Copyright: Copyright ® 1993 Puffin Software, Inc.


{bmc puffin.bmp} WinAlyze Help Contents
 WinAlyze Help

The Contents list Help topics available for WinAlyze.

Analyze

More Info

Statistics

File List

Overview

WinClean

Copyright Notice


Analyze

The Analyze button will review the statistics gathered when the program started and present an analysis of some of the conditions in the Windows structure. This analysis should be a starting point for further investigation of the Windows structure.

Some of the points to be considered are:

Has this computer been used in the Windows environment for a long period?

Have there been several Windows programs and/or demos placed on this hard disk and later removed?

Are all of the files contained in the Windows structure still needed?

The answer to many of these points is very difficult to ascertain but can be the cause of a large amount of used space on the hard disk. At the current time there is not a reliable method to determine if a file in the Windows structure is still associated with a program or if it is now one of the "orphan files". Those files that occupy space on the hard disk can also have a negative effect on the performance of the Windows environment. The more files that are in a particular directory affect the search to locate a necessary file. When there are several hundred files in the Windows and/or the Windows /System directory this needs to be addressed.

WinAlyze is the program to analyze the condition of the Windows structure and WinClean is the program to clean out the Windows structure. WinClean will be available in  the third quarter of 1993.


More Info

This window has a series of buttons that will display information on the following topics:

Size

SubDir

File Types

Tips

Networks

Orphan Files


Statistics

These statistics are logical expressions based on the information gathered from the installed Windows structure. Depending upon the condition of the Windows structure a variety of comments will appear in the list box. As the Windows structure is WinClean-ed these comments will be dropped from the listing.

Refer to the More Info help and/or the More Info window to get explanations on some of these items.


File List

This is a listing of all of the files in the Windows structure. The number of files listed here is reflected in Total Files: directly above the list box.


Overview

The purpose of the WinAlyze program is to alert users of the Windows environment of the potential problem lurking on their hard disks.

Every time a new program, or demo of a program is installed in the Windows environment numerous files are added to the Windows structure. This is in addition to the files that are placed in the program subdirectory and can be easily removed.

These files are added to the Windows and Windows/System directories and up to now not identified or associated with a particular program.  Most set up or install procedures make the job of installing a new program in the Windows environment a simple task and do it well, but getting rid of these excess files after deleting the associated program is another question altogether!

The result is the hard disk and more specifically the Windows structure is left with many files that serve no purpose any longer but cannot be deleted indiscriminately because there are little or no clues as to the need for these files.


Copyright Notice

This program WinAlyze and all accompanying files including this WinAlyze help file and the More Info text files are Copyright © 1993 Puffin Software, Inc.


SIZE

Windows™ is contained on 7 5.25" diskettes or 6 3.5" diskettes. This means that if all of the files were to be copied onto the hard disk and decompressed they would occupy approximately 16MB! In a network installation this much is usually installed to allow for the various configurations of the workstations.

In a default Windows™ installation only 13MB of data is put on the hard disk. Additional files (occupying additional space) is added with each new program, utility, configuration change, or demo that is put on the hard disk.

The total amount of space on the hard disk containing the Windows™  directory can easily grow to large proportions

as you can see. This is referring only to the Windows™ directory and its subdirectories. When a new program, utility, configuration change, or demo is put on the hard disk it is normally placed in it's own directory,but additional control and features that work with this new program are added to the Windows™ directory too.

It is these ORPHAN Files that are left behind when a program is removed from the hard disk.


SubDir

In order to reduce the clutter in the Windows™ environment it is good practice to create subdirectories and separate certain type of files.

This will make locating these files easier when needed and will also improve the performance of the Windows environment. If after a few years of use there are several hundred files in the Windows environment then every request to open a program needs to go through these files attempting to locate the necessary files. Even with accelerator video boards and such the process is overburdened with this clutter.

An example of a Windows directory with suggested subdirectories might be:

C:\WINDOWS\	\ICO\

\NOTEPAD\

\PBRUSH\

\PIF\

\SYSTEM\ (created upon installation of Windows)


File Types

There are many type of files that reside in the Windows™ directory structure. Listed below are the major types with a brief explanation:

BMP - BitMaP graphic file

COM - program file

DOC - text (ASCII) file

DLL - Dynamic Link Library used by the Windows programs

DRV - drives (runs) a device (printer,video) in Windows

EXE - program file

ICO - icon (picture) file

INI - define the Windows environment

GRP - window containg icons representing programs, etc.

HLP - file containing help documentation

PCX - paintbrush graphic file

PIF - Program Information File for non-Windows applications

SYS - file containing data for running DOS

TRM - file containg configuration information for Terminal

TXT - text (ASCII) file

WRI - text file created by Write

WAV - sound file


Tips

Always install a new Windows program to a separate directory. Most set up or install programs will advise you where they intend to copy their program files. This will NOT insure that other files won't be placed in the WINDOWS or WINDOWS\SYSTEM directories but it will make it easier to clear out all their related files when and if the time comes.

With existing Windows programs on your hard disk you could print out a listing of the directories of each diskette on which the original program was purchased. This would give you a list of files to hunt down and delete to clear out non-essential files.

A word of caution first, a file that came with one program could also have been on another program's diskettes and may be used by more than one program. Be attentive when trying this method and save these files separately for a period of time, until you have tried any other programs that may those use the same files.

Some programs now come with a readme or other text file which lists all files that are associated with that particular application. This is important to look for and can save hours of searching and headache.


Networks

This program will work on your network. It will look at the directory that contains YOUR Windows files and analyze the condition of this particular configuration. If the programs that were installed/set up on your workstation are done well they should be putting the extra files we are concerned with either in your user directory or if Windows is installed on a local hard disk in the standard directory structure.

In either case, do not attempt to remove any files that are not part of your own directory structure. These should be left to the Network Administrator to handle.


Orphan Files

Orphan Files is the name we have given to the files that are left behind after programs, demos, configuration changes, and utilities are removed from the hard disk. While all the files in the directory that was used to SETUP or INSTALL the program have been eliminated from the hard disk, the other files that had been used to run the program are residing on the hard disk (usually in the Windows and Windows\System directories) and occupying valuable space. These are the ORPHAN files.


WinClean

WinClean, WinClean is the name.

Its the one to choose.

Takes the files right off your disk.

The ones that you don't use.