ParetoLogic Privacy Controls > Tutorials > Deleting Winamp Playlists
Deleting Winamp Playlists
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Winamp is the second most widely used media player, with only Windows Media Player proving more popular. Part of its popularity is due to the fact that the most recent incarnation, Winamp 5, was made available via three different licenses; two of which were freeware. All versions support extensive plug ins and add ons as well as the possibility of using skins to alter the look and feel of the application.
Freeware Winamp Features
The only thing that freeware users of Winamp are unable to do is to burn and rip music to and from CDs. This still means that users have the capability to play music, and manage music lists from the powerful Winamp application. Playlists can be saved, stored, and altered for regular use while bookmarks and recently opened files are stored for convenience and ease of use.
Information That Winamp Stores
While these features ensure that Winamp users have a simple and feature rich experience it also means that your system and, in particular, Winamp folders can quickly fill. Playlists, bookmarks, and logs are all stored on your system taking up valuable disk space. Without regularly clearing these folders out Winamp can begin to run slowly and eventually the same fate may befall your entire system.
Using ParetoLogic Privacy Controls To Clean Winamp Folders
It is possible to clean many of these folders yourself but by using an application like ParetoLogic Privacy Controls you can ensure that all files and records are accurately and completely deleted. The secure shredding option also enables you to completely remove all traces of the files quickly and easily.
1 – Opening ParetoLogic Privacy Controls
Open ParetoLogic Privacy Controls and, in the main window, click on the Options button. This will take you to the scanning options screen where you can select the areas of your PC, and which applications, that you wish to scan.
2 – Selecting The Winamp Option
Navigate down to the Multimedia option and, ensuring there is a tick in this box, click on the arrow to bring up a list of the media players that ParetoLogic Privacy Controls can scan. Tick the Winamp box, which is second in this list and click the arrow to be presented with the items you can scan and delete from Winamp.
Winamp Options
Recently Opened Files List – Whenever you play a media item using Winamp a record of this file is stored in the recently opened files list. In order to clear this list make sure there is a tick in this tick box.
Bookmarks – Winamp enables users to store bookmarks to websites. These bookmarks can link to sites that include media files or sites of general interest. To clear all bookmarks from the Winamp application select this option.
Media Library Views,
Playlist, And Data – Various Winamp settings are stored to
ensure that every time you open the application it is set up how you
like to see it. These settings are stored in the Winamp system
folders along with any playlist data. This option enables you to
clear these settings and delete all of this information.
4 – Selecting Deletion Options
Once you have selected the areas of Winamp that you wish to clear you should proceed to selecting the level of deletion that you wish to use. There are four possible deletion settings to choose from.
Deletion Options
Delete Files Without
Overwriting – This is the standard deletion method that is
equivalent to manually deleting the information from the folders
yourself. This will remove the files and settings, freeing up disk
space, but files removed in this way can be recovered by you,
anybody else with access to your computer, and even by hackers.
Overwrite Once – This is the basic secure deletion method. It
is the quickest of the secure methods because it only overwrites
files once before deletion. This option is still not as secure as
the options below but does a good job of ensuring that entire files
can not be recovered.
Overwrite Three Times – This is considered a secure method
because it prevents the easy retrieval of any deleted data. Once the
file has been overwritten three times it will be subsequently
deleted. This is a secure method, although some data can still be
restored using specialist data retrieval tools.
Overwrite Seven Times – This is the most secure and,
therefore, slowest method of deletion. Files are overwritten seven
times before being deleted making it impossible for even the most
sophisticated retrieval software to recover the files.
5 – Start Scanning
Once you have determined the level of deletion you want to use click on the Scan & Erase button in the top left of the screen. On the scan page click the Start button to begin scanning. Once you have clicked this you will receive an update of your scan progress. Once completed this will be replaced with details of the completed scan.
6 – Scan Progress
The scan details will show you a list of items that ParetoLogic Privacy Controls has found matching your scanning criteria. You can select or deselect items for removal by placing or removing ticks from next to each one. Once you have decided on the items you wish to delete from this list click on the Erase button and confirm your desired actions on the next popup screen.
7 – Completion
When ParetoLogic Privacy Controls has finished deleting the files click the Finish button to be taken back to the main ParetoLogic Privacy Controls window.
Regular Cleaning With ParetoLogic Privacy Controls
Regular Winamp users will find that the Winamp application and their system, on the whole, will run better by performing this clear out on a regular basis. The more often you use Winamp the more often you should clear it out to ensure you retain application and system integrity.