The journal can get huge over time, slowing machines down a lot. Here’s how to delete it and recreate it for C:, in CMD. The process can cause interference and conflict with Windows internals and applications, though I have not seen this happen so far. On a machine that has been in use a while, it can help a whole lot.
fsutil usn deletejournal /n C: & fsutil usn createjournal C:
Here are quick pastes for D: and E:.
fsutil usn deletejournal /n D: & fsutil usn createjournal D:
fsutil usn deletejournal /n E: & fsutil usn createjournal E:
In 2012R2/8.1 and before, we must be more specific in the creation:
fsutil usn deletejournal /n C: & fsutil usn createjournal m=1000 a=100 C:
fsutil usn deletejournal /n D: & fsutil usn createjournal m=1000 a=100 D:
fsutil usn deletejournal /n E: & fsutil usn createjournal m=1000 a=100 E:
And here’s Powershell, to do it all for every drive letter in the system:
########################################
# Delete and Recreate NTFS USN Journal #
########################################
# This script iterates through all lettered NTFS drives in Windows,
# and deletes and recreates the USN Journal of each one.
# Considerable performance gain results if the image has been running
# for a year or more.
# There are slightly different commands between some OS versions.
$OSVer = [System.Environment]::OSVersion.Version
If ($OSVer.Major -gt 10)
{
"OS > 10. Create uses short command."
$ShortCommand = $True
} ElseIf ($OSVer.Major -eq 10) {
If ($OSVer.Build -le 14393) {
("OS is 10 build " + $OSVer.Build + ". " + "Create uses long command.")
$ShortCommand = $False
}
Else {
"OS is 10, build > 14393. Create uses short command."
$ShortCommand = $True
}
} ElseIf ($OSVer.Major -lt 10) {
"OS < 10. Create uses long command."
$ShortCommand = $False
}
Get-CimInstance -Query "Select * FROM Win32_LogicalDisk WHERE DriveType=3" | ForEach-Object {
$DriveID = $_.DeviceID
If ($DriveID -match "[A-Z]")
{
"Deleting USN Journal on " + $DriveID + " ..."
fsutil usn deletejournal /n $DriveID
"Recreating USN Journal on " + $DriveID + " ..."
if ($ShortCommand) {
fsutil usn createjournal $DriveID
}
else {
fsutil usn createjournal m=1000 a=100 $DriveID
}
}
}
# End Script
Reference:
docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/fsutil-usn
Categories:
Performance
Cleanup
Run it like this from administrative CMD, in two steps. In the first step just check everything off. The second step runs it all. Cleans a whole lot more than any other way, and after you do the first step, the second step stays put, the number is actually the maximum index of sets of cleanup that you can keep around for future semi/automatic use.
Cleanmgr /sageset:65535
Cleanmgr /sagerun:65535
Categories:
Cleanup
Performance
Do these in order:
SFC /scannow
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
These fix a very large number of issues, 8.1/2012R2 and later. If SFC fails, run it again last, DISM sometimes has to repair the SFC component store. And occasionally, after SFC’s component store has been fixed and SFC rerun, the DISMs need to be done again for completion.
Categories:
Windows OS-Level Issues
Cleanup
There is a tool to do the job; but Microsoft has a way to remove everything preinstalled on your new machine and slowing it down:
https://www.pcmag.com/news/348679/how-clean-up-windows-10-with-the-refresh-windows-tool
It does remove everything but Windows, so it is only suitable for completely new machines.
Categories:
Performance
Cleanup
For quite a while I had been curious as to why a simple method to do this was not available. CCLEANER and others do not reach into every user profile, and on many machines this is crucial, e.g., terminal servers. CATE was originated as a .VBS by the excellent David Barrett ( http://www.cedit.biz ) and has been rewritten thoroughly by yours truly (JEB of Ponderworthy). The current VBS is here.
The most recent version is a PowerShell script, which adds removal of Ask Partner Network folders from user profiles, and a good bit of speed and clean running. Future development will be in PowerShell, as part of the ponderworthy-tools project.
