How to Delete Backup.Bak Files in Windows XP

Windows XP features several improvements over its predecessor operating systems, one of them being the ability to automatically make backup copies of your important files on your hard drive. Of course, you and your computer may have differing views of what is an important file, and eventually all those backups are going to start to clog up your hard drive. Fortunately, deleting these types of files is quite simple, and requires no more than a few minutes of your time to do successfully.

Instructions

1. Locate the Backup.BAK files you wish to delete. If you do not know where they are, access the "search" function in the Start Menu, select the "All Files and Folders" option, and type "*.bak"--without the quotation marks--into the search bar then hit "Search".

2. Click on the backup.bak file you wish to delete to highlight it. If you wish to delete multiple .BAK files at once, hold down the "Control" key on the keyboard and click all the files you wish to delete to highlight them all.

3. Press the "Delete" key on your keyboard to send all the files to the recycle bin. If you wish to permanently delete these files from your computer, hold down the "Shift" key and then press the "Delete" key.

4. Confirm the delete by pressing the "Yes" button when the dialog box asking you if you are sure you wish to delete these files appears.

References

• Microsoft: Windows XP - Searching for Files and Folders
• Toe Jumper: Maintaining your PC - Deleting Unnecessary Files