Tips & Tricks

By Sandra Rosenzweig
     
      Here's the sitch: You try to copy a very large folder of photos to another drive and the task crashes your PC because, the error message says, thumbs.db is a system file and you aren't authorized to copy, move, or delete it. Thumbs.db? Each time you look at a folder's contents in thumbnail view, the system creates and saves (caches) a thumbs.db file. These unnecessary files accumulate until they've eaten up your hard drive space. To delete any otherwise undeletable file, use Cedrick "Nitch" Collomb's free Unlocker (http:// ccollomb.free.fr/unlocker). To turn caching off and prevent future thumbs.db buildup, go to Start, Settings, Control Panel, Folder Options, then the View tab and the Advanced Settings. Check the "Do not cache thumbnails" box, and OK your way back out.
     

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