unneeded files?

[dpkkk]

i would like to clean out my pc of unnecessary files and programs but which ones dont i need?

what are java packages? all those zip files. do i really need them?
im not sure about these: inetfuel.exe, wrapperouter.exe, runonce.exe, rnaapp

are zonemaps needed. i see a lot of them in my registry.

as long as i can start up my pc into windows and dos without any problems what can i get rid of?

[Ridgerunr]

Toni Art's Easy Cleaner does a very good job of finding and letting you delete junk temp files and registry entries and it's free:
http://personal.inet.fi/business/toniarts/ecleane.htm
Be very careful of the 'duplicate files' utility however. Some duplicates are needed...

[dpkkk]

its not really junk files im interested in deleting. its the files i mentioned in my post (java package, zonemap, etc)

can anyone tell me what these do and if i can safely delete them?

[jamesclasater]

Originally posted by Ridgerunr
Toni Art's Easy Cleaner does a very good job of finding and letting you delete junk temp files and registry entries and it's free:
http://personal.inet.fi/business/toniarts/ecleane.htm
Be very careful of the 'duplicate files' utility however. Some duplicates are needed...

Just how does one go about finding which "duplicate files" are needed? I just downloaded Easy Cleaner and am interested in finding out about the "duplicate files" James

[photolady]

James unless you know for sure what duplicates you don't need, I don't mess with those. Just clean out the registry.

ddpkkk: java package that one is needed. You can clean out your registry as Ridgerunr suggests as it will get fid of a lot of junk. But programs and such need to be uninstalled not just deleted. Java package unless in your Temp folder is needed to view websites that use java.........not javascript. Like yahoo games and chats...

One thing you could do is check for spyware if you haven't already. There are many spywares on computer that are not needed though sometimes they masquerade as other software...making one believe they are needed. Two programs we use and recommend here are the two listed below. I suggest you run both after updating each one. Both programs are free.

Spybot Search and Destroy

Adaware

[jamesclasater]

Thank you for the heads up nice Lady, ddpkkk, sorry for hijacking your post. James

[photolady]

You're welcome James........

[Welshjim]

dpkkk--Most "cleaners" like Easy Cleaner will tell you if you have duplicate files or orphan files (the latter being files that belong to programs that are no longer installed on your PC).
But this type of cleaner cannot tell you if you need files like inetfuel.exe (or any other .exe file). You could do some searching on www.google.com on files you question. For inetfuel.exe, for example, you would find "Troj/Lookme-C is a downloader Trojan.
Troj/Lookme-C attempts to download and run two executables without notifying the user. Downloaded files are stored in the Temp folder with the names FINST.EXE and INETFUEL.EXE. "
But that type of malware would best be detected (and then deleted) by scanning with an antivirus program or a spyware detector such as AdAware or SpybotS&D (as photolady has suggested). Mearely deleting the .exe file would still leave junk in the Registry.
In general you can delete many .exe files which are for the purpose of installing (not [running) a program, after you have installed the program. Keeping the .exe file would only allow you to reinstall the program without having to go find the .exe program again, if and when a reinstall was needed.
Rnaapp, you would learn, is necessary for running DialUp connections.
And any file in a Temporary folder or in the Temporary Internet Files folder can be deleted after a reboot. There are many cleaners for doing that. Windows has one built in called DiskCleanup. (Right click on the icon for your hard drive and click Properties|Disk Cleanup. A scan will run and report what the program can delete. Of course, you still must make the choice of what categories to delete.)
In fact, in general, deleting a file should be done only if you know what effect deletion will have. Unless you are really strapped for space, most files, except malware, orphan files and temporary files, should probably just be left alone.
You may be interested in this discussion
http://www.windowsbbs.com/showthread.php?t=37252