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backup.cab - safe to delete?

Discussion in 'Windows XP' started by derek, 2005/01/31.

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  1. 2005/01/31
    derek

    derek Inactive Thread Starter

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    I just installed XP on my old W98 system and all has gone well, except my old disk (6GB) is now 75% full... I notice when I defrag that there is a 416MB file called backup.cab, but I can't see this with Windows Explorer.
    1) Can I delete this file?
    2) How do I delete it?
     
    derek,
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  2. 2005/01/31
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    derek - Welcome to the Board :)

    I assume you upgraded 98 > XP rather than make a clean install?

    AFAIK backup.cab is a backup of your 98 installation and is in a folder named Undo. Check in Add/Remove programs - do you see an entry for Remove/Uninstall XP - or similar wording? If so then backup.cab is as I described.

    To see the file - in Windows Explorer ....

    Tools > Folder Options > View and check 'Show hidden files and folders' and uncheck 'Hide protected operating system files' - agree to the warning - YES

    Search for backup.cab - should be possible to delete, but if not start in Safe mode and delete.

    BTW - XP is space hungry :) my Windows directory alone is 3 Gb.

    For good performance of XP 256 Mb ram should be considered the minimum, the more, the better - up to a point. I have 1.5 Gb RAM, but no real improvement in performance over 1 Gb.
     
    PeteC,
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  4. 2005/01/31
    derek

    derek Inactive Thread Starter

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    Thanks for that Pete. Yes I upgraded from Win98. I have 320MB RAM and things seem OK at the moment. I've now found the backup.cab, but what's the downside of deleting it? Is it safe also to delete the boot.cab that's with it?
     
    derek,
    #3
  5. 2005/01/31
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    The downside is that you will be unable to uninstall XP and revert to your previous installation of 98.

    boot.cab is also required for the uninstall, but if it does not exist , see here
     
    PeteC,
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  6. 2005/01/31
    derek

    derek Inactive Thread Starter

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    OK. I'll keep it a while longer, but it means it can go when my disk usage gets a little tighter. Thanks again.
     
    derek,
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