The art of cleaning up in 2k2

[PH_AJH]

Hi there

Some time ago I asked in the "add-ons wanted" forum if anybody could name a good freeware gauge cleaner. That must have been a difficult one because I didn't get a single response  :-[.
I have tried several gauge cleaners but they all seem to have the rather unpleasant habit of "cleaning" default and clearly needed gauges. IMHO this makes them useless; whats the point of a program that's supposed to do the hard job of finding out which gauges are needed, and which are not, if you can't trust the results?

anyway, my question to you all is: how do you get rid of no longer needed gauges?
Any tips or tricks are welcome.

Secondly, does anyone know why the cleaners I tried (for example FsGaugecleaner 2.1) have such a hard time doing it right? Is it a flaw in the programs, or am I doing something wrong??..

Thanks a lot
AJ

[Hagar]

AJ. I think most gauge cleaners have problems recognising XML gauges (the ones in CAB format that look like zipfiles). This is why they delete the defaults. Unless HD space is important I suggest you leave the gauges where they are. They're doing no harm.

[PH_AJH]

Ok, will do. (disc space is no problem at all).
I have read a couple of times that unused gauges could slow the sim down (which I didn't really understand) but I'll take your word for it if you say they don't.

Thanks for the quick response.

AJ

(any tricks on cleaning up remain welcome though)

[Travis]

Currently, my gauges folder holds 1764 files totalling 261 MB.  I haven't deleted a gauge yet, and I probably won't.  I just don't see any reason.

[Hagar]

i can't think of one good reason why unused gauges would slow the sim down.

If you really want to clear them out the only satisfactory way would be to manually delete them. This would obviously need great care & take some time. I would leave them where they are.

PS. If the problem is with the CAB gauges you could back them up & try the gauge cleaner again. Paste them back in before running the sim. I have no idea if this would work.

[PH_AJH]

Okay, I believe you.  :)
It's just that you sometimes hear very different opinions on a subject. I'll take it the statement about "unused gauges slowing the sim down" is just there to make you download all sorts of "managers"...
By the way,do you know why most every of these "managers" are shareware? It puzzles me that there's a lot of very complicated and beautiful freeware aircraft/scenery, and (as far as I know) only shareware managers etc.
Cheers
AJ

[Hagar]

By the way,do you know why most every of these "managers" are shareware? It puzzles me that there's a lot of very complicated and beautiful freeware aircraft/scenery, and (as far as I know) only shareware managers etc.
Cheers
AJ

This is unfortunately becoming a trend which I suspect we will see more of. Most utilities & addons used to be freeware when I started in this hobby. I have no use for manager utilities of any kind as I prefer to install/uninstall stuff manually.

[PH_AJH]

No, one doesn't really need them that's true.
Which makes it even stranger. I don't mind paying a few euros, pounds or dollars on quality add-ons such as aircraft or scenery if they increase my fun running this fabulous flightsim. People spend a lot of time developing them and I really appreciate their efforts. Most manager utilities don't add that much though, it seems like they are targeted at people who feel a bit unsecure (like me I guess).

Thanks Hagar

AJ

[WebbPA]

I suppose the addons wanted forum doesn't get the exposure that this one does.  If you're still looking for a gauge cleaner program the (free) one I use is here http://www.fsgauges.com/  It doesn't delete any gauges.  It just moves the unused ones to another directory.

The major drawback is that it doesn't recognize xml gauges so it will move them as "unused" and the anaylsis program will tell you that they aren't there.

The theory behind large directories slowing programs was popular in my Commodore 64 days.  Disk drives were very and had to read through the directory alpahbetically to find files.  Fewer files meant less read time.

I'm sure this is less important with today's high speed HD's but old habits die hard and I still like to remove unused gauges.