As part of our ongoing "farewell to DOS" coverage, I hope to collect and present a bunch of outstanding and useful "batch files"--- DOS-level command scripts that can automate many functions, tasks and processes.

If you have a batch file you're especially proud of and would like to share, please send me complete, annotated copy of the file (please use plenty of REM statements!) at batch@langa.com. (See the next item for an example of an annotated batch.) I'll include the best of the batch in a future article, and will give full credit to the author of each batch file I include.

If you send a file, please also include a text description of what the batch file does and any caveats (eg does it need to reside in a particular location, or require unusual external files?). Please also tell me if you want me to include your email address or home page address along with your batch file, if it's selected.

Again, see the next item for an example of an annotated batch.

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3) Free Up Hundreds Of Megs Of Disk Space!

Here's an example of a very simple annotated batch file: This particular file can free up literally *hundreds of megabytes* of extra space on your hard drive by scrubbing away junk and unwanted files that Windows leaves behind (even if you use Windows' "Disk Cleanup Wizard"). I run a file like this every night.

There are two ways to get the file on your machine. I'll tell you how you can download it, for free, in a moment, but please read through the following text so you'll be sure you understand what the file does.

Better still, manually copy the file, because then you'll have 100%, total control over everything the file does. It's easy! Here's how:

Copy and paste the following lines into Notepad, and then save the file; name it something like "CLEANUP.BAT." (Make sure you're naming it ".bat" and not ".txt"). It can reside anywhere, and uses only files and commands that are normally part of a standard Windows installation.

@rem The first group of lines clears the screen and displays program information
@cls
@echo Fred Langa's Cleanup.Bat, a Win9x hard-disk cleanup tool.
@echo            ---------------------------------------------------------
@echo              Copyright (c) 2000 Langa Consulting LLC
@echo                      http://www.langa.com
@echo            ---------------------------------------------------------
@echo      Use Notepad to view file contents before running!
@echo Please also see http://www.langa.com/cleanup_bat.htm
@echo      for precaution/usage info and for newer versions.
@echo                                    -----------
@rem This file is offered as-is and without warranty of any kind.
@rem This file may be redistributed as long as this header
@rem information is retained in the final file.
@rem
@echo This batch file aggressively cleans up temp files in windows.
@echo   Note: all other apps should be closed before running this.
@echo ---------------------------------------------------------
@echo If you haven't followed the instructions above, hit ctrl-c to abort; otherwise
@pause
rem The next line wipes out the entire temp directory(ies), if it(they) exists
deltree /y c:\windows\temp\
deltree /y c:\temp\
deltree /y c:\windows\tmp\
deltree /y c:\tmp\
rem Next set of "del" lines deletes possibly-large "orphan" files that sometimes
rem get placed inappropriately in the "temporary internet files" (TIF) directory.
rem Note: it does NOT clean out files that actually belong in the TIF.
del c:\windows\tempor~1\*.zip
del c:\windows\tempor~1\*.exe
del c:\windows\tempor~1\*.gif
del c:\windows\tempor~1\*.jpg
del c:\windows\tempor~1\*.mov
del c:\windows\tempor~1\*.qt
del c:\windows\tempor~1\*.png
del c:\windows\tempor~1\*.bmp
del c:\windows\tempor~1\*.avi
del c:\windows\tempor~1\*.mpg
del c:\windows\tempor~1\*.mpeg
del c:\windows\tempor~1\*.ra
del c:\windows\tempor~1\*.ram
del c:\windows\tempor~1\*.mp3
del c:\windows\tempor~1\*.asf
rem Next line kills garbage files that Office leaves behind in c:\windows
del c:\windows\ff*.tmp
rem next line erases the icon cache, saving some resources on restart
deltree /y c:\windows\ShellIconCache
cls
exit
rem For best results, reboot after running this file.

Of course, you can (and should) edit and modify this batch script to preserve any files you *don't* want it to delete, or to delete other junk files that may accumulate in other places on your system. In any case, read through the script and make sure it's going to do what (and only what) you want before you run it. Because this script operates from DOS, the files it deletes will NOT be placed in the Recycle Bin: They will, in fact, be deleted immediately and may be difficult or impossible to recover. It's up to you to make sure that the batch file works only on files that are safe to delete! (If you're not sure what's safe, see the next item in this newsletter.)

