Clean up my Windows XP or re-install?

B

buckaroo

Member
Is there a quick way to clean up my Windows XP install in PD7?

I have installed and re-installed a few things and I feel its a bit messy, I would prefer a smaller leaner re-install.

Also I never use Outlook Express, or the Windows games, and printer drivers etc. Is there a list of all the 'junk" that I can delete safely, and how to do it?

Or would a reinstall of Windows XP only, (but keep my PD7 setup) be a better way if thats possible?
 
It's mostly a question of time -- would it take you longer to uninstall everything you've installed before but don't want anymore, or to reinstall Windows and just the apps you want? Bearing in mind, of course, all the oodles of updates to XP that you'll have to apply -- each one of which probably requiring a reboot.

Once you get a pared-down and clean installation base, I would strongly recommend you take a snapshot of your VM -- that way, if Windows ever gets messy or starts acting squirrelly, you can just have Parallels roll back to that snapshot, and presto-change-o, you're back to a clean install.

Cheers,
 
Hi, I thought with Windows (as I come from a Mac) that just deleting and un-installing still leaves files all over the place, so it maybe better to re-install?

Also I had no idea that PD7 could take a "snapshot"? How does this work, and whats the procedure for just re-installing Windows and not the Parallels install? Will my PD7 settings all remain the same?
 
I'm not in front of my Mac at the moment and it's been a while since I used the snapshot feature, so I'll have to wait until later before I can give you any specific command walkthrough.

Snapshots are basically just that -- you save the state of your virtual machine, and you can then restore that snapshot later to revert any changes made to your VM since the time of the snapshot. This can be very useful if you're trying out software where you're not sure if you'll like it or if it might hose your system -- so long as you have a snapshot, you can mess around with Windows to your heart's content, and then just roll back if things go funny.

Note that snapshots can be big, so you need to make sure you have the available disk space.

To reinstall Windows, there's no need to reinstall Parallels -- you just create a new virtual machine, and then install in that. If you have enough disk space, you can create several VMs, and then pick and choose which one to run -- maybe one Windows VM that's all for games, one Windows VM that's all for business software, one Ubuntu VM for stable work there, and one extra Linux VM for checking out the latest distro and generally mucking about. If you have enough RAM and processor capability, you might even be able to run more than one VM at a time, allowing you to potentially run Mac, Windows, and Linux all at once on the same physical hardware -- but I don't know if I'd recommend that because of how slow things might get. :)

Cheers,
 
Ok thanks for this, but if I didnt want to re-install everything, is there a quick way to tidy up and clean up my Parallels/Windows XP partition?

I've had a few programs on there and deleted, and now think I'm done. Can I defrag? or not as its a VM?

I didn't know whether PD7 would have better clean up options than Windows itself (a bit like the excellent snapshot that Windows doesn't have but you can do in Parallels)

Secondly, I share all my windows with the OS X side, and all works well - but I'd love to not show everything on my Mac desktop, MIRRORED on my Windows desktop?

Is there a setting for this?

Everything is shared, but some of my Mac files and programs can't be opened on Windows , and on XP it really clutters up my Windows desktop?!
 
Last edited:
To disable sharing go to Configure > Options > Sharing and make sure Desktop is not shared.

I suggest you to install New VM - and transfer data you need from old one to new. Cleaning up your old Windows can take a loong time browsing the Register, but still there is no guarantee it' s gonna be clean and functional(!) after that.
Parallels itself does not have any clean up programs from Windows - it has nothing to do with OS itself, only virtualization and drivers.

And yes you can defrag, but still i would suggest to create new VM.
 
Thanks, with installing a new VM, can you tell me how to KEEP my Parallels install and Parallels Tools but ERASE my Windows XP install to install a brand new clean version?

What are the steps to do this?
 
please read user guide.
to make you understand the basic:
Parallels Dectop is application installed on Mac - it runs all virtualisation services.
Parallels Tools - a branch of Windows Drivers which help Windows to run smoothly in virtual environment
virtual machine - is a brunch of files located on your Mac hard drive. You can create as many VMs as you wish and allnof them will be independent from each other. It means keep your old VM, create new from File-New and transfer data whatever you need.
 
Easily clean up your Mac hard drive

Sometimes,it might happens that your Mac OS slows down due to presence of duplicate files on it. There are so many unnecessary files or useless apps present in your system that consumes the disk space and makes your system slower. In this situation,you need a program that clean up your Mac by removing all useless data then free your hard disk space and speed up your Mac.You can also go for the third party software to enhance the system performance.
For more info,you may visit:-
www.tidyupformac.com
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top