using a batch file, how can i delete all files not in the windows dir?

Question

i have a litle project for which i would like to remove all files outside of and not needed by the c:\\windows operating system. therefore i need to create a list of what i want to keep ie boot.ini c:\\windows etc and then delete everything else. i have seen examples using forFile, but i can be sure that extension will be on the machine. does anyone have any ideas how i can create the exclude list and then do the delete?

Answer 1

Here's a quick stab at a list of top level folders you should not touch:

$Recycle.Bin
Documents and Settings [C:\Users]
inetpub
MSOCache
Program Files
Program Files (x86)
ProgramData
Recovery
System Volume Information
Users
Windows

On XP Documents and Settings is a folder, on Vista and 7 it's a link to the Users folder.

MSOCache is safe to delete as well. However, a lot of installer packages are cached there and used for various MS products updates/repairs. As such, I'd actually recommend keeping it.

Program Files (x86) is the redirected Program Files for 32-bit apps on 64-bit OS installs. However, I've seen applications that install in this folder instead of Program Files even on 32-bit OSes, so I'd advise on keeping it and manually inspecting its content to make a decision if it should be gone.

Update: There's no reliable way to list the OS files only. The list can vary widely between OS version, SKU, architecture, OS features installed, hardware drivers, OS updates and installed applications.

Answer 2

Don't forget to backup whichever method you implement.

:: you can define parameters so it know not include the folders you don't want and check it like so

IF "%2" == "" 
IF "%1" == "RunMyBatchFile" ^


FOR %%i IN (""%filter%) ^  ::directory name goes in here that you want to iterate over todelete
DO (^::Do your stuff, make sure to use echo to see the output on the cmd
) ^

Answer 3

In addition to the comments about other folders than c:\\Windows, a lot of common windows components go in Program Files\\Common Files, and the application folders under Program Files are likely to have drivers that Windows won't boot normally without; AntiVirus, graphics and other non-default hardware drivers.

Here be dragons.

Answer 4

If what you want is to get rid of user data files, you only need to look in a couple of places, such as %USERPROFILE%\\AppData . The actual directory names vary with the OS (XP/Vista/7).

But don't do it to the Administrator, or yourself!