Problem with Disk Cleanup

Hi.....I have a PB P4 PC with Win XP Home.

I've not used Windows Disk Cleanup for a couple of months. Today I've tried to clean up my master hard drive (40 Gig, about half unused). Problem is it only really shows "Scanning : compress old files" and nothing appears to be happening. Task Manager shows Disk Cleanup still running, but its not getting anywhere. Also CPU usage has shot up to 100% throughout the 4 hours I've been running Disc Cleanup. Even when I close Disk Cleanup CPU continues to run at 100% and only returns to normal on re-boot.

At the same time I've tried to Delete temporary internet files and within a few seconds Task Manager shows not responding.

I've de fragged regularly and also run AVG 7.0, Spybot and ad aware daily.

The puter has been running a bit slow of late, hence I'm trying the Disc Cleanup. I should also mention that I ran Disc Cleanup on my secondary hard drive (120Gig, 75% free) and it completed in seconds.

Any ideas?

Thanks.

If you haven't run Disk Cleanup in a long time then it will take an age on "Compressing old files", and CPU usage will be at 100% while it's doing it. You just have to be patient. But after you've done it, as long as you use Disk Cleanup regularly (at least once a month) then it won't take more than a couple of minutes on subsequent occasions.

An easy solution to that problem is to go to the link below and scroll down to 48 and you'll see the "Disk Cleanup - Compress Old Files Freezes" Fix in the right column, download it and run it which should correct your problem.

Click on the words "Disk Cleanup-Compress Old Files Freezes" NOT the word "Undo".

"To use the Regedits: Save the REG File to your hard disk. Double click it and answer yes to the import prompt.

http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm

More info at the Microsoft link below.

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=812248

Tufenuf

Thanks for your input SuperSparks:) It really was only a couple of months since I last ran Disc Cleanup

Tufenuf, your remedy worked a dream. Disc Cleanup took a couple of seconds to run once I'd amended the registry entry. Many thanks:D

glasgowrangersf, Glad to see that it worked and Thanks for posting back to let us know.

Tufenuf

Much appreciation for the fix. It has ended at least that frustration point with the systems...

great fix!!! The kelly web site is now a favorite...

Mike