On my PC, I have more than 100 entries appearing as a variant of $NtUninstal- KB820291$. Can I simply delete these? Denis Lovelace
You can try, but I'd suggest you don't. These are the uninstallation files for hotfixes provided by Windows Update, and they are hidden, protected system files. If you delete them, you probably will not save any space in the short term, because Windows Restore will secretly back them up. You can probably save more space by running CCleaner (http://www.ccleaner.com/) -- some care is required! -- or checking your hard drive with FolderSizes (http://www.foldersizes.com/) or a similar program.
However, if you insist, Doug Knox has developed a utility that removes these back up files and the associated Registry entries. Obviously you must not simply uninstall the hotfixes as this could leave your PC vulnerable to attack.
Backchat: I've been using Crap Cleaner (see above) since it came out, without any problems. However, last time I mentioned it, Bordeaux-based Terry Vincent was not so lucky. "I use a default language of English (UK) but I mix in a lot of French. After running CCleaner, I found that all of the French in my documents was changed to be English (US), creating an impossible situation with the spell-checker," he complained. This appears to be because CCleaner somehow turns on the language setting option ("Detect language automatically") in Word. The workaround is to untick the box for Microsoft Office 2003 before running CCleaner. Defensive strategies include backing up your hard drive, saving a copy of the Windows Registry, and creating restore points.
