Copyright: Copyright © 1994-1996 Symantec Corp.
Citation: Copyright © 1994-1996 Symantec Corp.


Starts Express mode, the fastest way (with the least number of options) to reclaim disk space.


Starts Comprehensive mode, the most complete way (with the greatest number of options) to reclaim disk space.


Lets you select the disk on which you would like to create more space.


Stops the scan of the selected drive, listing the results of the scan (up to the point at which it was stopped).


Stops building the list of files meeting your criteria. The resulting list shows only the files found up to the point at which the compilation was stopped.


Lists the files that meet your selection criteria. You can compress, delete, or move any or all of the files in this list. The action you choose will be applied to all files preceded by a check mark. Click on a filename to check or uncheck it.

Right-click on the list to check or uncheck all files or to invert the current selection (causing currently checked files to be unchecked and currently unchecked files to be checked).


Shows the total space occupied on the disk by the selected files (the files preceded by check marks).


Shows the available space on the selected disk.


Compresses the selected files (those preceded by a check mark).


Deletes the selected files (those preceded by a check mark).


Moves the selected files (those preceded by a check mark).


Closes Space Wizard.


Empties the Recycle Bin immediately, without further confirmation.


Does not empty the Recycle Bin. You can empty it later by clicking Back to access this page again.


Lets you change the numeric value by clicking the up and down arrows or entering a number directly into the box. Files not accessed in the period of time you indicate are considered “infrequently used” and are added to the list of candidates for compression, deletion, or movement.

The feature that indicates when a file was last accessed is new to Windows 95. Consequently, the "last accessed" date gets tracked from when Windows 95 was first installed. If a file was last accessed before Windows 95 was installed, the file does not have a "last accessed" date.


Lets you select the unit of time by choosing one from the drop-down list. Files not accessed in the period of time you indicate are considered “infrequently used,” and are added to the list of candidates for compression, deletion, or movement.

The feature that indicates when a file was last accessed is new to Windows 95. Consequently, the "last accessed" date gets tracked from when Windows 95 was first installed. If a file was last accessed before Windows 95 was installed, it does not have a "last accessed" date.


Lets you change the numeric value by clicking the up and down arrows or entering a number directly into the box. Files greater than or equal to the size you indicate are considered "large" files, and are added to the list of candidates for compression, deletion, or movement.


Lets you select the unit of size (kilobytes or megabytes) by choosing one from the drop-down list. Files greater than or equal to the size you indicate are considered "large" files, and are added to the list of candidates for compression, deletion, or movement.


Bypasses the scan for duplicate files. This speeds the disk search, but prevents a thorough search for unnecessary files.


Performs a scan for duplicate files. Scanning for duplicate files takes a few moments, but a thorough search for unnecessary files is not complete without it.


Lists the files that have one or more duplicate copies on the selected disk. For safety, you cannot select all copies of a file for compression, deletion, or moving. At least one file in each group remains unchecked.


Lists the files that met your selection criteria. Click Back to change your criteria defining the size of "large" files, then click Next to rescan the disk.


Lists the files that met your selection criteria. Click Back to change your criteria defining the time period that determines "infrequently used" files, then click Next to rescan the disk.


Lists the files and folders that are often used for temporary and scratch purposes.


Lists the temporary files and folders on the selected disk. This includes files and folders used for caching purposes. Right-click this list and select Configure Files or Configure Folders to specify criteria used to define files and folders as "commonly discardable."


Lists the file specifications (paths and file types) used as the criteria for determining what is defined as "commonly discardable."


Lists all file types currently on your system. You can add any of these file types to the list that Space Wizard considers as "commonly discardable" file types.


Lets you remove a selected item from the File Specifications list box.


Lists all file types (as defined by file extensions) currently registered for your computer.


Shows a description of the extensions currently registered for your computer.


Lets you add a folder name (including an optional path specification) to the list of folders currently defined as containing "commonly discardable" files. This command button is available as soon as you begin typing in the New Folder Specification box.


