Steam cleaning script needs alpha testers

Post » Sun Jan 11, 2015 1:12 pm

As we all know Steam likes to download DirectX and Visual C++ runtimes with every game you install, and it does not clean up these files when it is done. Hard drive space is cheap, and nowadays people typically have large drives, but I felt like this was extra space not needed to be taken up. There is an application writting in Java with a fancy GUI that does this same thing but I decided to write my own version using Python 3. I have it at a good point and can use some testers, obviously I know there are rough edges and not that user friendly at the moment and some additional features are needed, but I want to make sure my code as it stands is solid to start with.

I have done some testing and the Java application already released does find some additional folders of junk, and mine picks up some non-redistributable data, but the script I wrote appears to be much faster.

As it stands the code is not publicly released as I was unsure of interest and the fact I feel my code is terrible. However I would be able to provide it to those interested. It will be open source when done but I would rather keep it contained until I feel it is ready.

Run down of what the script does:

- Attempts to scan the Windows registry for the Steam installation and will prompt the user if this is not possible.

- Scans the SteamApps\common folder, including a specified library, for any redistributable files by reading the install.vdf files.

- Summarizes data found and prompts for removal, can offer the chance to exclude specific files.

- If confirmed redistribuatable data is permanantly removed.

Requirements:

- Python 3

No third party modules of any sort are being used.

The script is also command line only and I do plan to add Linux support.

With that said, would anyone be interested in helping to test this script and provide constructive feedback while it is still in development?

User avatar
Alyce Argabright
 
Posts: 3403
Joined: Mon Aug 20, 2007 8:11 pm

Post » Sun Jan 11, 2015 7:28 am

PYTHON?

:D

Assuming you've tried it out yourself to make sure it won't delete the Windows folder, I'd be glad to try it out.

(By the way, other people, you can download the latest release of Python 3.4 here: https://www.python.org/ftp/python/3.4.2/python-3.4.2.msi )

User avatar
chloe hampson
 
Posts: 3493
Joined: Sun Jun 25, 2006 12:15 pm

Post » Sun Jan 11, 2015 11:00 am

I did actually run it on my own system to make sure the Windows folder is not wiped. In addition I think I did a semi decent job with comments in the script which anyone can open in any text editor to view the source of, so you are also welcome to check that before running it.

Thanks for linking the Python installer, I knew I was forgetting something in my haste.

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Imy Davies
 
Posts: 3479
Joined: Fri Jul 14, 2006 6:42 pm


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