I am running windows 98 ver2 & I have just run a program called stop wasting space which has told me that GID files can be safetly deleted. Can you tell me what they are and are they safe to delete?

When you execute a .HLP file in Windows 9X, a few other related files are created. The .HLP file itself, which is the final compiled help file, is now only a single component of the help system. While the .HLP file is compiling itself, there is a graphic of a pencil writing in an open book. Here, the help system is creating the .GID file. The .GID file is a hidden file created by WinHelp when a Help (.HLP) file is first opened, or when a Help file is updated. A .GID file contains various information about the Help file, including: 1) The filenames and titles of all Help files included in the Contents file. 2) Keywords from other Help files, for the combined index 3) List of which files have full-text search index (.FTS) files. 4) The size and location of Help windows and dialog boxes. WinHelp creates a .GID file for each Help file that does not have a Contents file, or one .GID file for each Contents file (even if that Contents file includes a family of Help files). WinHelp also creates a .GID file for certain non-English version 3.1 Help files (so that it can sort the keywords better). If a user deletes a .GID file, WinHelp will create a new one the next time the user accesses the Help file.

.gid General index (Windows help) When you use a help file it creates an index and saves them to the .gid. They can be safely deleted.

Yes, they are very safe to delete. delete them all, *.gid—Hidden index files created when you first access Windows 95 & 98 help files. These can really eat up space. If you haven't used the associated help file for a while, you can consider deleting the GID files. Windows will re-create them the next time you access the help file. Don't overlook the chance to get rid of small files when you can. Small files consume at least one full disk sector, which means that a one-byte file will use up 16 KB (or even 32 KB on a large disk). BTY, while your at it, you can safely delete al of these bak,*.temp,*.~*—Temporary application files. , gid,*.syd, .chk, .old, *._mp, *.bkp—Backup files, *.diz—Marketing files that come with shareware programs, Readme.txt—Startup files that accompany most packages, MSCreate.dir—Small control files Windows places into directories you create, Also you can get rid of the basic fluff that comes with Windows itself. These unnecessary items include AVI files in the C:\Windows\Help directory, unwanted screen savers, wallpaper bitmaps, themes, and sound files. HOPE THIS HELPS..>>