In order to try and free up more space on my hard drive,I have taken a good look at what I might be able to delete. I have something on my computer called Free Download Manager 2.5. I don't know how it got there and I have never used it, that I am aware of. It is taking up 3,819.00 MB of space. What is it and do I need it?

I was going to delete it but then got worried that it might be something that is supposed to be there. It has supposedly won awards and people on the Interent were raving about it. I have downloaded BFG download manager for games, but don't know where this came from or what I am supposed to do with it.

Thanks you.

Its legit software - but I doubt you actually need it. If you decide differently later, it's freely available on the net.

Free Download Manager 2.5

InlandAZ,

I looked it up on the Interent but still don't understand what it is used for. It mentioned Flash and YouTube, so do I need it to watch YouTube videos or have Flash Player work? What is it used for?

You can watch YouTube without using Free Download Manager.

If you want to download videos from YouTube to your hard drive for viewing offline or for backing up on CDR, you can use Free Download Manager for that.
http://www.freedownloadmanager.org/youtube.htm

If I remove it I will gain 3,819.00 MB. It sounds like a lot but will that make much of a difference?

The size of the Free Download Manager download is only 6.4 MB. Unless your Free Download Manager has been archiving everything you've ever watched on Youtube, I don't see how you could get 3819 MB out of it. You might check its folder and see what's in there. It's possible you downloaded a game installer that was that size if you ever downloaded anything with it.

Jenny,

I don't know where the 3,819 came from but that is what it said. I looked at the folder and it looks like it was used for all kinds of things. I deleted things that I thought were okay but hope I didn't remove anything essential.

What are file extensions.dll? Are they safe to remove? Some of them are Microsoft C++ Runtime Library. Don't know what they are so I didn't delete them. Some of them took me to a Microsoft File Association because the origin of the download wasn't know. I deleted some of them but was nervous about doing that. Are DAT files safe to remove?

I deleted quite a few things from the Free Download Manager folder but the amount (3,819)is still the same. I really don't get it!

Thanks!

I don't know what they are from either.
Do you think they could be from games you downloaded?

It didn't look like it, at least, I didn't see any games in the folder. I would just delete the whole thing but when I started seeing Microsoft things, I got nervous and was afraid that I might delete something important to my operating system. I hate not knowing more about the inner workings of my computer.

You could do a test --
Move all the files to another folder and see what happens. If bad stuff happens, move the files back. You can test using a few files at a time. My guess is nothing will happen if you never use the program, and it's just backing stuff up for some reason.

I wouldn't delete dat files as most of them store importent info on either your account or a program.

Thanks misslilo!

I deleted a few things and hope that none of them were dat files. When you are not a techie, it can be very confusing trying to know know what is "junk" on a computer and what is necessary for the operating system. I really appreciate all of the help that you experts give us on GB.

The .dlls are dynamic link libraries that contain loads of Methods/Functions that the main program calls. If these libraries are situated in the folder of this Download Manager then they can safely be deleted as no other program will use them (how would any other program know where they are).

Does this Download Manager not have an entry in your Programs and Features list?

mj2c,

I am not sure what you mean by this:

"Does this Download Manager not have an entry in your Programs and Features list?"

I found that I had all of these things in the Download Messenger when I opened the folder. I am not sure what a Programs and Features list is or where to find it.

Thanks.

It's this thing
http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/86721-programs-features-remove-uninstall-entry.html

It's what replaced Add/Remove Programs in Windows later than XP.

I have XP so that is probably why I didn't see it. I am hoping that this computer keeps running for awhile because I have heard that people have had trouble playing games on Windows 7. However my computer doesn't seem to have enough "oomph" for some of the newer games

Gatsbygirl, we are actually having GREAT success with running our games - new and old - on Win 7. Check out the Windows 7 and Games thread stickied at the top of the Glitches forum.

If you are using XP then the equivalent is the Add/Remove Programs in your Control Panels. It will display a list of the programs installed on your computer and you can uninstall them from there.

Thanks mj2c,

I have already done that and that is how I found out that the Free Download Manager thing had all kinds of programs listed on it. I removed what I thought was safe but had to leave quite a few things there. I still can't figure out why it is taking up 3,819.00 MB of space even after I removed some things.

Draclvr,

That is good to know. I have read that people were having problems with Win 7, so I will check out the thread. A new PC isn't in my budget at the moment, anyway

Enable Show Hidden and System Files - and look again.

Show Hidden Program or System Files

InlandAZ,

Thanks. I will try that and see what I find in the hidden files. Hopefully I will be able to figure out what is safe to delete.

P.S.
I tried to get to the hidden files and couldn't find them. I followed your instructions and several others that I found but what I had on my computer didn't match what the instructions said to do. In other words, when I got to the place where I was supposed to open the hidden files, there was nothing that said hidden files that I could open. I have XP and I followed the instructions for XP so it is very strange.