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Using the Windows XP Disk Cleanup Tool
Author: Eldon Martin
Updated:  15 Apr 06

Disk Cleanup is a software utility that ships with Windows XP.  It is designed to recover hard drive space by deleting unneeded files, such as temporary files and old log files.

The Disk Cleanup utility can be found in the Start menu, under Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Cleanup.

When you launch Disk Cleanup, you'll need to wait a minute or two while it locates the files that can be deleted.  Once this process is complete, the main program window will appear.

You'll see a list of several categories of files that can be deleted, and an estimate of how much disk space can be recovered in each category.  Under usual circumstances, place a check beside every item in the list except for “compress old files”.  I don't recommend selecting this item unless you are in desperate need of more hard drive space.

Once you've made your selections, click the OK button to make the changes.