Cleaning Up Windows Vista

This post will eventually be a collection of tips on cleaning up and trimming Windows Vista.

Emptying the Recycle Bin

Emptying the recycle bin is the easiest and most common way for people to clean up Windows. Even if you don't, Windows will automatically remove the oldest trash from the recycle bin when it fills up.

Deleting Temporary Files

As you use your computer, Windows and applications save temporary files in the folder dedicated for temporary storage. These temporary folders are given the variable name %TEMP% or %TMP% — in most cases, %TEMP% and %TMP% are identical. Ideally, applications are supposed to remove temporary files after they finish their jobs, but sometimes they forget to remove temporary files. Thus, once in a while, you have to remove temporary files yourself.

To remove temporary files, follow the following steps:

1. Open the Explorer — the default file browser in Windows. You can do so by opening My Computer, My Document, My Pictures or My Music.
   
2. Type in the address bar %TEMP% and press Enter.
   
   
   
3. You'll be taken to the temporary folder, typically C:\Users\YourName\AppData\Local\Temp. Remove any temporary files and folders existing inside that folder.
   
4. If %TEMP% and %TMP% are different, also do the same for %TMP% folder.
   

Cleaning Up VirtualStore

With strict User Access Control (UAC) in effect, Vista places user-generated files in the VirtualStore folder when a program wants to save something in the restricted area of filesystem. Type %APPDATA% in the address bar of the Windows explorer. Then, descend to Local/VirtualStore. Note that not everything there should be deleted as some of them are user settings.

Deleting Windows Updates

Windows updates are necessary to make Windows Vista secure and efficient. However, after updating Windows, some update files are left over and take extra space. The following steps delete these left-over update files.

1. Open the Start menu, right-click Computer and select Manage.
   
2. In the left pane, expand Service and Applications and select Services.
   
3. In the right pane, select Windows update service and stop the serive.
   
4. Open Computer in the explorer and go to C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution
   
5. Go to the DataStore folder and delete all files and folders there.
   
6. Go back and change to the Download folders. Remove all files and folders there.
   
7. Restart the Windows Update service.