Windows XP includes a tool that has the express task of helping you clean your hard drive. Bearing the moniker Disk Cleanup tool, you might think that it can be helpful in taming your data. In reality, the Disk Cleanup tool just barely scratches the surface in helping clean up your data. Don't take that as a negative statement of the program — it's not. The tool is a great place to reclaim some easily reclaimable hard-drive space. The most common areas checked by the program follow: - Temporary Windows files: As Windows goes about its regular business, it periodically creates temporary files. If all goes well, those files are deleted when no longer needed. If (for some strange reason) they aren't, the Disk Cleanup tool identifies them as targets for deletion.
- Temporary Internet files: While browsing the Internet, lots of temporary files are automatically downloaded to your system. Getting rid of these can free up disk space, but it can also make accessing your favorite Web sites just a bit slower until the temporary files are again downloaded. (Go ahead and delete them, because the temporary files include many from sites you may never visit again.)
- Temporary program files: Many programs create temporary files and place them (appropriately enough) in a system folder for temporary files. Disk Cleanup tool targets temporary files in this folder for deletion, but only if they haven't been modified in the past week.
- Downloaded program files: This doesn't mean the latest shareware you downloaded. It refers to controls and applets that are downloaded as part of the Web pages you visit.
- Recycle Bin: Delete a file? Bam! It ends up in the Recycle Bin faster than you can blink. If you're the type who forgets to empty the Recycle Bin, the Disk Cleanup tool is pleased to point out your character flaw.
- Setup log files: While installing various Windows pieces and parts, the system keeps track of what it does through log files. After a time, these files can be safely deleted.
Running the tool  | When you tell Disk Cleanup to delete files, those files are deleted for good. They aren't moved to the Recycle Bin, as typically happens when you delete other files. Make sure you really want to delete the files that Disk Cleanup is proposing to delete. |
To run Disk Cleanup, follow these steps: 1. Choose Start --> All Programs --> Accessories --> System Tools --> Disk Cleanup. • If you have multiple hard drives on your system, you're asked to choose which hard drive to analyze. The Select Drive dialog box appears. Go to Step 2. • If you have only one hard drive, Disk Cleanup begins running. Eventually, a dialog box appears that asks you to select the drive you want to clean up. Go to Step 3. 2. Choose a hard drive and click OK. The Disk Cleanup tool starts looking through the contents of the hard drive you selected, calculating how much space it can reclaim. After a time — the exact amount of time depends on how much data is on your hard drive — you see a dialog box from which you can pick what you want to clean. 3. Scroll through the Files to Delete list, highlighting items to find out more about them (cursory explanations appear in the Description area) and selecting the check box of each item you want to delete. Pay attention to the disk space at the right side of the dialog box (under the Files to Delete list) — it tells you how much of your disk drive is each item occupies. 4. When you're satisfied with your choices, click OK. 5. Disk Cleanup asks if you want to proceed; you must click Yes to continue. When you do, the deletions commence. Depending on what you asked Disk Cleanup to do, the actual cleanup can take a few minutes to complete. If you want to use Disk Cleanup a lot and you don't want to traverse so many menu choices, just choose Start --> Run and run the cleanmgr program. Early warning system If your insatiable desire for data outstrips your capacity to store that data, you could run out of hard-drive space. When you start running low on disk space, Windows XP gets nervous and warns you about the situation: - When you have only about 200MB of free disk space, a message lets you know. This message appears once during each Windows session.
- When you have only about 80MB of free disk space, a similar message is displayed, appearing once every four hours — up to two times per Windows session.
- When you have only about 50MB of free disk space, a message appears every five minutes.
- When you have only about 10MB of free disk space, Windows automatically calls up your local computer store and orders a new hard drive. The drive is installed by elves while you're asleep.
The last item would be pretty cool, but Windows hasn't quite gotten there — yet. If you see a low disk space message, start getting rid of some files! If you click the message, the Disk Cleanup tool runs automatically. | 
