Tool/script to remove .doc .docx files from PC

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robjg63

4099 posts

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#98498 29-Feb-2012 14:00

Hi - I googled for tools etc but couldnt find anything promising....

I have some PCs that are used by students. They leave word documents around on the hard drive from time to time and I was looking for a cleanup tool that would (for example) look for all the .doc , .docx files etc that werent a core part of office and would clean them up (delete them). Ideally the same sort of thing for .xls .xlsm etc

I know you could try using file explorer and do a search for all these files - but I know it will find some of the templates etc in the office install area and it would be really good to have something that was just a little executable file to run.

Anyone got any bright ideas?
Oh - did I mention - preferably free??

Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn't have to do it himself - A. H. Weiler

jim.cox

224 posts

Master Geek

#588339 29-Feb-2012 14:14

from the command prompt...

del \*.doc /S

or

del \*.docx /S

=mjc=
.

jaymz

1133 posts

Uber Geek

#588352 29-Feb-2012 14:37

jim.cox: from the command prompt...

del \*.doc /S

or

del \*.docx /S

Just make sure you don't run this on the root of C:\!

You would need to make this into a .bat file to run on the Documents and Settings or Users folders (depending on OS)

This site will explain the command more for you and allow you to better understand what it is doing:
http://ss64.com/nt/del.html

Not sure of your setup, but have you thought about using Microsoft's Shared Computer Toolkit?
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc507835.aspx

May or may not be an option for your setup.

nzkc

1572 posts

Uber Geek

#588378 29-Feb-2012 15:32

I would personally do this in powershell. Something like:

$extensions = '.doc', '.docx'
Get-ChildItem 'Path to search' -Recurse | Where-Object { $extensions -contains $_.Extension } | Remove-Item

shadybrothers

236 posts

Master Geek

#588384 29-Feb-2012 15:52

1. Open Windows Explorer
2. Input *.doc (etc) into search bar
3. Ctrl A
4. Del
5. Profit

Just don't run it in your C:\Program Files\Office folder?

this is a slap in the face!

robjg63

4099 posts

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#588385 29-Feb-2012 15:52

Thanks folks - I suppose I need to check if office has some default .doc .docx files when it is installed and give them a wide berth or I might muck up word.

Thanks for the ideas.

Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn't have to do it himself - A. H. Weiler

nzkc

1572 posts

Uber Geek

#588403 29-Feb-2012 16:09

With PowerShell you could provide a list of paths to include or ignore plus a list of extensions to search for (as I showed with my script knocked up in 30 seconds).

With PowerShell you could schedule it. You can also test the age of the file, e.g. only delete if its more than a week old.

nate

6473 posts

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#588420 29-Feb-2012 16:28

robjg63: I have some PCs that are used by students.

Quic Broadband

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robjg63

4099 posts

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#589266 2-Mar-2012 10:56

jaymz:
jim.cox: from the command prompt...

del \*.doc /S

or

del \*.docx /S

Just make sure you don't run this on the root of C:\!

You would need to make this into a .bat file to run on the Documents and Settings or Users folders (depending on OS)

This site will explain the command more for you and allow you to better understand what it is doing:
http://ss64.com/nt/del.html

Not sure of your setup, but have you thought about using Microsoft's Shared Computer Toolkit?
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc507835.aspx

May or may not be an option for your setup.

Your link above lead me to the Steadystate/Guest functionality that briefly appeared in the Win 7 RC and then Microsoft pulled the plug on it! I have to sound ignorant and say I didnt even know that steadystate had existed for XP users either....Oh dear!

I am amazed that they didnt make such useful features for kiosk/student facilities available in win7. Would have thought that public PCs are good advertising for MS - maybe they dont think so anymore..
MS published a few waffly papers saying there are other tools that can achieve the same thing - but I see that many people (like me) just find it confusing overkill.

Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn't have to do it himself - A. H. Weiler

jaymz

1133 posts

Uber Geek

#589271 2-Mar-2012 11:09

robjg63:

Your link above lead me to the Steadystate/Guest functionality that briefly appeared in the Win 7 RC and then Microsoft pulled the plug on it! I have to sound ignorant and say I didnt even know that steadystate had existed for XP users either....Oh dear!

I am amazed that they didnt make such useful features for kiosk/student facilities available in win7. Would have thought that public PCs are good advertising for MS - maybe they dont think so anymore..
MS published a few waffly papers saying there are other tools that can achieve the same thing - but I see that many people (like me) just find it confusing overkill.

