Tech: Windows ***.CAB files

Subject: RE: Tech: Windows ***.CAB files
From: GUEST,5string
Date: 28 Apr 06 - 01:47 PM

get a program like Nlite and slipstream your o/s if it bothers you so much.

Subject: RE: Tech: Windows ***.CAB files
From: Geoff the Duck
Date: 27 Apr 06 - 04:11 PM

Thanks all for your thoughts.
I think I will make a clone and then see what I can remove safely. You seem to think the CAB files might be worth the disc space they take up. I'll bear that in mind as I experiment.
Once I am happy with a thinned out clone, I can then use it as a basis for later copies.
As for Real Player - yes I know it isn't a Microsoft programme, I was just using it as an example of "legitimate" software which still dumps crud which slows down your system and doesn't give you the option of it not running automatically. It was a problem because BBC Radio "listen again" needed Real Media to be heard. I recently tried "Real Alternative" a free substitute on a clean clone. It seemed to work very effectively.
Bye for now, folks. I'll report back when I've had a chance to play about.
Quack!
Geoff.

Subject: RE: Tech: Windows ***.CAB files
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 27 Apr 06 - 10:30 AM

When you first install Windows, you should be offered three choices:

1. Standard Installation, which installs the commonly used components,

2. Compact Installation, which installs a minimal set of components,

3. Custom Installation, where you pick which components to install.

You get the same three choices with most versions of Office or individual Office Component Programs like Word, Excel, etc.

Once Windows is installed, if you go to Start|Programs|Accessories|System Tools|Disk Cleanup (WinXP: location should be similar on other Win versions) once Disk Cleanup has looked for trash, it should offer the option to "Remove Windows Components not being used." In WinXP it's on a "More Options" tab. In WinXP, you also are offered the option to remove "Installed Programs not being used" and "Remove all but one most recent System Backup."

Whether your Win version confirms what to remove, for each component it thinks might be expendable, or just has a mind of its own about what's good for you, may vary with different versions. If you choose to remove unneeded Windows components, it may or may not remove the CAB files for you. The usage made of these files varies with the version. If you don't need them, it should offer to remove them.

If you run the "Remove Windows components not being used" it should bring you fairly close to the "Compact Install" setup, unless you actually are using components not included in that setup.

With your clone system, you may need to run this procedure separately for each cloned version.

Especially with Win2K and WinXP leaving the CAB files on the drive is recommended, since both of these systems can be used for background cleanup and repair processes that are mostly invisible to the user, and the CAB files containing files that are patched can be updated on your hard drive at the time of security updates.

The CAB files on your installation/recovery CD of course will restore an unpatched version if used later, so any time you reinstall from your original CD you'll need to check for patches. Even for obsolete versions like WinME and/or Win98SE, there are a few critical patches that can probably still be obtained after a reinstall of Windows or Windows components.

As a side note, RealPlayer is NOT a "Windows component." It may or may not have come with your installation, but it's by an independent maker. It's also been buggy, obtrusive, obnoxious, and full of security holes, and they've been disgustingly slow about offering patches for known security breaches, so if you use it at all, updating it fairly frequently is recommended - just in case they get around to fixing it once in a while.

John

Subject: RE: Tech: Windows ***.CAB files
From: MMario
Date: 27 Apr 06 - 09:35 AM

Geoff - given your setup I would think you could easily dispose of the cab files, at least in the clones. I would probably still heistate to remove them from the primary copy of windows, unless you KNOW you have good copies on an *accessible* CD, DVD, etc

Subject: RE: Tech: Windows ***.CAB files
From: GUEST,mack/misophist
Date: 27 Apr 06 - 09:34 AM

Cab files can be installed from the windows cd. But just in case, most technicians will tell you to keep a copy on your hard drive. Just direct the installation prompt to the copy, rather than the cd. They don't take up that much room.

Subject: RE: Tech: Windows ***.CAB files
From: Mick Pearce (MCP)
Date: 27 Apr 06 - 09:29 AM

I'm sure we had a thread with a link to a minimum setup for windows (some version) but I can't find it offhand.

One thing you could do is use Add/Remove programs (on Control Panel) to do Add/Remove Windows Components (I'm assuming this is in the same place in Me as in XP). You'll get a list of Windows components with tick if all subcomponents are installed, grayed tick if some subcomponents are installed and no tick if no subcomponents are installed. Highlighting an item and pressing the Details button will give show which bits are installed. If you see anything that you think you don't want you can clear it and then at the end it will remove all the items you don't want. If you decide you want them back you can just tick them again and they'll reinstall - that's when those cab files will come in useful!

