Windows 10: Safe To Delete?

The root directory of my C drive contains stuff that seems like garbage to me.

1. $SysReset: Contains an empty Logs folder. Haven't done any kind of reset/refresh--don't
even know what that means.
2. Driver_allOS: Contains a folder called Audio. This contains lots of files and folders that seem
like they could be important, but none have been modified in years.
3. inetpub: Apparently this has to do with creating a web site, which I haven't done and won't
do.
4. Intel: This contains only a Logs folder with 5 text documents in it, none of which have been
touched in years. I do have an Intel motherboard and chip.
5. PerfLogs: Empty.

Can I safely delete any of these things? Oh, and please don't ask me why I want to delete this stuff; I think my first sentence says it all. If you don't know, just drive on by. Thanks.

:)

 

Question to Microsoft (not to be converted to 'Discussion') - Why is your Device Census program trying to access my webcam.

Thank you Shadow - that's brilliant. That other post contained very helpful info.

In particular a post by NickCarter_engr which I summarise below:

“Start the Control Panel program, select Device Drivers, select "imaging devices", and there should be an "integrated webcam".

Double Click on that to see the properties - a window should pop up.

Click on the "Driver" tab. There should be a check box to "Disable Device". If checked, that should make it unusable.

You can also uninstall the driver program that will REALLY disable it. MS may try to reinstall a driver though.”



I checked this out by first of all ENABLING the webcam in Windows 10 Privacy Settings for Skype AND Kaspersky privacy settings.

I then went into Skype – Keep clicking on the picture of yourself (or the circular icon where the picture goes). This takes you into your profile and you should see a picture of yourself in front of your camera.

Then I followed Nick Carter’s advice – although I navigated to it by a slightly different route:



On my HP Laptop, Windows 10, I got to this by :

• right-clicking on the Windows ‘Start’ icon (bottom left of screen)
• left clicking ‘Device Manager’,
• left clicking ‘Imaging Devices’
• right clicking ‘HP Wide Vision HD’ (I guess this name might be different on other PCs)
• left clicking ‘Disable Device’
• left clicking ‘Yes’ to the question “Do you really want to disable it?”

I then went back into Skype and repeated the check on the webcam and instead of seeing a picture of me in front of my camera there was just a black square – so disabling the driver does seem to work.



For good measure I then went back into Windows Privacy Settings and turned off the camera

I also went back into in Kaspersky Privacy settings and did the same.



By the way, this does seem to stop Kaspersky putting up those messages about Device Census each time you boot up.



I didn’t do the final step in Nick Carter’s post about uninstalling the driver because of his caution that Windows might just reinstall it – and I guess that, if it did this, it would install it with the webcam enabled.



So I think I’ve done everything possible via software to stop access to the webcam.

I guess it depends whether you trust ‘software’ given the clever hackers around ! And whether you’ve seen that film with Secret Service agents checking out a young lady undressing by remotely accessing her camera. Probably complete fiction, but it
leaves you wondering.



The final step would be to apply some black PVC tape over the camera. If doing this you might consider cutting a small piece of tape that is only just big enough to cover the camera lens and sticking that (sticky-side to sticky-side) onto a larger
length of tape which you will stick over the camera lens. This would stop the adhesive actually going onto the camera lens (and the little camera-in-use light that is beside it – you don’t want to damage the lens in case, later on, you want to use the camera
or sell the computer.



Remember that when deciding on the length of the larger piece of tape there may be two other little holes either side of it (e.g. on HP Laptops like mine) which are the internal microphones. You may or may not want to cover these depending on whether
you use the microphones (or are worried about remote access to them by eavesdroppers). If you decide to cover them you may want to protect them with another small piece of PVC tape as described above.



I do hope this helps.

David

 

Device census is using webcam?

Hi Benski256

Thanks for your input.

I see Microsoft haven't come into the thread to say what they might do to alleviate our concerns.

So I raised a a new Question (click)
- but they didn't answer it, just converted it to a discussion without any comment on the issue.

So, undaunted, I raised yet another new Question (click)
in the hope that this time they might come back with a satisfactory response.

 

Just send them to the recycle bin. The only one that might contain anything important would be the Driver_allOS, but I doubt it. Restart the computer and if it restarts OK and everything seems to still be working, then empty the recycle bin.

Hmmmm.... I have the $SysReset folder too - looks like that must have come from a Windows Update or something because I swear it wasn't there before. I'm deleting it!

 

Thanks, NavyLCDR.

I know I could use the Recycle Bin and see what happens, but it could take a while for some effect to appear. I'll keep waiting some to see if anybody can give an answer they'll write in blood.

 

I remember when I used to worry about what happens if I delete folders that I think are useless and unnecessary.

This is what I used to do.. it's kinda similar to the Navy's idea.

I rename the folder, by adding the number 1 at the end of it, and restart the computer to see what happens. If nothing happens, then delete it. Never really had issues whenever deleting stuff that way. Also one thing to keep in mind is that if you delete important drivers or system files, no worries! Windows 10 is so advanced that it will automatically re-download whatever it needs to, if necessary. But make sure not to delete your personal files, such as documents or whatnot.

Also one thing about the PerfLogs, Every time I reinstalled the operating system, that folder shows up. It's empty whenever I installed the operating system, and I delete it.

 

Thanks, pepanee.

I've also used the technique of making a slight change to a file/folder name. As I said in my previous post, it may take a while for a problem to appear, so I'm not real comfortable with just re-starting and hoping for the best. Good to hear you haven't had any problems with that, though. Also, honestly, I'm a little leery of the idea that Windows will just re-create/download something it can't find; I don't have that much faith in M$. I will say that I create a system image once a week, so if the worst happens I should be able to restore to a good system.

I'll keep waiting for a few more words of wisdom.

 

You're welcome. I completely understand your approach to it. Better to be safe (with many multiple suggestions from others, rather than just a few).

But I can say guaranteed that the PerfLogs folder is completely useless. I've deleted it so many times every time I did computer installations with no problems ever. But it's your choice to either keep it or not. Maybe other people have done the same thing like me and will post about it, so you can feel more comfortable about deleting it.

 

I've deleted 1 & 5 with no problem so far. Still waiting for more, specific advice about 2, 3, and 4 if anybody else can help. Thanks again to all who have replied up to this point.

 

Driver_allOS - I think it has to do with your intel drivers, which you might need in the future.
intel - intel log files, I think it gets recreated if deleted
inetpub - Has to do IIS, so check if IIS is installed before you delete it.
1. Control Panel / Programs & Features
2. On the left Turn Windows Features On/Off
3. Look for IIS see if it's checked. If it is uncheck it.
4. Reboot PC.

Note: Always a good Idea to have backup of current image and/or create a restore point before deleting stuff

 

Eagle51, thanks for responding. I did mention previously that I create a system image once a week.

Driver_allOS: Seems to be related to my Realtek sound service, not Intel. If this is the software for the sound function on my computer, then I need it. It's 438 MB.

inetpub: Both entries for IIS are unchecked. Does that mean this folder is unused and I can get rid of it?

 

Yes, you can delete the inetpub folder now.

 

Eagle51, thanks again for your attention. I restored 1 & 5 to the C drive and changed the folder names of all 5 items a little bit to invalidate them. If nothing bad happens in a few days to a week I'll delete all of it and mark this thread as solved. Thanks as usual.

 

Good stuff to know......Out of the 5 suggested I only have 3 & 5 which I have now deleted......But I do have one that says.....

ESD: Empty folder ?

Anybody have any idea as to what this empty folder might be!

 

Check out:
ESD folder - Bing

Since you state that it's already empty, I would delete it, since it is no longer being used.