What are these for..

[copey]

Hi amongst my programs have at least 7 of these...( Microsoft Visual C+++2008 Redistributable X86 9.0 21022 )

they all have different numbers ,can they be removed, trying to find out whats slowing my lap top down so much, is

it anything to do with the above. loads of other stuff amongst the Program files that I dont understand.

regards

[vikingken]

I have got 10 of them on a 64 bit machine, you can delete them if you like and take your chances. Deleting them wont improve the speed of your computer, but it might make it a bloody sight worse. It is to do with DirectX, .Net Framework and various other odds and sods. Different programs use different versions of it, deleting a version will stop the program that uses it from working. Deleting programs wont make any difference to the speed anyway, unless you have about a thousand of them installed and they have filled your hard drive right up. If its a clean installation of Windows, you have got a hardware problem. Is the computer reading all of the memory?? Have you got enough memory?? I wouldn't expect it to be heat, unless it keeps crashing. Dont actually have enough information about the computer, to even hazard a proper guess.

[copey]

Hi VK, many thanks for that, think i`ll leave them alone..

Clicking on.." My Computer" shows..

Local Disk ( C ) 7.63 GB free of 140 GB

HP Recovery ( D ) 1.75 GB free of 8.63 GB

Dont know why it shows so full, dont have any fotos / documents etc etc, all kept on seperate storage.

[vikingken]

Thats why its running slow, there's not enough free space for Windows to work. Open Computer, click on C:/ and Properties, Disk Cleanup and delete everything listed. Windows might have decided to store a load of old files, it's quite famous for doing that. Unless you have a huge amount of programs installed, it should only be about half what yours is reading. My laptop which is a bit more like a normal computer than my big one, has 68 programs installed totaling 2.70 GB. I'm using 65 GB of a 1 TB drive, that includes an almost full MS Office Pro 2003 and all the compatibility bits and bobs. I have a lot of photographic stuff on as well, which takes up quite a bit of room. So if you haven't got a lot of movie clips stored on C:/, I cant understand how it can be so big. I haven't long cleaned my laptop up, but 70 GB is a pretty fair average for Windows 7. My big machine runs about 200+ GB, but thats a different story.

[copey]

My lap top shows 81 progs using 2.64 GB, is that about right ?

look thro the list of them and yes I do seem to use most of them, a few I dont understand, like that

redistributable thing and others..I use disk clean up and defrag quite often, so perhaps its a memory thing..

just like me..

[vikingken]

Whatever memory is shown in System Properties, is the amount of memory that is working and I presume you know how much is installed. Its probably all working, its the Free Space ( or lack of it ) that is causing the trouble. You need to have about 35 GB of free space and you have only got 7.63 GB, Windows cant work with such a small amount. Windows has got to have room to juggle files around and yours hasn't. If Windows hasn't got any old files stashed away, I cant explain why its taking up so much room. All I can say with certainty, is its the lack of room thats holding it back. If it was upgraded from XP, it will have the whole of XP stored as Windows Old in C:/ drive Properties and that needs to be ditched. 

[copey]

OK thanks, lap top came new with Vista installed must be at least 5 / 6 years old now....

could be time to start looking for something "abit" newer I think...

[johnnybee]

Ahaaa! Vista..... the dreaded scourge of the ethernet waves!
Little wonder the poor little lappy is lacking and lethargic!
As Ken rightly says, it's time for a mahoosive clearout of all the temp files, temp internet files, ntuser files and anything else you can think of, Copes mate.
You can use disk cleanup, sure, but there are some good free cleaning apps around that do more of a job than DC and do it a lot faster too - CCleaner from Piriform is a good one.
The other thing you can do is to go into your windows files and have a look through the list; anything on there that you don't recognise, open it up and see what's behind the folder. Anything odd or overly bulky - use the right-click menu to bring up properties and folder size - make a note of it and if necessary, google it up to find out what it is and what it does. You'd be amazed at the amount of "stuff" you come across when you get going, and likewise it gives you a good insight into what goes on behind your mouse cursor!

