Hi. I noticed that my WINDOWS folder contains alot of double dlls(60-70%), and was wondering if there's a SAFE way to remove these. I have the feeling that some serve no purpose(old application left-overs). Folders in question are the SYSTEM 32 folder and other various folders inside WINDOWS. I am running XP-PRO with SP/2. I heard of a tool called ClnSys-any good? Any help would be well taken. Thanks!!!
Many applications insert or duplicate an instance of .dll files to be called for their specific application purposes.
I've "occasionally" heard horror stories of people using automated "Duplicate File" programs to remove all the duplicates, and then finding some of their applications no longer able to run.
In the old days of "small hard drives" space was at a premium, and it made "some" sense to try to pair down duplicate instances of files. But with today's hard drive sizes, that consideration is less of a concern.
Unless you are having "functional problems" with actual applications, or with your Operating System, it may be a better idea to just leave any duplicate .dll files alone.
Automated "Duplicate File" applications are perhaps best used to find and consolidate multiple instances of Document and Media files that you have created yourself if you wish to better organize how you keep your personal files and folders.
Best Regards
Thanks for the reply. I have enough space, it just seems strange to me that approx. 70% of my dlls are doubled.?.?.? Do you maybe know of a program that deletes OLD, UNEEDED, dlls? I am a great software tester-if its new, i need to try it out. What I mean to say is that i install and uninstall quite often and I'm sure some of these dlls are left-over trash. Any ideas how I might find which ones i know longer need? Thanks.
With all the many operating system and application program options that today's owner/user has to chose from, it is a monumental task to investigate just what any one specific file is being used for on any one machine.
Why is this the case? Well, alot of the "blame" can be attributed to "sloppy software authors".
Software application writers are mostly interested in assuring that their own product functions well.
As a result, they are "reluctant" to cause the proper functioning of their own product to be dependant upon the proper functioning of other applications, including the Operating System of their many prospective users.
So the software author may include a "chunk" of code, necessary for the proper functioning of their application, which may already exist in most user's machine, but "might not" exist on some few user's machines.
As you can imagine from "Product Liability" issues that abound in the news today, it only takes a few, and in some cases a single complaint, to give a Product a bad name and cause a major impact on the bottom-line of sales revenue. As a result, software authors may include extra/redundant files, necessary for their application to run properly.
So what's an owner/user to do with "duplicates". Well, mostly……. nothing.
That's because the extra/redundant scripting doesn't usually have an adverse impact on the machine.
You've probably uninstalled dozens of applications using either Windows Add/Remove, or the product's specific uninstall wizard tool. During the process, you've been presented with the option of "removing" a file or leaving it on your machine "because other applications may be dependant upon this file and not function properly if it is removed". So the default recommendation is to "leave it on your machine" since it will have no adverse impact.
Can an owner/user do "anything" about redundancies? Sure, but it would be time/labor intensive. The owner user would have to "test" each and every instance of a file (in your topic, the .dll file(s)) to determine whether or not making a change (removing) a .dll has an adverse impact on machine function.
The owner/user "could" - manually move or rename a suspected duplicate .dll file, and then run the machine through its various applications for a while to see if there is any impact on machine function. — Tedious at best!
But what about Registry Cleaners? Don't they clean out all those extra files? Nope!
The Registry does not specifically "contain" all the files that an application uses. Instead, it lists all the appropriate Hard Drive addresses, where the machine should look to find the necessary files when an application is called upon to load up for action. Without the Registry the machine wouldn't know all the dozens, hundreds, or thousands of things to do and places to look, when the owner/user clicks on an application Icon to use a program. But without the actual application files saved to the Hard Drive in places like C:\Program Files\ and C:\Windows\System32\ and many other places, the Registry can instruct the machine to "look", but the machine would report back - "file not found", if the actual code for an application has been uninstalled or is faulty/incomplete.
Then don't Registry Cleaners work? Sure they do. If the owner/user has uninstalled an application and then Runs a Registry Cleaner, the Registry Cleaner will search its list, testing each one of its addressed instructions to find whether or not there is something (a file) existing at that addressed location. If it finds that nothing is at that address, the Registry Cleaner will report back that the address is "Invalid" and give the owner/user the choice of removing the instruction or not.
Again…. What's an owner/user to do? Again, with Registry……. mostly nothing. Since "invalid registry entries" create "a little clutter" but nothing much else, it is "safe" to leave those entries, and can be hazardous to remove some of them that might actually be needed.
It is not uncommon for a machine to have a few "hundred" invalid Registry entries, without any adverse impact on machine function. But Registry Cleaner advocates will tell you that Cleaning the Registry can boost machine performance. That might be true in some cases, but it remains the owner/users option to use or not use a Registry Cleaner.
Is there "anything" that can be done, besides manually testing each file? Sure.
Completely Reformat the Hard Drive and install/register/validate the operating system, chipset, directX, drivers, and applications. This would give the owner/user the freshest, cleanest installation possible, with the fewest "duplicates". But guess what………. There would still be some duplicates.
There are "instances" where investigating a file and its dependancies and making appropriate changes can help machine functioning. You would be alerted to such instances, because something wouldn't be working just right the way you want it to.
But if everything is working……….. The best advise remains as always…………
If it ain't broke ……….. Don't be fixin' on it!
Best Regards
Note: The above is heavily influenced by my experience and "opinion". Any references and statements made are not intended to convey endorsement or negative evaluation of any specific product.
Nor is it my intention to imply that you or any other Member should not "investigate" and learn more about your/their machines.
I support Learning, and believe that we'd all be better off and safer if more computer users demonstrated the admirable intention of learning about their machine as you have.
I offer my respect to you.
Doug
