I hate it when my computer has a mind of it's own. I like to clean my HD of unwanted files. Unfortunately XP doesn't like that. I deleted a number of files and folders, count to ten and the computer loads them right back on.

I've searched the registry and deleted all references to the files and still they come back. I removed PC Help & Tools on the assumption that it was where this reloading was comming from. WRONG!

I thought maybe it was some function of the XP recycle bin so I deleted them in the command line. They disappeared until I went back to Windows and there they are again.

Anybody know how to permenantly delete unwanted files that XP wants to keep?

That depends on the exact files/folders that you're dealing with, now doesn't it? :mrgreen:

Please give us more specific information on that and we'll help you out.

Possibility one:

You're trying to remove system files and you might as well stop tying.

Possibility two:

You're trying to delete spyware and other nasties and you've no hope of doing so. Use removal tools instead.

True. Many Windows files/folders can and will auto-regenerate as needed. If you're trying to delete those sorts of things, there's no need to, and, as Catweazle said, you shouldn't be trying- they're not the types of items that should be involved in any "cleanup" efforts.


And that's a very good possibiltiy. Files/folders which are not part of the core operating system but still have the ability to "respawn" after deletion are quite often components of malicious infections. As I asked before, please give us more specific information on the exact files/folders in question.

I am trying to remove unwanted software supplied by HP. An example would be Movie Maker. (moviemkr.exe) There are several .dll's also in the folder. They regenerate also. Doesn't anyone here know how the system regenerates? It has to pick up the needed files from somewhere. It's finding a usable mm.exe and reloading it. If I delete the source, it can't regenerate.

havnt you tried it from add remove programs in control panel ?????

NEVER, NEVER, NEVER DELETE SOFTWARE!

Uninstall software, don't delete it. Deleting software does not work!

A question worth asking. Do it that way if you have the option.

Erm, um, well... while CW does have a rather inimitable way of responding to some questions, his suggestion is on the mark here: if you can't uninstall a program through the control panel, it isn't suggested that you try to do so by just deleting components of the program "by hand". That will almost certainly leave "orphaned" entries in the Winows registry and other leftover bits of the program .

Yep, on a very serious note, Dick, you sound like one of the people I encounter in my work role quite often - those who want CONTROL at all costs, and will do anything to rid their systems of any trace of a program that they didn't specifically ask for. There's absolutely no need to go on a deleting rampage just to disable unwanted tools, stop reporting back to the manufacturer or whatever, and eliminate slight system overheads that they create.

They do no harm sitting there. You can disable vurtually any manufacturer installed tools with a combination of Add/Remove programs and msconfig.

The disk space is NOT essential to reclaim. If you're that pressed for storage space, go buy another hard drive because they're quite inexpensive. If you need to delete every tiny thing you see that isn't being used, then you're too cramped for storage to start with.

Sorry to be so blunt, but I'm afraid that the approach you've described leads to problems in 99.99% of cases!

For those that read my first thread and understood it completely. It should be obvious that I can clean out unwanted registry entrys if I want to. I would have hoped that I came across as one that knows how to use add/remove also.

So far I have removed three gigs of unwanted garbage from my HD. To me this is more than a little bit of unwanted files. I have suceeded in removing most of the self regenerating files by of all things, by using the "safe mode". I had already shut down prefetch, and killed all the back web stuff. The only items that are still bugging me are several empty folders such as games and the movie maker empty folder. I don't like unused folders filling up my drive. I know they don't take up any room. It's the visual that bugs me.

If you don't know how Microsoft sets up folders that can't be deleted, I'll be glad to bring you up to my level. You can change access to most registry items except "Prohibited Files" registry entry. If you can't change the entry, you can't block the folders it protects. I'll eventually beat it but it isn't way up there on my priority list. I just thought there might be knowlegeable guy on the forum that knew more than I did about it.