Lets you remove a selected item from the folder specification list box.


Lets you specify a folder to add to the list of folders currently defined as containing "commonly discardable" files. In addition to the full path, you can use wildcards (* and ?) to specify groups of folders. The asterisk (*) is allowed as the first character. For example, specifying *\BACKUP can result in matches that include C:\BACKUP and D:\BRIEF\BACKUP.

You can display a list of folders by clicking the folder icon at the right.


Displays a list of your computer's folders from which you can choose one to add to the list below.


Lists the folders (including an optional path specification) currently defined as containing "commonly discardable" files.


To open Space Wizard
To open Space Wizard:

Click here [image] to open Space Wizard.


To free up disk space
Use Space Wizard to scan your disk for files that may be unneeded. Have Space Wizard compress, delete, or move the files to free up disk space.

To free up disk space:

Click here [image] to open Space Wizard.


About Space Wizard

Space Wizard identifies files that are commonly discardable, infrequently used, excessively large, or duplicates of other files on your disk. Because these files may be no longer needed, Space Wizard lists them, and let's you take appropriate action on those files you specify. You can choose to compress, delete, or move the files from your disk to free some disk space.

Space Wizard has two methods of helping you create more disk space:

Express
Quickly scans for temporary and commonly discardable files. These files either have extensions that identify them as temporary (TMP) or backup (BAK) files or are located in folders, such as "TEMP" or "CACHE, that typically contain potentially unnecessary files.

Comprehensive
Scans for temporary and commonly discardable files, and additionally finds files that haven't been accessed recently, particularly large files (you specify the minimum file size to search for), and performs an exhaustive search for duplicate files.

In both cases, Space Wizard gives you the option to compress, delete, or move the files to another storage area. If you decide the files are still necessary, you can choose to leave them on your disk. Space Wizard also checks your Recycle Bin and offers to empty it if it contains deleted files.

To open Space Wizard:

Click here [image] to open Space Wizard.

The Disk Space sensor of Norton System Doctor can automatically monitor a disk’s space and alert you when the disk becomes too full.

Click here [image] for related information.


Why you should use Space Wizard

Keeping your disks free of unnecessary files can be tricky and frustrating, but if you don't you could be wasting valuable disk space.

Space Wizard helps you deal with disk space shortages by helping you locate:

Temporary files and folders

Commonly discardable files and folders

Infrequently used files

Large files

Duplicate files

Additionally, Space Wizard checks the status of the Recycle Bin. If the Recycle Bin contains deleted files (which can take up disk space as long as they remain in the Recycle Bin), Space Wizard offers to empty the bin for you.

Click here [image] for related information.


When you should use Space Wizard

You can use Space Wizard any time you want to free disk space. In particular, use Space Wizard:

Before installing applications

Using Space Wizard before installing applications ensures you’ll have sufficient disk space.

Before optimizing a drive

If you use Space Wizard before using Speed Disk, optimization is as effective as possible and is faster. Speed Disk optimizes a disk drive by defragmenting files and consolidating the unused space on a drive, thereby increasing the speed with which your computer can read and write data.

At regular intervals

If you use Space Wizard routinely, you can avoid overloading your disks with unnecessary files. You can improve the efficiency of system backups by first using Space Wizard to identify and delete files that don’t need backing up.

Click here [image] for related information.


About selecting a drive

After you select a drive on the Drive Selection page, Space Wizard scans the disk and loads a listing of its contents into memory. If anything changes following this scan (for example, if you switch tasks and create a new file with your word processor), the change will not be noted by Space Wizard unless it scans the disk again.

If you want to refresh the listing in memory, click Back to return to the Drive Selection page then click Next to force a rescan of the drive.

Click here [image] for related information.


About commonly discardable files and folders
About Space Wizard and the Recycle Bin

If there are files in the Recycle Bin, Space Wizard asks whether you want to remove them. If you answer yes, the removal is immediate. Thus, if you click the Next button, then go back to the Empty Recycle Bin page, the option to delete the Recycle Bin contents is dimmed, since there is no longer anything in the Recycle Bin.

