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Reclaim Main Memory on a Windows Mobile Device
08 Mar 2009I’ve been trying a number of applications recently on my Windows mobile device (Samsung Omnia) and it started grumbling again that I’m low on main storage memory. I’ve made it much happier now so I thought I’d share some of my tips with you on how to keep your storage memory free. Some of the tips may only be applicable if you have certain items of software installed.
If you run low on your main storage not only might you start getting warning messages but you may not be able to open files or even install applications onto your storage card - an issue I had recently.
1. Install Applications to Other Storage
If you have an SD card, micro-SD or even some additional on board memory (like my Omnia) try installing some of your larger and less used applications to it. Many applications will run just fine and it keeps your storage memory free.
2. Clear Up Your Temporary Files
Windows mobile device software is pretty poor at cleaning up after itself (in general), so sometimes you need to give it a helping hand and delete temporary files.
You can use the standard File Explorer application. Check out what’s been left in the following folders:
- TEMP
- WINDOWSEXTRADUMPFILES
- WINDOWSSQMTEMPFILES
- WINDOWSTEMPORARY INTERNET FILES
3. Clear Up After Internet Explorer
Now you might think we’ve already taken care of web browser flotsam, but those files get everywhere. Pocket Internet Explorer (or “PIE”) can dump a lot of files into the guest profile. Take a look at the following folders and remove any unwanted items:
- WINDOWSPROFILESGUESTCOOKIES
- WINDOWSPROFILESGUESTHISTORY
- WINDOWSPROFILESGUESTTEMPORARY INTERNET
4. Clear Up After Opera
I’m running Opera 9.5 (Build 2520) on my Omnia, and so the folder I’m looking for is “OPERA9” - if you use a different version, you may need to check a different set of folders. Just like Internet Explorer, there are a few folders you may want to filter and purge on:
- APPLICATION DATAOPERA9CACHE
- APPLICATION DATAOPERA9DOWNLOAD
- APPLICATION DATAOPERA9TMPDOWNLOAD
You may even want to filter out some of the files stored in:
- APPLICATION DATAOPERA9IMAGES
5. Application Data
As well as Opera you may find a lot of other applications storing their data within folders in the “APPLICATION DATA” folder. It’s worth having a browse through and seeing if there’s anything worth removing or even archiving.
