Disk Cleanup

I have a small (by today’s standards) hard drive in my computer. It is an SSD with 256 Gigabit of space. I really don’t need a lot of space as I don’t keep videos and other space hogs of stuff on my computer.

However, I am ever mindful of how much space is being used and I try to keep un-needed stuff deleted.

Since I just got the latest update from Windows, the Windows 10 Fall Creator, I figured I should run disk cleanup to remove all the files windows put there while it installed the update and are no longer needed.

I looked at my disk properties to see how much space was being used.



Then I checked C:\windows.old and sure enough there is a lot of space here!



I ran the Disk Cleanup using the option to clean up system files.





Now I have more free space!



But then I noticed a folder I just hadn’t noticed before:



This folder was created in April, when my computer was upgraded to the Windows 10 Anniversary update. I know I ran Disk Cleanup then, so what is this folder?

I was pretty sure it was install files no longer needed so I deleted the folder!

Now I have even more free space!



All told I freed up 51.2 GB! That is a lot of space almost a 5^th of my drive’s total size.

Microsoft has added a ‘new’ feature to Settings, Storage. I suspect it really is the old Disk Cleanup with a new name and some added features.



The numbers seem to be a bit inconsistent with what operation is being performed, but right now I am happy with what has been cleaned.

I really like that ‘Delete temporary files that my apps aren’t using’, it cleaned a lot of files.

 

Clean Your Computer Scams

Have you ever gone searching for help for your misbehaving computer and found something like this on a ‘help’ site?



If you clicked that link you will be in for a disappointment. Oh yes, it is a free download, but after you install that free download and it scans your computer, you will have to pay to get all those things it found fixed.

And it found a lot of things!



Now you think you NEED this program to fix your computer!

Guess what, you don’t need this scammy program! Everything this program found you can find yourself.  Don’t Spend Money, Cleaning Your Own PC is Easy

However, there is a really truly free program, CCleaner, that will find all the same things this ‘Tweetbit’ program found, and it will clean up all those terrible things for free!

All those found files are just the ordinary things that Windows accumulates during everyday use. They won’t hurt your computer, but possibly over time they ‘might’ slow your computer.

Tweetbit’s program isn’t the only one out to get you to pay for something that CCleaner will fix for free. There is also a program named Reimage that operates mostly the same way.



If you go to Reimage’s site you will see a screen shot that is very similar to Tweetbit’s scan.

Again this 'PC Repair Tool’ promises to 'fix' your computer, scans but demands payment before it will fix anything.

There are so many scams out there it’s hard to know what is good and what isn’t. I rely a lot on Malwarebytes Pro to warn me of scammy sites. It let me know in a hurry Tweetbit’s site is one to avoid.



It did the same for Reimage.



Unfortunately, the free version of Malwarebytes does not run in the background and warn you about scammy sites. But it will clean your computer of files these scammy programs leave after you uninstall them.

If you can possibly afford it, do get Malwarebytes Pro, It is well worth the money. And just so you know I am not an affiliate for Malwarebytes.

 

Some Days are Like That

Today LastPass kept asking me to authenticate every time I opened my browser. Had to search to find the answer, but found out how to fix it here.  I trusted my computer, but still get prompted for Multifactor Authentication. I just wish I knew how that happened.

So far so good.

Then Microsoft updated my computer to Windows 10, version 1709 also known as Windows 10 Fall Creators Update. I was surprised to get the update this fast as it usually takes several weeks to get it. This took a while but it updated with no apparent problems.

Of course, I had to re-install my Spider game. This happens every time I get a major update from Microsoft.

I am not a gamer but I do like the Spider game that came with Windows XP. Since MS removed the games from Windows 8, I have had to install them many times. Thanks to Winaero for providing the games for later systems!

Exploring my new Windows will take some time, so I will have to ‘get to know’ Windows again.

I updated and charged my Chromebook and my little Dell Inspiron 11 3147 Signature Edition 2 in 1 PC. I don’t use this computer much but my son uses it occasionally. It is left  up to me to keep it updated.

My day is about over and maybe tomorrow won’t be so hectic. I need to get ‘into’ Windows Fall update and 'get to know it'!

Getting to Know You

‘Getting to know you, getting to know all about you.’

For me this is my new theme song about new programs or new versions of programs.

Every time Windows ‘upgrades’ to a new version, I must learn lots of new stuff, mainly where did Windows move things? That isn’t all Windows does, sometimes Windows adds things and sometimes Windows removes things.

My favorite email client, eM Client, isn’t new, but I just made it my default email program and there are still things I am ‘getting to know’ about it. Microsoft Outlook used to be my favorite email program but because Microsoft is constantly updating, changing and making things more complicated, it just got too much for me, so now it’s eM Client.

Then there is the ‘new’ Quicken. I hate it. The font size in the account list is tiny and I have a BIG problem trying to read it. The only way to make the font bigger is to use ‘Large” fonts. Are you kidding? Large fonts are so big everything moves off to the side and there is no way that I can find to scroll to see stuff.  When using Large fonts, if I close it and re-open Quicken, I get the nag screen to update to a new version and it comes up like this:



The only way to get out of this nag screen is to move the cursor to the upper left corner and click the itty bitty blue area.



I logged on to the new Quicken and it has a problem updating my checking account. Now I get this:



The old Quicken (before the new owner HIG Capital) had this same issue, but I don’t recall it wanting me to change my password. I just had to do I reset and start over with setting up the account to receive transactions. I had thought (foolish me) the new Quicken owner might fix this, but no they didn’t.

That is the last straw, Quicken must go.

I looked for a Quicken alternative and found MoneyDance. I had tried MoneyDance before and even purchased it, but Quicken seemed easier so I stuck with Quicken. However, I really can’t live with the new Quicken so MoneyDance it is for now. Just because there is a new owner of Quicken, they didn’t have to make that font thing happen!

After lots of visits to the online help for MoneyDance I am finally getting ‘to know’ it. Still some things to learn, but I am getting there! There was no nag screen to upgrade MoneyDance, in fact I got a free upgrade to version 2017! Quicken constantly nags to upgrade and it isn’t cheap either!

MoneyDance also has great customer support. I can actually email someone and get a response! No having to join and go to a forum like Quicken.