Click here [image] for related information.


About temporary files and folders

Space Wizard looks for temporary (TMP) files, which are usually created by programs and intended to be short-lived. It also looks at files stored in folders that normally hold only temporary files (folders whose names are TEMP, TMP, or CACHE). The files it finds are listed on the Temporary Files and Folders page and are selected by default.

You can right-click the file listing and select Invert Selection to deselect all files that are currently selected.

Click here [image] for related information.


About commonly discardable files and folders

The Commonly Discardable Files/Folders page lists files that are often unnecessary and expendable. These can be files with extensions that indicate they are secondary, such as backup (BAK) files, or files stored in folders typically used to store unnecessary files (such as folders named JUNK).

You can add your own specifications for files and folders that should be considered "discardable." Right-click on the file listing and choose Configure Files or Configure Folders from the context menu.

You can right-click the file listing, and select Invert Selection to deselect all files that are currently selected.

Click here [image] for related information.


About adding file types to the commonly discardable files list

You can add additional file types to the Commonly Discardable Files/Folders page by right-clicking the file listing and choosing Configure Files from the context menu.

When you click Add to add a file type to the list, the Add Files Specification dialog box appears. This dialog box lists all file extensions the Windows registry is aware of. To add a file type to the Commonly Discardable Files/Folders page, just choose one from the list.

Click here [image] for related information.


About adding folder names to the commonly discardable folders list

You can add additional folder names to the Commonly Discardable Files/Folders page by right-clicking the file listing and choosing Configure Folders from the context menu.

In addition to specifying full paths to folders, you can use wildcards to specify general folder names. The asterisk (*) is allowed as the first character. Specifying *\BACKUP would match any folder names that end in "BACKUP," for example C:\BACKUP and D:\BRIEF\BACKUP.

Click here [image] for related information.


About infrequently used files

Space Wizard can find files based on their "last access" date; the date the file was last accessed (read or changed) either by you or by an application. If a file has not been accessed recently, it may be unnecessary to your system's operation or to your day-to-day work. Space Wizard lists files not access in a time period you specify (weeks, months, or years) and lets you choose to compress, delete, or move them.

Because the "last-accessed" file attribute is new to Windows 95, Space Wizard can only report last access dates for files accessed after you installed Windows 95. Files that may have existed on your system before you installed Windows 95 will not appear in the list of infrequently used files.

You can right-click the file listing, and select Invert Selection to deselect all files that are currently selected.

Click here [image] for related information.


About large files

You can scan for files that are taking up large amounts of disk space. Be careful about deleting a file just because it's large, though; many important applications consist of large files.

You can right-click the file listing, and select Invert Selection to deselect all files that are currently selected.

Click here [image] for related information.


About duplicate files

The Duplicate Files page lists files for which there are one or more copies. Both the original file and the copies are listed.

Scanning for duplicate files can take a few moments if you have a large number of files on your disk.

It is very likely that at least one file from every group of duplicates can be deleted. For safety, you cannot delete all copies of any file listed [image] at least one copy must remain (it need not be the original). Also note that, sometimes even duplicate files are necessary.

If you need help deciding whether to delete a duplicate file, look at the Accessed column. A recent date may indicate that, in fact, the file is being used and you should not delete the "duplicate."

Click here [image] for related information.


About uncompressing files

When you install Space Wizard, Norton UnZip is also installed on your system. This lets you use the files that were compressed by Space Wizard to make more space on your disk. Double-clicking a compressed file displays the Norton UnZip dialog box.

Norton UnZip can uncompress files that have been compressed by Norton Zip, Space Wizard, or any of these compression utilities:

PK Zip 1 and 2

SEA ARC

LHA 2.1x.

If a zip file created as a PK Zip compatible file is contained on more than one disk, insert the disks in reverse order to expand the files. In other words, insert the last disk first. Then insert previous disks as requested.