posted June 25, 2010 at 08:53 PM Posted June 25, 2010 at 08:53 PM (edited) Edited May 27, 2022 at 02:59 AM by Paul Tutty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ernesto Alvarez 818262 Posted June 25, 2010 at 08:58 PM Posted June 25, 2010 at 08:58 PM yea i got hit with the fake windows defender software a few months ago. had to reformat to get rid of it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Tyndall 1087023 Posted June 25, 2010 at 10:31 PM Author Posted June 25, 2010 at 10:31 PM Paul, Not to worry. I was mistaken. It was on the third link you posted to the hotfix uninstaller that had a freeware version and a licensed version. I got the two confused in my answering post. Sorry, didn't mean to cause alarm. The link to CClean was the one in your post and was to Piriform. All's good Randy Tyndall - KBOI ZLA I-11/vACC Portugal P4 “A ship is always safe in the harbor. But that’s not why they build ships” --Michael Bevington ID 814931, Former VATSIM Board of Governors Vice President of Pilot Training Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Tutty Posted June 26, 2010 at 06:55 PM Posted June 26, 2010 at 06:55 PM (edited) Edited May 27, 2022 at 02:58 AM by Paul Tutty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacques Malan 995061 Posted June 27, 2010 at 10:04 AM Posted June 27, 2010 at 10:04 AM Just a thought in my own experience. When you install programs such as Flightsim, it checks the current Windows installation and sets itself up in the registry and other places accordingly. Windows upates modifies and in some cases enhances the way that the Operating System works, which in effect 'breaks' your flightsim installation, because it is no longer the same OS that it was installed on. I prefer to do a clean Windows installation, download all updates available, and then disable updates alltogether. My flightsim has been running perfect without crashes or other problems since installation. Jacques Malan VATSIM Supervisor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luca Benelli Posted June 27, 2010 at 01:19 PM Posted June 27, 2010 at 01:19 PM IF you use your PC ONLY for Flight Simulation, disabling updates may be an option... usually it is NOT recommended... Luca Benelli - C3 - P2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Tutty Posted June 27, 2010 at 03:35 PM Posted June 27, 2010 at 03:35 PM (edited) Edited May 27, 2022 at 02:58 AM by Paul Tutty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darrol Larrok 1140797 Posted June 27, 2010 at 03:37 PM Posted June 27, 2010 at 03:37 PM Updates don't work the way Jacques describes. It does change the operating system, but it doesn't break compatibility or rearrange the registry. All it does is fix problems, with a few exceptions relating to anti-piracr updates. Software doesn't analyze the OS. A software install creates folders, moves files and makes some entries in the registry. On occasion it will look at your hardware or driver config. Updates aren't going to cause you trouble. If your using the internet, you need most of the security updates, want most of the other one and if you can't differentiate the two, your probably best off installing all of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luca Benelli Posted June 27, 2010 at 04:43 PM Posted June 27, 2010 at 04:43 PM IF you use your PC ONLY for Flight Simulation, disabling updates may be an option... usually it is NOT recommended... As Paul stated that approach has a main problem, if you are on this forum you probably fly online.. so it's really not a good idea. Luca Benelli - C3 - P2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erhan Atesoglu 1050499 Posted June 27, 2010 at 09:09 PM Posted June 27, 2010 at 09:09 PM Microsoft generally reserves the OS changes itself for Service Packs only.... Off topic a little but Vista SP1 actually uses the same NT kernel as Win7. I started with SP1 so I never had that bad Vista experience http://www.pond64.net Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darrol Larrok 1140797 Posted June 27, 2010 at 09:15 PM Posted June 27, 2010 at 09:15 PM All Windows OSs since 2000/NT use some form of the NT kernel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erhan Atesoglu 1050499 Posted June 27, 2010 at 10:21 PM Posted June 27, 2010 at 10:21 PM NT Kernel 6.1 to be exact. Actually it's pretty much unified across vista, server 2008 R2 and Win7. Just different versions let you run your system in different ways. Obviously the UI in Win7 trumps Vista UI http://www.pond64.net Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Baker 1080999 Posted July 5, 2010 at 11:23 PM Posted July 5, 2010 at 11:23 PM for defrag and registry cleaner use Ausologics Registry Cleaner and Ausologics Disk Defrag Defraggler shows stuff that can't be defraged because it is MFT ZAU S-2, Major Certified ZAU S-1 Mentor (Disclaimer: the post above does not necessarily express the opinion or stance of ZAU or ZAUs training program, this view is made by me and me alone) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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