Hi All,

A couple of beginning questions about XP Home (there will be more – I’m sure lots more ).

Question 1

Under C:\Windows there is a folder named $hf_mig$. Clicking on that brings up in the right pane a list of sub-folders, each named KBxxxxxx where xxxxxx is a unique number. These appear to be mostly the patches contained in SP3 with a few for SP2.

In the left pane below $hf_mig$ is a list of folders (all in blue): one named $MSI31Uninstall_KB893803v2$, one named $NtServicePackUninstall$, one named $NtUninstallKB835221WXP$, one named $NtUninstallKB888111WXPSP2$, and the rest named $NtUninstallKBxxxxxx$ where xxxxxx is one of the KB numbers under $hf_mig$.

I imagine all of this is so I could uninstall all of this “stuff” if I wanted. Since I will never do that and since it’s consuming 650 MB of disk space, is it safe to delete all of the above?

Question 2 (similar to the above)

Under C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download there is a list of folders containing the downloaded unbelievably numerous patches for XP since SP3. If XP did it’s job, all of these patches have been installed and, since they’re consuming another 550 MB of disk space, is it safe to delete them?

Thanks in advance for your help and advice.

Jema

It's not recommended that you delete the $hf_mig$ folder -

What is the “$hf_mig$” Folder for And Can I Delete It?

The other appears to be safe to delete -

Can I delete C:\WINDOWS\SoftwareDistribution\Download

InlandAz, let me try this again. I had finished typing my response to you, meant to close the smilie page, but instead disconnected myself from the Internet.

Anyhow, thank you very much for your advice and the links. The author of the site at the first link agrees with you about "$hf_mig" so I will definitely leave that alone.

I read some of the posts at the second link about the folders in C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download. One poster said they're automatically deleted in about 10 days, so I'll wait and see if that happens.

I'll be back later with more questions.

Jema

Here I am again.

1. Where is ScanDisk? Does it have a different name in XP? If the program no longer exists in XP, does XP have something like it?

2. In 98SE, when I exited the registry, all the keys were collapsed. That's not happening in XP. The next time I use regedit, it returns me to the same place I was when I exited the previous time. Is there some setting I can change so that when I exit the registry, all the keys will collapse?

3. Is there a way to change the icon for sound volume in the task bar?

4. There has been only one account created - the Administrator Account, which I renamed. Should I create a second account, give it Administrator privileges, and use it instead of the real Administrator Account? The information I've found on the Internet is inconclusive - some say yes, some say no. What say you?

All help and advice is most welcome.

Jema

Oh, dear. Why are you in the registry where even angels should fear to tread!!

What are you trying to do with the old ScanDisk? Your Disk Cleanup and Defrag are in Start/All Programs/Accessories/System Tools.

Don't know about the sound and volume icon since it's a default. Other icons you can change by right clicking and selecting Properties and clicking on the Customize Tab.

Yes, there are differing opinions on using only the Administrator Account or having a User Account for daily use. I'm sure Jenny or Inland will know more. If you decide to create a User Account, this shows you how...

Set Up User Account in XP

1. It's chkdsk in XP. You can either run it from the command line using
chkdsk /f
or
chkdsk /r
and it will schedule the scan for the next time you reboot...
or you can follow the instructions here
http://www.fatguyutilities.com/workwin/useutils/hdd_chk.html
which have you click on things without having to use the command line.

2. I'm not sure. Have you tried collapsing the keys before you close regedit?

3. There may be a tweak, but I don't know it.

4. I don't think it matters much if they're both Administrator, though I suppose it's possible that one of the accounts may get fouled up and you have to use the other one to fix things. Usually I see advice that says you create a Limited account for everyday use and don't use the administrator account. If you can right-click shortcuts and choose "Run As Administrator" for your games, you might be able to use a Limited account.

+_+_+_+_+_+_+

I see Draclvr beat me to it. Unfortunately I can't add much.

Hi Draclvr,

I was very cautious when I used the registry in 98SE. I always backed up the key and any subkeys before making a change. That way, if something went amiss, I could merge the backup with the registry and reverse the change. Sometimes the only way to effect a change was by editing the registry. So far, I haven't done that in XP - just been nosing around.

I used ScanDisk frequently in 98SE to make sure there were no bad sectors or other errors on my hard disk before defragging or making a drive image. I could be wrong, but I think Disk Cleanup is for something different.

Thank you for the link about XP accounts - I'm sure it will come in handy.

Jema

I'm just a big chicken when it comes to the registry! I've been there, but I always hold my breath.

And I see Jenny has actually answered your questions for you!

Hi Jenny100,

I guess I didn't look far enough because I didn't see your reply before I responded to Draclvr.

1. Thanks for telling me that chkdsk has replaced ScanDisk in XP. Thanks also for the link with instructions on how to use it.

2. Yes, I can manually collapse all the subkeys and keys before exiting the registry. But I'm hoping there's a setting to change so that, regardless of where I am in the registry when I click on exit, XP will collapse everything automatically.

4. I'll have to think more about this one.

Thank you for your help.

Jema

So far as I'm aware, there is no option to do that - XP and above all behave that way in regedit.

I actually like it - I always know just where I've been when making changes.

Thanks InlandAZ.

Another question for all you knowledgable ones:

In C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator (renamed)\Local Settings\Temp there is a file named "Set2.tmp"(its Product Name is InstallShield) and a long list of XML documents, which I can't open so I don't know what's in them. At the moment this folder is 51.8 MB and more XML documents are added every day. Since all of this is in a Temp folder, is it safe to delete them?

Thanks much.

Jema

I would think so - From My Computer, right click your hard drives icon and peruse to Properties. Press Disk Cleanup on the General Tab, it should take care of it for you.

Hi InlandAZ,

I checked Disk Cleanup and if this folder is there, I don't see it. It's also only estimating about 3 MB of space I would free up. So is it all right to just manually delete them?

Jema

I would use the Disk Cleanup first. Normally that just empties that Temp file for you. Try it and see what happens.

Look for the checkbox that states Temporary files in the list -

Hi Draclvr and InlandAZ,

I opened Disk Cleanup again and looked at Temporary Files and it shows 0 KB. This time I highlighted it and read what it says at the bottom about it being safe to delete temporary files that haven's been modified in more than a week.

The Set2.tmp file was created 9/8. The earliest date on any of the others is 9/9. So I guess that's why they're not showing up in Disk Cleanup?

Jema

That's probably why it's not being flagged for deletion. CCleaner would probably take care of them for you.

CCleaner Download

Thanks, InlandAZ.

I've come up with a workaround for Regedit not collapsing the tree of open keys and subkeys when I exit.

Opened Regedit and collapsed everything up to My Computer, highlighted My Computer, and exited.

Re-entered Regedit and scrolled down to
HKEY_Current_User\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\Regedit where in the right pane the data for LastKey was My Computer, which is where I had left it previously.

Exported that Regedit Key to a folder I had created on my hard drive, and exited leaving open all the keys and subkeys I had opened.

Went to the folder with the exported Key and created a shortcut to it on my desktop.

Right-clicked on the desktop shortcut, clicked on Merge, answered yes I really want to do this, and clicked OK.

Opened Regedit and voila! all the keys and subkeys were nicely collapsed all the way to My Computer.

I've tested it a number of times and, no matter how many keys and subkeys I leave open when I exit, as long as I merge the exported Key with the registry before I open Regedit the entire tree is collapsed.

This may not be perfect, but it sure is better than manually closing hundreds of open keys and subkeys a search in the registry can create.

Jema