Is is safe to delete LOG files?

That is the Question.

I would say yes it is. They're only text files after all. As in all these things, though, you should send them to the Recycle Bin for a few days just to make sure nothing complains.

Fuelm@n--The PC makes no use of them. They are there to help you remember what happened. If you never look at them, then probably OK, but someday you may want the info from certain programs' logs??

Thanks for the replies, I have near 15 MB of log files, a programs I'm using suggests that it's safe to delete them. I'll just make a backup of the whole list if I choose to follow through with this. Thanks again.

Actually, if you're referring to files simply with the LOG extension then some of these are not just for the user's viewing. Certain/several installation procedures for applications create LOG files which are then used by the uninstall procedure if the software is ever to be removed. I wouldn't just do a blanket delete of all .LOG files.

The other doc is right. Don't just delete any *.log file you find -- a lot of them are probably important. If you delete them all, you'll likely find that you can't uninstall a program later on, or worse.

I've been looking for references that say you can not delete .log files and have not found any.
However maybe my advice that all .log files can be deleted is too broad.
I have found one reference that says you can delete any .log files that are in C:\ or C:\Windows
http://www.pcworld.com/howto/article/0,aid,15284,00.asp
(click on "'Here is a list of those files " )
I also ran a Find on my PC for .log and found 59 files. About two thirds were in those two directories. And among those that were not in those two directories I found one which started
" %% PLEASE DO NOT MODIFY OR DELETE THIS FILE! %%
%% This file contains information about the installation of an application. %%
%% It will be used to automatically remove all application components from your computer if you choose to do so. %% "
It was for a specific/non-MS program.
All the rest had no warning about not deleting.
Are there references out there that warn against deleting .log files in C:\ or C:\Windows?
DR Welshjim

I can assure ya that is is not at all uncommon to store install/uninstall info in .LOG files. And you can't simply go by whether a LOG file one looks at has an explicit warning about deleting it in it. Developers are under no obligation to put wanrings in files. And while speicifc applications may tend to put their LOGs in their own directories, there's no guarentee that by default a LOG file in any directory isn't possibly related to install/uninstall.

The point is that while LOG files can often, maybe generally, be safe to delete, not all are. One must be cautious, and know what they are deleting.

Oh, and in addition... I kind of got focused on LOGs as they pertain to uninstall info. But, with NT based systems (such as 2K or XP) there are .LOG files that are related to the registry and system configuration info. And these would also be .LOG files that one would not want to arbitrarily go deleting.

DrMDJ--Sounds like we are in agreement for .log files in C:\ and C:\Windows, except perhaps for WinXP.

My advice is to be cautious about deleting any .LOG, regardless of where it is. Some, perhaps many or even most, in the C:\ or C:\Windows directory "may" be candidates for deletion. But its always best to know what you're deleting, know that it can be deleted, or not delete it (or back it up before deleting as a precaution).

Ok, I'll leave them alone. Now I have a new question.

Is it safe to delete "Zero sized files"?

Note that "CleanDisk" lists both Log files and Zero sized files as unwanted junk files. I don't know what they mean by "Potential Junk Files".

http://www.fmjsoft.com/cdmain.shtml


Predefined search types:

Backup files
Log files
Zero sized files
Broken shell links
Temporary files
Potential junk files
The recycle bin(s)
Files not accessed during the last year
Visual C++ cleanup
Borland C++ cleanup
Internet Explorer cache files
Internet Explorer cookie files
Internet Explorer history files
Netscape Navigator cache files
Windows recent files list
Windows temporary files directory

Quote:

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Originally posted by DuaneB
Backup files
Potential junk files
Files not accessed during the last year

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These are the reasons I refuse to use a cleanup utility... I mean, come on... files not accessed in the last year? Just because it isn't accessed doesn't mean it isn't potentially critical to some very important function of Windows. What if you haven't defragged your hard drive in the last year? Or even opened some family photos?

I thought backup files were kind of important, and I don't think I'd trust anything to delete anything that's potentially a "junk" file. Yeesh :p

Hi here are two site's from Fred Langa's list on this subject. Very good info.
http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2000/2000-08-21.htm#5
http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2000/2000-08-17.htm#4

i lost win95 on a computer because i deleted all sorts of .log files that were seemingly just taking up space. Refused to boot past win95 splash screen after that...