[vikingken]

Another thing you can do, delete all the Restore Points except the last. Vista did sorta upgrade, but I bet it made a Windows Old file as well if Windows 7 wasn't put on as a clean installation. Even if you do a repair installation of Windows, it will make a Windows Old file. I'm not sure why, it wont restore it and a system image has to be used to return to the old installation. On the rare occasion that I do a Windows repair, the first thing I do is use Disk Cleanup to delete that file. I have used C Cleaner since before the flood, but it wont delete those special Windows dumps. I would run Disk Cleanup and delete everything on the list, then run C Cleaner to tidy things right up. I wouldn't bother looking in Windows, you will die of old age before you figure that out.

I've got an old dual core Acer Aspire laptop that was made for XP, but sold in a sale with Vista on it. It runs Windows 7 fine with 4 GB RAM, except I had to change it from 64 bit to 32 bit after SP1. It had always been 64 bit from the day I bought it until then. I got rid of Vista as soon as I got it home, but installed XP 64 Pro. After Windows 7 SP1, the graphics gave out, but formatting it and installing 32 bit saved the day. I boot it up and update it every now and again, but I only keep it as a standby. Its easily as old as yours and its perfectly servicable, I know people who are running a bloody sight worse.

[copey]

Thanks both...I do use C Cleaner, think it used to be called c*ap cleaner before..

i`ll try and look into some of those windows files...see whats what.

cheers

[vikingken]

The easiest and the quickest sure way, delete the partition and reinstall Windows on the free space. That way you will have a clean installation and no funny Windows Old files to worry about. You will have to put all your programs and updates back on, but it will be quicker than what your doing now. I doubt very much if anyone can make what you have got work properly. There comes a time when you just have to reinstall a new copy of Windows, like everything else it gets worn out. People spend weeks trying to repair a hopeless case and it only takes 20 minutes to reinstall. Programs can be added as you need them, you dont have to install them all at once. Updates are the longest job, but you dont have to sit there and watch them install. Set them to automatic and let them install themselves overnight if you like. John will tell you not to bother with updates, but Windows will thank you for it. It will also update all the drivers in as long as you put in a driver for the internet if its not working. The driver disk you got with the computer is as good as useless with Windows 7, but the Visa one for the LAN card will probably work. Windows will take care of all the rest, with the exception of the card reader if it has one. You will probably have to go to the website for that one, if they have written one for Windows 7.

[johnnybee]

Just having a think about why you would have so little free space on the drive, Copey; if it's the same load on there that came with it, you wouldn't have a "windows.old" folder - not with anything in it anyways, as it only gives you an image of what was on there before Vista was installed on it.
There's a possibility that someone else had it before you running XP perhaps, in which case there will be an 'old' folder - worth checking out anyway.
One area you could look at is the antivirus and/or antimalware programmes you run on the system; most of them have logfile keepers attached to them that generate a log of every scan or event on the system unless you go into system settings and disable them.
Most peeps go down the easy route and have preset times for auto-scanning, in which case you've got a logfile for every day of the six-and-a-half years you've been using the machine!
Another area is downloaded update files; when Redmond decides to release automatic updates, your PC picks them up off the UD site and installs them - but again, every update creates its own log after installation so that you can back-track if the update creates problems with other software on the system. Cumulatively that could amount to several gig after that long, so again, worth pursuing.
Best of luck, mate!

[johnnybee]

Looking back over all this, mate, I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion that a reformat/reload would probably be the easier option.
Every PC that I've ever built - or bought - started off with a clean sheet, OS-wise, and in all the eighteen years I've been doing it, not one of 'em has gone past the three-year mark before being reformatted.
It's a ball-ache, sure, but it's the only way of ensuring that everything is as clean as it can be, and you'd be amazed at how much sweeter the thing runs with a clean install, believe me!
Time to install Win7, perhaps?

[copey]

Thanks guys, I really appreciate your input into this, cant say I understand all of it.. ..but some does get thro` to the "little grey cells".
I`ll run some of the info onto paper copies so I can go thro` it bit by bit...its an age thing.

Thanks.

[mikkh]

Old system restore files is the usual culprit for bloat like that, Ccleaner has an option for deleting all but the most recent - use that and reboot


..... as for the original question, don't touch those files - they're basically drivers that are needed by a lot of programs