To complete a New Year resolution, I am trying to tidy up the two computers my wife and I use. For example, looking for things we do not want, I found I386 with various folders. There must be more unnecessary items and I wonder if there is a way of finding out what they are, other than by deleting one and making the computer malfunction. Nigel Ward
Are you also planning to tidy up your car by removing parts of the engine that don't seem to do anything? Or will you, instead, tidy up maps, books, shoes, boxes of tissues etc that have been left behind by users, rather than installed by the vehicle's manufacturer and supplier? There's always a good case for tidying up "user space" by deleting your unwanted files and by splitting vast document dumps into logical subdirectories. But it's a bad idea to mess around with system files if you don't know what they do. It's safer to keep these files hidden -- hidden files are always, in effect, tidy -- or ignore them.
If you actually want to clear some space, run CCleaner (ccleaner.com). This will remove temporary files, unwanted log files and so on. If more dramatic action is required, use the Control Panel's Add or Remove Programs to uninstall applications that you rarely or never use. Running a program such as VisDir 1.4 or WinDirStat will show you the biggest directories, which is where you can save the most space. Typically, these will be video and audio files, and directories full of photographs.
