transfer program data to external drive

[slochin]

Hello,
I have purchased an external hard drive and have been able to transfer most of the folders,programs that I wanted to to release some more space on my laptop as it was becoming full.
I see that there is still a large amount of storage taken up by the folder program data which I have not been able to transfer to external drive. I am not familiar with this and whether this should be transferred ,but there are some that I can delete as they refer to programs no longer required. However the main one taking most storage is the Intel folder.
I would appreciate any advise please as to what to do about this.

 

[jay32267]

Don't delete programs in windows explorer. Use the add/remove programs feature in Windows or use eac program's "uninstall feature" if it has one.

 

[slochin]

Don't delete programs in windows explorer. Use the add/remove programs feature in Windows or use eac program's "uninstall feature" if it has one.

Hello jay,
Thanks for your response.I am able to delete programs etc.However the issue here is relating to the Program Data Folder which is the one with the large amount of gb.This is the one I want to copy from my laptop to my external drive if this is ok.
When I check through the Program Data file I find the one folder which is taking up the most space is the Intel Folder which has over 100gb.When I click on that it shows a sub folder named SUR and clicking on that another sub folder which is named Williamette,click on that and the last folder is Inteldata.

 

[jay32267]

I found this. It looks like you can delete.

"File extension etl is associated with Microsoft Windows and is used for files created with Trace Log utility.
A typical .etl file usually appears in root of system drive after crash (BSOD). These files can be quite large sometimes, but can be safely removed. They basically just serve for purpose of logging activity during crash (performance, status of memory etc.)."

Since this file has bloated up to 27GB, and since you have no need for it, it seems you can safely delete it. Use Disk Cleanup first and see if it deletes it. If not, use CCleaner, which is a little more aggressive.

 

[slochin]

I found this. It looks like you can delete.

"File extension etl is associated with Microsoft Windows and is used for files created with Trace Log utility.
A typical .etl file usually appears in root of system drive after crash (BSOD). These files can be quite large sometimes, but can be safely removed. They basically just serve for purpose of logging activity during crash (performance, status of memory etc.)."

Since this file has bloated up to 27GB, and since you have no need for it, it seems you can safely delete it. Use Disk Cleanup first and see if it deletes it. If not, use CCleaner, which is a little more aggressive.

Hello Jay,
Thanks for response.I am sorry but I do not understand how this refers to copying the folder program data?

 

[ex_bubblehead]

DO NOT TOUCH "Program Data", unless, of course, you wish to spend copious quantities of time trying to repair the damage.

 

[slochin]

DO NOT TOUCH "Program Data", unless, of course, you wish to spend copious quantities of time trying to repair the damage.

Hello ex_bubblehead,
Thanks for the warning.So it is not desirable to try to transfer this folder to my external drive if this is possible.I suppose if this is not then I will have to look at other ways to increase my storage space as I only have 18gb free of 186.

 

[Paul NZ]

You cant copy programs to something else. I doubt they'll work after.

If you want to put them on the external, you may have to uninstall them first then reinstall them on the external

Use ccleaner and remove the temp files. Disable hiberrnation if you dont use it.

Disable system restore if you dont use it

 

[RolandJS]

[removed, not needed]