Removing files in \Windows

[Mustang46L]

So, I'm sitting here trying to figure out why my Diamond (Sprint) only has 13MB of Storage left on the device and I see that a lot of it is being take up by some programs. Opera seems to take up over 12MB (crazy!).

So, I found in the Windows directory that there is a cab file for picture mail, opera, Sprint TV and Sprint Navigation. They are taking up a combined 11MB. I want to get rid of them, but they won't let me do anything with them. I even installed Total Commander and can't get rid of them.

Short of installing a new ROM, is there any way to delete them?

[al3azim]

i tried as well but could not remove them either

[mswlogo]

If you can't delete them they are in ROM and I believe they are not using up Storage Space. Stuff you can delete is using storage space.

But if you did want to get rid of them, you would need to create a new ROM or find a squeaky clean one.

Sometimes skipping the customization steps will save some Storage Space and RAM space. But that seems to be getting risky unless you are really on top of things.

A bunch of apps are installed at the customization step (like Opera Mobile). But skipping the customization won't remove the cab but it would skip installing the EXE and save storage and RAM (because they install a Opera Pre Load service).

[Mustang46L]

No, I'm sure they are taking up space, and they aren't part of the ROM. They just seem to be protected files for some reason. Even skipping the customizations is only going to stop them from being installed, but the CAB files themselves probably will still be there.

I'm thinking about installing a ROM (DHarvey's looks great) but I don't think that should be the only answer.

Anyone?

[cortez]

you need to use a tool like Resco File Explorer to copy over some of the files in the Windows folder. here's what i did:

1. create backup copies of the files I wanted to remove
2. using notepad i created 0 byte files using the same name as the file i wanted to remove. for example, if there was a file named SprintTV_9.2.4.cab, i created a text file named SprintTV_9.2.4.cab,
3. next, i copied the 0 byte files to internal storage (so i could use them again if necessary)
4. using Resco Explorer i copied the 0 byte files to the windows folder
5. went to Settings->System->Memory to confirm i gained more main memory

i also applied a registry tweak to store my messages on internal storage vs. main storage; that saved about 2 MB of space. i went from 34 MB to 61 MB using this method. i also moved my opera cache to the internal storage card. if you're watching YouTube videos and doing a lot of browsing, the temporary files will be saved to main storage. you'll need to clear that cache from time to time. i also install ALL programs to internal storage... so far, my main memory has not gone below 55 MB

[mswlogo]

That does not save any space at all. You are just creating a file in storage to hide the one in the rom. It is useful when you want to change behavior. Also some tools don't understand the difference between ROM and storage and will show changes in summary stats.

One way to test that theory is try deleting the dummy text file. You will be able to delete it and then the rom file will expose itself again. Because you never removed it.

[Mustang46L]

Thanks Cortez. I thought about that last night, but figured I would wait to see if anyone knew how to actually remove the files. That will work though.

Thanks!

[cortez]

Originally Posted by mswlogo

That does not save any space at all. You are just creating a file in storage to hide the one in the rom. It is useful when you want to change behavior. Also some tools don't understand the difference between ROM and storage and will show changes in summary stats.

One way to test that theory is try deleting the dummy text file. You will be able to delete it and then the rom file will expose itself again. Because you never removed it.

are you suggesting that the values taken from Start-->Settings-->System-->Memory are incorrect? these are my Memory settings reported from the Memory applet:

[Mustang46L]

Well, I just tried and it didn't work. Even though it seemed to overwrite the files, they still didn't free up any memory. Guess it is on to a new ROM for me..

[cortez]

what files did you try to replace?