How To Delete Files And Free Up Disk Space?

[Jaffacakes]

I don't know a a lot about computers at all, but my PC just keeps getting slower and slower so i need to know how to delete files properly.

Is there a good, free program that I can use to compress then delete the files from the hard drive (or where ever they are stored).

I just downloaded "WinZip" and compressed a file but it is still in my "my videos" folder and can still be played, so how do to free up disk space and delete the file?

Edited April 11, 2006 by Jaffacakes

[tomturd]

You should find the zip file in the same place as the video. You can delete the video, then if you ever want to watch it you will need to unzip the zip file.

Theres not much point in that, as

a) video files are already highly compressed so winzip wont compress them that much more.

deleting files doesnt make your computer any faster.

To speed your computer back up, you should download and run adaware and spybot first, then do a virus scan. Might not help much but itll help more than deleting files.

[Greetings]

As above, and if you decide to remove files or compress them, give the hard disk a defragmentation once you're done. This will sort the files on your hard drive so that they are not fragmented and don't have gaps inbetween. This is what causes the execution of programs to be slow.

You'll find the program under:

Start>Programs>Accessories>System tools>Defragmentator (or something similar, translating from polish)

This will take a long time, especially if you haven't done it in the past. Leave the computer on over night.

edit:

These are some programs Tomturd mentioned:

Spybot program - A good free anti-spybot program

AVP - Anti virus software, I think it's still free

Edited April 11, 2006 by Inur

[Jaffacakes]

I downloaded a spybot, then ran the scan and it had 44 viruses . It's all sped up though.

I was trying to zip up about 15 lost episodes which were around 350mb each, not just trials vids

As above, and if you decide to remove files or compress them, give the hard disk a defragmentation once you're done. This will sort the files on your hard drive so that they are not fragmented and don't have gaps inbetween. This is what causes the execution of programs to be slow.

You'll find the program under:

Start>Programs>Accessories>System tools>Defragmentator (or something similar, translating from polish)

Cheers for that, It finished defraging in just over 45 mins .