Over time, your computer can get cluttered with a lot of temporary files stored by programs and temporary internet files. You can delete these files automatically using a free tool, called AutoDelete. This tool allows you to set rules for deleting files older than a specified time from specific folders. You can delete old temporary files and temporary internet files, as we mentioned. You can also delete old backups, and other files you want to purge after a certain amount of time.
Download AutoDelete from
http://cyber-d.blogspot.com/2005/10/cyber-ds-auto-delete-101.html.
Install AutoDelete
To install AutoDelete, double-click on the .exe file you downloaded.
If the Open File – Security Warning dialog box displays, click Run to continue with the installation.
If the User Account Control dialog box displays, click Yes to continue.
NOTE: You may not see this dialog box, depending on your User Account Control settings. See our post, Windows 7 – How to configure UAC (User Account Control), for more information.
The Welcome screen on the setup wizard displays. Click Next.
Read through the License Agreement and select the I accept the agreement radio button. Click Next.
The Information screen displays, containing information about what AutoDelete does and does not do. Click Next to continue.
The Select Destination Location screen displays. If you want to install AutoDelete to a different location other than the default location listed in the edit box, use the Browse button to select another location. We accepted the default location. Click Next to continue.
The Select Start Menu Folder screen displays. If you want to add the shortcuts for AutoDelete to a different Start menu folder than the default listed in the edit box, use the Browse button. If you don’t want to create a Start menu folder for AutoDelete, select the Don’t create a Start Menu folder check box. We accepted the default Start menu folder. Click Next to continue.
On the Select Additional Tasks screen, you can select the Create a desktop icon check box to put a shortcut to AutoDelete on the desktop. You can also choose to add AutoDelete to the Quick Launch Toolbar by selecting the Create a Quick Launch icon check box. Click Next.
The Ready to Install screen displays with a summary of the settings you selected. If you want to change any of the settings, use the Back button. Otherwise, click Install to continue with the installation.
Once the installation is done, the Completing the Cyber-D’s AutoDelete Setup Wizard screen displays. If you want AutoDelete to start as soon as you close the setup wizard, select the Launch Cyber-D’s AutoDelete check box so there is a check mark in it. It should be selected by default. Click Finish to close the setup wizard.
Keep a Log of Deleted Files
The AutoDelete main window displays. There are some settings at the top of the window, including an option to keep a log of all deleted files. To view logs, click the View logs button to the right of the Keep log of deleted files check box.
If you turn on the Keep log of deleted files check box, the folder containing the log files is added to the Folder settings list automatically.
Show Protected Operating System Files
If you want AutoDelete to automatically delete files from the Temporary Internet Files folder, you must be able to view protected operating system files. This allows you to navigate to the folder and select it as a folder to be monitored by AutoDelete. To do this, open Windows Explorer and select Folder Options from the Tools menu.
NOTE: You may have to press the Alt key to display the menu bar in Windows Explorer.
The Folder Options dialog box displays. Click the View tab. Scroll down in the Advanced settings list and select the Hide protected operating system files (Recommended) check box so there is a check mark in the box.
A Warning dialog box displays telling you that the operating system files are required to start and run Windows and that deleting or editing these files can cause your computer to not work. Click Yes to continue.
NOTE: We don’t advise deleting or editing any operating system files manually.
You are returned to the Folder Options dialog box and the Hide protected operating system files (Recommended) check box is turned off. Click OK to close the dialog box.
Wrap Up
This was the first post in a two-part series about using AutoDelete to delete selected files and folders on a specified schedule using custom rules.
In this post, we covered installing AutoDelete, keeping a log of deleted files, and showing protected operating system files so we can add the Temporary Internet Files folder for Internet Explorer.
Stay tuned for Part II, where we will cover adding folders to AutoDelete, specifying settings and filters for selected folders, saving your settings, and running AutoDelete manually.
by Lori Kaufman