Before you use this file, close all other running apps--- that's important because running apps use the Temp directory (that's what it's there for) and it's not a good idea to delete the Temp area while it's in use. When you close all other apps, the Temp file area should contain only junk that's safe to delete. (You can verify this by using Windows Explorer to view the contents of your Temp directories to ensure that nothing important has been placed there in error.)

When you click on CLEANUP.BAT to run it, it will identify itself, tell you what it's going to do, remind you to close all other apps, and give you a prompt telling you that you can abort the batch operation (by hitting the Ctrl and the letter C key at the same time) or go on (by hitting any other key).

If you abort, the batch file ends without doing anything at all; it makes absolutely no changes to your system. But when you let the batch script run, it will delete many temp files, and chances are good that it will free up *a ton* of space: On one cluttered system here, for example, it freed up over 700 MB! Of course, subsequent runs will delete far fewer files, especially if you run this file regularly.

If you have trouble getting the file to run, and if you copied the lines from the email version of this newsletter, it's possible that some lines got word-wrapped in your email. The web version of this newsletter, at http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2000/2000-08-17.htm , has a correctly-formatted version you can copy more reliably.

Or, if the above batch script is OK to run as-is on your system, you can download a copy for free (saving you the hassle of cutting-and-pasting or editing) by clicking here: http://www.langa.com/cleanup_bat.htm

All the above shows both the power of DOS (freeing up potentially hundreds and hundreds of megabytes of junk files that Windows misses) and the hassle of DOS (you operate without Windows' safety nets).

You may decide it's not worth the hassle, but I feel otherwise--- especially when I can run a little file like this and regain 700 MB of space!

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4) But How Do You Know What's Safe To Delete?

Logically, all files in any "temporary" directory, or any file labeled "*.tmp" should be safe to delete. Temp files are are just that--- impermanent--- and no program should place any file you really need in a Temp directory; nor create any essential file with the "tmp" extension.

But not all temporary files get placed where you expect: Indeed, sometimes unneeded files are placed outside the Temp directories, and use other file extensions. If you know what and where those junk files are, you can whack them, too, as we discussed many months ago in http://www.langa.com/newsletters/1999/oct-7-99.htm#more .

But how can you be absolutely sure a file is OK to delete? For example, after reading the back issue mentioned above, a reader asked:

Hi Fred,

I look forward to your column - I've learned so much over the last year, just reading!! However, the above... column has me "confused"!!

Using his samples _*.* , ~*.* , *.??_ , and *.??~ . of files to delete, "safely", I presume?? I'm very dubious to delete things I don't understand what they are used for? Even if you right click on any given file, go to properties, they give "minimal" info. anyway! How can you determine IF it's safe to delete? Is this just a blanket OK? All files found are OK to delete? I have trouble believing that!!! I know you've said many times -- be careful in deleting temp. files - OK. How do you determine which temp. files are deleteable? See the dilemma I'm in?? Which way to turn, safely? I've gotten into terrible trouble using CleanSweep doing this and corrupted my system completely.

Look forward to your column advice. Cordially, John Stiers in Dallas.

Not enough people do this, but the very best way to avoid problems like John's is to make a full system backup before you do *any* heavy-duty maintenance. There is no real substitute for the security of having a complete backup of all files. (I'll be covering backup methods in upcoming columns.) With a good backup, if it turns out you need a file you've deleted, you can just pull it off the backup. Simple!

But what do you do if you never make backups, or make them only rarely? What then?

Try this: If you're not sure if something is safe to delete, move it to a new directory instead of deleting it outright. (That is, make a directory called "limbo" or "holding pen" or some such, and MOVE--- don't just copy--- the file there.) Any programs that need the file will still look for it in the old location, and when they don't find it, will give you an error message. If after a few days or weeks nothing's gone wrong and you've observed no ill effects or error messages relating to the moved file, then you can safely assume the file truly isn't needed, and you can delete it for good.

But if it turns out that you get an error message or some software no longer runs or you need the file for some other purpose, simply put the file back where it came from. Piece of cake!

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