Worthless computer files?

[Warlock!]

I'm runnin Windows XP Pro. In my Windows folder I have approximately 100 folders (and the number keeps growing) of stuff I have no idea WTF it is. They're named similar to $NtUninstallKB916281$, and contain anywhere from one to twenty+ individual files. Are they just logs of uninstalled programs? Can I just delete 'em and expect my puter to run without a hitch, or are they vital in keeping my puter happy?

Just noticed 'em... they really aren't bothering me much, I just hate seeing stuff on there (especially when their numbers keep growing) that I don't have a clue WTF it is.

[racer2c]

Those are Windows update install folders. They are created when you update Windows via Windows Update. I believe you can manually delete those folders as they are for uninstall purposes once the update has been installed and conflicts are found.

[Ferdman]

Those files indicate that you've been doing your Windows Updates, which is a good thing. Yes, you can go ahead and delete them, but you'll need them if you ever want to uninstall those updates. Chances are you won't, so go ahead and delete. Don't delete the first one though. It may be called $hf_mig$. That holds information that is critical and may not let you do any further Microsoft hotfixes. If you remove that one, your compute will start acting funny.

If you're worried about cleaning up your hard drive, clean out your temporary interntet files. That way you can further remove the evidence of all that porn you've been surfing. You might want to toss your cookies too to remove all evidence of surfing.

For further cleaning, do a search for the files with .tmp, .bak, or .chk file extensions and remove those. Those are useless. You can also get rid of files with .txt or .log file extensions, but know what you're deleting first. You don't want to lose the phone number from that hottie bikini model that you saved on notepad.

Doing this should have cleaned up a few hundred megs or more, depending on how many Windows updates have been completed, how much hair your palms are growing, or what kind of programs you've go installed.

[Warlock!]

Cool... thanks.

Lucky for me, porn on my 'puter won't get me in trouble... it just adds to my arousal level here at work. :D