Apologies for that, just had a look and the links just lead you to the main MS download page, not very helpful at all!!

So are you running Windows XP or Windows 7?

I have another client who i locked down the PC using group policy which may be the next best thing for you. It initally took me a bit of time to get the policies setup and working correctly, but once it was tested, rolling it out to multiple computers was very easy!

The client was running Windows XP and a 2003 domain.

If you would like a copy of the group policy that i setup, i would be happy to send you it for reference.

robjg63

4099 posts

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Subscriber

#589293 2-Mar-2012 11:28

We are using win 7.
Actually I just found a few people complaining about the omission from windows 7 and a couple of bods recommended Faronics Deep Freeze.
Looks to be about $30 per seat and is probably the best fit for us.

While tidying up junk documents that users might leave behind would be useful - Actually locking down the PC and restoring its state on each login would be the best solution.

I our case we have a couple of centres that dont have a server - just a firewall box that is doing the website lockdown/restrictions and a printer.

Might investigate something like this a bit further.

Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn't have to do it himself - A. H. Weiler

jaymz

1133 posts

Uber Geek

#589315 2-Mar-2012 11:44

robjg63: We are using win 7.
Actually I just found a few people complaining about the omission from windows 7 and a couple of bods recommended Faronics Deep Freeze.
Looks to be about $30 per seat and is probably the best fit for us.

While tidying up junk documents that users might leave behind would be useful - Actually locking down the PC and restoring its state on each login would be the best solution.

I our case we have a couple of centres that dont have a server - just a firewall box that is doing the website lockdown/restrictions and a printer.

Might investigate something like this a bit further.

I had a look at the Faronics software site and it looks quite good.

If you have the budget for it, i find going with a paid software and the support they can give works out better and easier than trying to make a free solution work.

I would contact their sales team, explain your situation, they may offer a trial version for you to play with to ensure it will do what you require.

Let us know how you get on, it is always good to know about people's experiences with different software :)

stevenz

2802 posts

Uber Geek

#589359 2-Mar-2012 13:06

jim.cox: from the command prompt...

del \*.doc /S

or

del \*.docx /S

If you can login as the user then:

del /s c:\users\%username%\*.doc?

or to delete them from ALL user folders:

del /s c:\users\*.doc?

@KnightNZ

robjg63

4099 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#589371 2-Mar-2012 13:19

jaymz:
robjg63: We are using win 7.
Actually I just found a few people complaining about the omission from windows 7 and a couple of bods recommended Faronics Deep Freeze.
Looks to be about $30 per seat and is probably the best fit for us.

While tidying up junk documents that users might leave behind would be useful - Actually locking down the PC and restoring its state on each login would be the best solution.

I our case we have a couple of centres that dont have a server - just a firewall box that is doing the website lockdown/restrictions and a printer.

Might investigate something like this a bit further.

I had a look at the Faronics software site and it looks quite good.

If you have the budget for it, i find going with a paid software and the support they can give works out better and easier than trying to make a free solution work.

I would contact their sales team, explain your situation, they may offer a trial version for you to play with to ensure it will do what you require.

Let us know how you get on, it is always good to know about people's experiences with different software :)

I actually downloaded the demo version - it works for a month without a key.

Easily installed.
Asks what drives/partitions you want to monitor - so just C: really required
Does a reboot.
Log on to the PC for the first time - a message pops up asking if you want to set a password (of course you would) and it tells you that if you need to access the program again (you can see it in the toolbar) but need to hold SHIFT and double click it (so its sort of hidden).

So I logged on as administrator - mucked about with my desktop settings/wallpaper, installed a couple of programs and installed the ASK toolbar for IE. Made a temp folder and saved some junk.
Did a reboot and all the above has vanished and it was back to pristine condition.

Demo'd similar scenario to the boss and she was impressed. I am trying to order some keys.

If you have to make any permanent changes to the PC you just need to open up the admin screen and ask it to stay unlocked for the next X reboots or permanently stay unlocked and you make your changes and lock it again.

I didnt notice that it took much longer to reboot than before the software was installed - so that all seems good.

I guess any antivirus updates would be wiped - but I suppose thats not too important as the PC should always go back to a clean state.

Found a few glowing recommendations for it - I have my fingers X'd.

Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn't have to do it himself - A. H. Weiler