Making program for file deletion

[jrtfiges]

Ok, so I'm very, very new to C++ programming, and programming in general in fact. I know about some simple coding and syntax like boolean operators, if statements, loops, and I understand (but don't know how to write) pointers, switch case, and functions.

The thing is, I've got an old PC at home that I want to fix up. It runs ridiculously slowly, and in order to make it run faster I was going to get rid of more or less all the unnecessary files on it (old school work, photos that I've got backed up elsewhere, etc.) and I think it would be really awesome if I could write a program to do some of this for me.

So my question is, is this beyond my current capabilities, even with a little bit of reading, or would it be a major project? And if it's something that's possible, how would I go about starting it, what functions etc. might I need?

Thanks for any help/advice you can offer!

[nano511]

I think it is WAY beyond your current capabilities. Download cCleaner to delete what it thinks is unnecessary, then manually delete what you think is unnecessary( photos, music, documents, etc )

[Albatross]

If you were to write such a program, I wouldn't necessarily write it in C++ especially if you're only going to use it once. Perl/Python/Ruby, maybe.

However, if you're very new to programming in general, then probably for now, nano's suggestion is a good one. Sorry. :(

-Albatross

[jrtfiges]

ok doke, cheers :) what would I need to be able to do though, for future reference? i'm assuming there'd be a lot about scanning the hard drive and finding files of a certain type, and somehow deleting them... :/ I'm realizing now that I genuinely have no clue how I'd even start haha.

EDIT: seen your comment too albatross. thanks guys will have to slog through it all manually :p

[andywestken]

If you're just deleting data files it will have zero effect on your computer speed.

Only files which are (a) running programs or (b) data loaded (by running programs) will have any effect. The rest of the files just take up space on the disk.

Do you regularly defrag your computer?

Andy

[ResidentBiscuit]

Just run ccleaner and degrag like others have said. Ccleaner gets rid of your unused files and a lot of temporary files you dont need. Degragging will essentially resort your harddisk so everything is back together properly. When you run programs a lot, the files associated with those programs dont always get back together so when you run it again in the future, your computer has to run through your hard drive till it finds all the files. This can slow things down quite a bit after awhile