One thing discovered along the way, is even in XP there was a user profile called the “System Profile” — XP had it in C:\WINDOWS\System32\config\systemprofile — and some malware dumps junk into it, and sometimes many gigs of unwanted files can be found in its temporary storage. CATE cleans all user profiles including those, as well as the Windows Error Reporting cache, and the .NET caches, and the system TEMP folders, and in recent versions, many Windows log files which are often found in many thousands of fragments.
The tool is designed for Windows 10 down through XP. As of 2017-10-10, it is self-elevating if run non-administratively.
It is licensed as follows:
The 3-Clause BSD License
SPDX short identifier: BSD-3-Clause
Note: This license has also been called the “New BSD License” or “Modified BSD License”. See also the 2-clause BSD License.
Copyright 2017 Jonathan E. Brickman
Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:
1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
3. Neither the name of the copyright holder nor the names of its contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software without specific prior written permission.
THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS “AS IS” AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
Categories:
Cleanup
Microsoft-provided removal tools for Office. A new page for 2007 through 2016:
https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Uninstall-Office-from-a-PC-9dd49b83-264a-477a-8fcc-2fdf5dbf61d8?ui=en-US&rs=en-US&ad=US
Fix-Its now exist for Office 2010, 2007, and 2003:
http://support2.microsoft.com/kb/971179
A utility for manual removal of Office versions at and before XP, is reportedly in the 2003 Office Resource Kit, confirmed available at the link below as of right now, although the installer appears to crash:
http://download.microsoft.com/download/0/e/d/0eda9ae6-f5c9-44be-98c7-ccc3016a296a/ork.exe
Categories:
Microsoft Office
Cleanup
Very useful procedure, does not need a role/feature install. Slightly different on each. Note the locale suffix which will have to be changed. Does not work on 2012R2, from that point we have to enable the desktop experience, which can be done in Powershell using Install-WindowsFeature Desktop-Experience.
Server 2012R1:
copy C:\Windows\WinSxS\amd64_microsoft-windows-cleanmgr_31bf3856ad364e35_6.2.9200.16384_none_c60dddc5e750072a\cleanmgr.exe %systemroot%\System32
copy C:\Windows\WinSxS\amd64_microsoft-windows-cleanmgr.resources_31bf3856ad364e35_6.2.9200.16384_en-us_b6a01752226afbb3\cleanmgr.exe.mui %systemroot%\System32\en-US
Server 2008R2:
copy C:\Windows\winsxs\amd64_microsoft-windows-cleanmgr_31bf3856ad364e35_6.1.7600.16385_none_c9392808773cd7da\cleanmgr.exe %systemroot%\System32
copy C:\Windows\winsxs\amd64_microsoft-windows-cleanmgr.resources_31bf3856ad364e35_6.1.7600.16385_en-us_b9cb6194b257cc63\cleanmgr.exe.mui %systemroot%\System32\en-US
Server 2008 64-bit:
copy C:\Windows\winsxs\amd64_microsoft-windows-cleanmgr_31bf3856ad364e35_6.0.6001.18000_none_c962d1e515e94269\cleanmgr.exe %systemroot%\System32
copy C:\Windows\winsxs\amd64_microsoft-windows-cleanmgr.resources_31bf3856ad364e35_6.0.6001.18000_en-us_b9f50b71510436f2\cleanmgr.exe.mui %systemroot%\System32\en-US
Server 2008 32-bit:
copy C:\Windows\winsxs\x86_microsoft-windows-cleanmgr_31bf3856ad364e35_6.0.6001.18000_none_6d4436615d8bd133\cleanmgr.exe %systemroot%\System32
copy C:\Windows\winsxs\x86_microsoft-windows-cleanmgr.resources_31bf3856ad364e35_6.0.6001.18000_en-us_5dd66fed98a6c5bc\cleanmgr.exe.mui %systemroot%\System32\en-US
Categories:
Windows OS-Level Issues
Cleanup
“Bleachbit” works very well.
Categories:
Cleanup
Very worthwhile. Sometimes has been seen to take 8+ hours of background processing to complete its work.
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=30135
Categories:
Tools
Cleanup
Categories:
Cleanup