deleted01022019
Member
- Mar 14, 2014
- 15
Really good spot Noel, I missed that. Thank you. What do you think about the C:\Windows\Installer folder as well?
@mrksys:
You C:\Windows\Installer folder has about ~50 files and directories in it, and I tend to use the approximate estimate that a system should have ~500. On top of those numbers, your system matches all the symptoms for an Installer folder corruption. I don't know what's caused it (but one of those many cleanup tools is a distinct possibility - BTW, do you know why I/many other experts would always recommend immediate discontinuation of their use? Have you read enough online now to know about this & not to use them again, or would you like me to discuss them a bit further?)
For a very brief rundown, registry cleaners are never wise. With all the millions of registry keys on a system, a couple of hundred deletions makes absolutely no difference. It will be a completely non-noticeable effect. On top of this, these tools, often produced by slightly suspect programming teams, compete for the most deletions, because that's how they sell themselves. The risk of a mistake is high (even with CCleaner, which has an amazing brand reputation but really is no better than the rest - and I've personally seen multiple systems crippled by CCleaner (along with many other tools too, but CCleaner is not really that much safer)), so you run a high risk with no benefit. Even just the *theory* of registry cleaning is unsafe.
What about registry defragmenting? Here, the *theory* is safe, as no registry data is being modified. However, the benefit will be minimal, and the number of times I've seen them go wrong.....
I would strongly recommend avoiding registry defragmenting, simply because of the risks of it going wrong.
Temp file cleaning though is beneficial and almost 100% safe. Don't become obsessive about it, but occasionally is a good thing here. The most important thing though is to find a tool that's safe and not overly aggressive (for example, deleting prefetch will initially cause a slowdown of your computer whilst it's regenerated, and has no long term benefit because Windows will clear out old stuff by itself - the only bits still there are the prefetch files still in common use, so why delete them?)
Disk cleanup's good: Delete files using Disk Cleanup - Microsoft Windows Help
Select only "Temporary files" in my opinion. Especially, it is my opinion that unless you are particularly short on space, not to run "Windows Update Cleanup". You will then lose your ability to uninstall a lot of updates, which can prove useful in some circumstances.
Probably run this once ever two months or something. Then if you want a deep clean, perhaps once every six months or so, I would recommend TFC: TFC - Temp File Cleaner by OldTimer - Geeks to Go Forums
Be aware that TFC's a bit more aggressive, it deletes temporary internet cache files and the like, but that's perhaps not a bad thing if done sparingly. It's a much safer/less aggressive tool than most others though, which is why I like it (and use it myself).
Back on topic, I would suggest going through each of those cleaner tools (BTW, I have never yet come across somebody with so many on one system, you hold that record), look through their backups/logs, and see if you can find any C:\Windows\Installer files in the backups, or evidence for deletion in the logs. Sadly, most don't backup deleted files (otherwise no space is saved), but we can try......
Richard
Hey thanks guys for you safety tips. But I want you remind you that I'm not using any of these tool on a working system. In other words, I never use such tool in a day-to-day basic.. not even for regular maintenance. I do very basis regular maintenance of a working station (disk cleanup, some review at currently running startup app and services etc.. ) The only moment I have used those is when my pc started showing corruption evidence.
Unfortunately, this also means that I don't see any benefits from taking a look at all those app's log in an attempt to find the culprit cause of this, because the system was already corrupt at moment of using those...
I will take a look anyway to see if any of these scan may have worsened my situation, but this is the only thing I might gain from donig so. This won't let me find the origin of the corruption issue.
Of course, this statement is solely based on my logic and not my experience/knowledge in IT , so please correct me if i'm wrong.
However, I might want to ask you this: I have a system image backed up about 1 month ago here (yes my system was already corrupt at that time, but maybe the file wer'e looking at were not yet ? (Desktop.ini
MSDTC.LOG)
Since we can't find a way to fix those, could I simply replace them with my old ones, or is it not to be considered at all?
