News
Hard Drive Washer Removes Unwanted Files
- By Stuart J. Johnston
- September 29, 2005
A small German company is shipping an inexpensive utility designed to aid users’ hard drive cleanup maintenance by automatically listing and removing unwanted files.
Windows and nearly all other software produce temporary data that consume disk space and can decrease a computer’s performance.
Hard Drive Washer 1.00 from 1-abc.net locates files created or left around by software installation programs, as well as a variety of other types of temporary files, such as .tmp and .bak files. It then presents the list of files to be deleted for the user’s approval. Files that the user wants to keep can be deselected in the file list window.
The remaining files will be deleted – either directly or sent to the Windows Recycle Bin (thus giving the user a final choice of what files to delete as a backstop against accidental deletion of important files).
The developer, a 2005 startup based in Oldenburg, Germany, specializes in handy utilities and simple games for Windows computers. It offers products such as Surf Trail Washer 1.00 and Password Organizer 1.10.
Besides conventional temporary files that normally are saved with a .tmp extension, the package can list and delete more file types that are not required, including .log files or files that were renamed to .old. The program provides customization options, such as an exceptions list so that the user can, for instance, designate that .bak files not be deleted.
Hard Drive Washer 1.0 runs only on Windows XP and costs $14.99. The download is 94 KB.
About the Author
Stuart J. Johnston has covered technology, especially Microsoft, since February 1988 for InfoWorld, Computerworld, Information Week, and PC World, as well as for Enterprise Developer, XML & Web Services, and .NET magazines.