How to cleanup SB? 90 files on computer

[KatyJ]

I LOVE Spybot, thank you. First post. 2 Questions:

1 - Can I reinstall Spybot to be sure everything is running OK and then delete the recycle files (see below)?

I have 90 files on my computer. Most are zipXX\Recovery files created in 2007 and accessed when I run Spybot. I uninstalled yesterday and left files in recycle bin. I didn't want to delete in case I need them. MSE, anti-malware and Spybot run clean, no problems. Rarely have anything found.

2 - Does Spybot update files when you run it or keep building more and more files? I know I don't understand this. Users would have tons of files on their computers if new files were added with each run.

Using XP SP3 Home edition, single laptop computer with DSL connection. Computer used mainly for Excel, Word, few e-mails and some business-type web searches. No music, no movies, very little web activity.

I hope someone will be kind enough to enlighten me. I have spent hours and hours trying to figure this out. Finally, gave up and had to ask the experts.

Thank you, KatyJ (Sorry for being so long. Limited web experience.)

[drragostea]

Hello there and welcome to SaferNetworking Forums.
First let me clear up some misunderstandings. Spybot-Search&Destroy does not really "update" anything when it runs. It merely boots up the program and shows you the user interface. So it is just Spybot. You can update the program definitions (updates that search for new malware); that is by user choice.
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Those 2007 "recovery/zip" files I will assume are entries fixed by Spybot back then. These files are quarantined by Spybot, thus they are put into zip files. Assuming that you do not have any problems whatsoever after removing the entries in 2007, I believe it would be safe to remove them.
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Spybot does not "build" files. If you are concerned about hard disk space, then you should not be worried. Spybot takes up a negligible amount of hard drive space, even if you have like a 30GB hard drive. I heard people in the past ask "If I create a couple of hundred notepad/text files, wouldn't that take up a lot of space?" No it would not because the text files are negligible in volume even though it seems a lot to the human (lots of icons).

You would not be much better off reinstalling Spybot (unless you want to update the program). You would end up on the same spot you were on. Either you have Spybot on your computer or you do not.

[KatyJ]

Thank you for the quick reply. You enlightened me a lot. I update definitions before running.

Interestingly, there were 90 files in c:\program files before I uninstalled. Now the recycle bin has 1 file (Application Data) with 29,852KB and 1 file (word files) with 4,376KB. There are 3 temporary directory files with 0 KB and lastly the small 4KB short cut.

I wonder what happened to all those zip files. They were numbered (mainly) consecutively from 4 to 87. I wonder if the application data file is 29,852KB or if this includes those zip files.

You may shed some light on this, I'd appreciate it. Your earlier comments were so helpful. If not, guess I'll reinstall and see what the size of the new Application Data file is.

Ha! Old Fortran programmer here...back when you controlled everything. Liked that but could never come close to managing programming in todays world. Love to learn, tho.

Again, thank you.
KatyJ

[drragostea]

I am not very familiar with the Application Data folder as I do not touch it. You would ask me why. I would answer:
-I would interpret this literally, this folder is used to hold settings, configurations, made by both program and user.
-I would not touch or delete it (unless I uninstall the program and do not plan to use it ever again). Why? It is hidden. Usually hidden files in the Windows Operating System is not meant to be seen by the average user.

I do not have a definite answer to your curiosity because:
1. I do not know what kind of files were in your Program Files and Recycle Bin.
2. I do not know the contents of the Application Data; even if it were from Spybot, I do not know how you managed to remove it from its default location into the Recycle Bin.
3. Hard drive space should not be a program for you. Guaranteed. Primarily because it is 30MBs.
4. Reinstalling Spybot will simply (probably) overwrite whatever data is on your PC relating to Spybot.

Meaning. The application data folder currently on your PC is "useless". I am guessing new data will over write it.

Two. Your previous configurations would be useless to since you are installing a new copy.

Conclusion: If that was too much for you to understand (I would understand if you didn't) then just keep in mind that if you should reinstall Spybot, the old folders and files will not interfere or impact with Spybot.

Lastly, Jack and the Beanstalk might even grow out of your computer if you continue to fret over folder sizes. (No, I was joking. That will not happen).