Mick

Subject: RE: Tech: Windows ***.CAB files
From: Geoff the Duck
Date: 27 Apr 06 - 08:21 AM

My whole point is that Windows installs with a load of junk which either serves no purpose, or does things you do not want and do not need. It opens a whole raft of programmes in the background which drain the computer processor's resources or the memory needed to do what you bought the computer to do. It allows programmes you install to do the same whether you like it or not. I, for instance, do not need Real Player to monitor whether or not I am connected to the internet if all I am doing is word-processing a document.
You have to take active measures to disable or remove these junk programmes, and that in itself can be difficult, as you are not told which of these background processes are actualy running Windows, and which are simply parasites.
I want to organise some lean, mean, application specific set-ups which will allow me to do jobs efficiently (if that is possible using Windows). It used to be a doddle when I ran a Commodore Amiga (there are still a lot of graphics programmes which do a better job on my 20 year old Amiga with 16MB Ram, than the PC does with however many hundreds of MB).
To get more efficient running, I want to shut out the junk and parasites. I also want to reduce the total size of the instalation where this can be done without compromising efficiency.

Quack!
Geoff.

Subject: RE: Tech: Windows ***.CAB files
From: GUEST,5string
Date: 27 Apr 06 - 07:39 AM

Leave them alone - they're part of the Windoze o/s.

Subject: RE: Tech: Windows ***.CAB files
From: Geoff the Duck
Date: 27 Apr 06 - 06:45 AM

Thanks Mick for the advice.
Reason for query :-
We have an older PC which the children use. They can all be responsible for installing stuff or changing settings, which cause problems and crashes (both of the twins at 6 years old have absolutely no fear of installing games from discs thay have found - we find them, playing all sorts of stuff on the 'puter).
Windows is also a pain when different programmes start to interact - usually because the Microsloth programmes deliberately sabotage anything produced by a rival company and cause crashes or blue-screen errors.
I am using a programme (Acronis O-S Selector) which allows me to clone my operating system and then run (one at a time) different customised clones.
I am trying to set it up so the Kids have one clone they can use, and if they trash it, I can restore it from independent backups, or if necessary, just delete the clone and start afresh.
I also decided that I would have a clone set up for e.g. Music applications, one for Photo manipulation, one for general office work. That way, I don't have too many conflicting programes on any one clone, and it should be easier to prevent of identify software clashes. Part of the idea is to have as little duplication as possible on each clone.
The programme works by hiding the inactive "clone" systems from the active clone. They are however all stored on the same partition, so take up space (It hides the "Wimndows" sytem folder and the "Programmes" folder for the spare clones so that the active clone cannot detect them).
Obviously, each clone takes up space on the drive partition, so I am looking to find out what I can delete from each clone to reduce wasting disc space, bur still allow the customised clones to do what I want them to do.

I would also appreciate thoughts on what other Windows options and junk I can remove from the clone operating systems - "Desktop Themes" and the like. How far can I strip Windows down and still have a working system?

By the way, the PC I am working on had Win ME installed as an OEM setup - I do not have any actual Windows system installation discs, just the "Restore it to the way it was when you bought it" discs.

Quack!
Geoff.

Subject: RE: Tech: Windows ***.CAB files
From: Mick Pearce (MCP)
Date: 27 Apr 06 - 06:13 AM

Geoff

Once things are installed you can do without the cabinet files. But they do contain copies of drivers, so if you install new hardware you will probably need driver discs or your system installation discs to get the drivers. They also contain copied of your system files and are used to replace corrupt files or install features that you didn't install at setup, so removing them can also mean you'll need your systems discs for that purpose.

I leave mine on the hard drive, and unless you're short of space I'd say do the same.

Mick

Subject: Tech: Windows ***.CAB files
From: Geoff the Duck
Date: 27 Apr 06 - 05:43 AM

Okay - I've sussed out that they are "Cabinet" files and store information in a compressed form differently from the way ZIP files do.
I have full "Disc Image" backups (Acronis True Image) of my hard drive partitions which can restore EVERYTHING exactly as it was at the time the image was created.
There are over 1,000 CAB files on my hard drive, all of which take up space.
If I have understood correctly what I have read on the net, the main purpose of CAB files is to store info used to set-up programmes initially.

My questions are :-

Once my system is set up and programmes installed, do these CAB files then serve any purpose, or do they just take up space?

I have them saved in backup copies of my hard drive (so I can put back, in the same location, anything I remove), so can I just delete them from the working drive?

Your thoughts are appreciated.

Quack!
Geoff the Duck.