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July 27, 2007
Dear CNET members,
Happy Friday, folks! I hope everyone here is having a great summer! Today's topic is from Tom, who wants to know what files he can safely delete from Windows Explorer. Well, Tom, to be honest with you, as much as I don't like clutter in my computer, I hardly ever go to Windows Explorer to delete files manually--unless those files are created by me or they are files that I know will be safe for the operating system or other program files if deleted. Other than that, I'm hands off. Simply said, as many other members will suggest in their answers, "If you don't know what it is or what it does, simply leave it alone." Your best bet for removing junk/unnecessary files is to use Windows system tools or a trustworthy third-party utility to clean up those files. If it's removing a program, use your Windows Add/Remove Programs tool or use the software vendor's own uninstaller. These will be your safest bets. However, if you are curious as to what specific file extensions are, a search engine is your best friend--look it up and find out what it is. And if you are attempting anything daring--not that I would recommend this--back up your important data and use Windows System Restore. This way, in case of a disastrous event, you're covered. Anyway, enough of what I have to say; I give you some selected member answers for you. Start digging in and read through what all the members have to say. As a reminder, always play it safe and be prepared for the worst--I would hate to see you back with your next question being, "I accidentally deleted this file, and now my system isn't running." :) Have a splendid weekend, everyone, and thank you for your contributions!
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Member Question of the Week
First, thank you for this great newsletter and its helpful
members. I was wondering about going through Windows Explorer
and deleting unneeded files. In the past I've done this with
some unfortunate results, creating panic and migraines. So
now I just look at the extensions and figure I'll leave itthem
alone, except many new files are piling up. What is safe to
remove and what isn't? For example, recently I found a folder
"minidump" and extensions .dmp. Is there a list out there so
I know what file types are safe to remove? Others might want
to be guided to removing and lightening up their computers,
too. Is it worth messing with? Any advice on the best
practices of removing unnecessary files would be appreciated.
Submitted by:
Tom D.
Vote for the most helpful answer
 Below are the answers we've selected for you to vote on. Click on the title to read the answer by the member.
Here are the selected submissions grouped in one post.
Time to vote! Now that you've read our members' answers, which would you consider the most helpful? Click on the button to weigh in on the decision.
 Answer by Alain Martel1
Answer by 1up2down
Answer by Flirkann
For the member whose answer was voted the
most helpful by our community, we will send
this member some cool CNET branded gear.
 Previous week's Q&AThe votes are in! Below is the answer voted most helpful by our community to last week's question.
I keep getting bombarded with ads about HDTV. When I go to a
store that carries them (for example, Best Buy or Costco) I
find that the clerks really don't know much about them. I
came across one that looks interesting, but the description
is nothing if not confusing. Perhaps someone can help me
untangle the technical gobbledygook. For example: the set I
was looking at is a 42-inch HD LCD set with a resolution of
1,920x1,080. It is compatible with 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i,
and 1080p. I think "i" means interlaced (like my analog TV
set) and "p" means progressive. What is the significance of
these designations, as a practical matter? Is "i" or "p"
defined by the TV station or is that a choice of the
receiver? It is said to be compatible with NTSC (I recognize
that), ATSC, and QAM (what are these?), and are there other
systems out there that need to be covered? What is Media
Connectivity? Someone needs to publish a document that
ordinary mortals can read and understand. Any suggestions?
--Submitted by:
Nat C.
Wow! A lot of questions! Let's start by looking at those confusing HDTV definitions and then we'll look at how the signals are received from your DVD player or cable box. Basic, old fashioned TV (the kind you might have bunny ear antennas behind) are 480i. The 480 means that there are 480 lines of "light" hitting the screen of your TV from behind (counting from bottom to top). Now let's call the very bottom line, line 1, the one above line 2 and so on, okay? The i indictor, you are quite right, means "interlaced." The problem...
(read more)
Congratulations to the winner!
Community Buzz
 Each week we take a look at topics discussed in the forums.
Have fun and enjoy!
More from the forums
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Check out next week's question:
I'm receiving a "disk boot failure" error each day when I try to boot up my desktop. What does this mean exactly? It appears, with rare exceptions, only when the PC is started each morning. Once or twice in the six weeks since I purchased the computer, the error did not appear. If I shut the PC down and restart it, everything appears to run OK. I've run diagnostics on all the hardware, followed the recommendations on the HP site to correct this error, run chkdsk and talked to the HP tech support. The only thing left is to wipe my hard drive and do a system recovery. Before doing that, I need to know if there is anything else I can try.
--Submitted by:
Marlene O.
We feature a new question every Friday, and if you have the answer for our member, you can submit it above. If your submission is picked by our members as the most helpful answer, you'll receive some cool CNET branded gear.
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Location: South Central Missouri
Member since: May 15, 2007
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About me: I have a wife and a baby boy on the way. My home was built in 1904 (dated newspaper as insulation to prove it). I have a boxer/lab mix--110 pounds--and a miniature pinscher--10 pounds. A fat... (read more)
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