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Thread ID: 18269 2002-04-21 20:59:00 Empty folders Guest (0) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
44986 2002-04-21 20:59:00 I recently had a reinstall of my hard disk contents and I have every where a whole lot of empty folders and sub folders as well as many duplicate files. I know empty folders are not consuming disk space but there is a jungle on Windows Explorer that I want to tidy up. Can I safely remove all folders that are empty or are some, even though empty,nonetheless shared with other applicationsand should be left alone? Guest (0)
44987 2002-04-22 00:33:00 some apps use empty folders for temp files, but hten genrally recrate them if you delet them. you could delte a couple a day keeping track of where they were and if nothing complains - well your in the clear Guest (0)
44988 2002-04-22 00:51:00 Sure, delete away - but as a backup, I would suggest moving the files you want to delete to a temporary folder (eg create a folder called 'backup' on your copmuter) before you delete them completely. Leave them there for a couple of weeks, and if no probs, time to permanently delete them. Guest (0)
44989 2002-04-22 00:54:00 Thanks b.p. Will take your advice and delete 2 or 3 each day and note them. cheers Bryan Guest (0)
44990 2002-04-22 04:07:00 Delete them all as they will be put in the recycle bin from where you can restore them if neccessary. Leave them there until you have run all programs and everything works ok then empty recycle bin.
Actually empty folders do consume a small amount of disk space as do empty files as they are still entries in the file allocation table and there used to be a limit to the number of directories you could have under the root eg 'C:'
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44991 2002-04-22 07:17:00 My favourate trick is to rename any files/folders that fall into the WTF? dept thus... 'suspectfile' becomes '_suspectfile_' or what ever variation might suit you. This completly kills the file in practice, and if after a month nothing is affected, you will be able to toss this file/folder with absolute confidence. Guest (0)
44992 2002-04-22 10:39:00 Thanks Chris, Mike, Michael and bp.for very helpful advice. Didn't realise that though empty they still take up some space. Much appreciated.
Bryan
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