Removing Unwanted DLLs

Most of *.DLL files  will be essential for the smooth running of the users’ applications. But duplicate or “orphan”DLLs can easily accumulate, particularly in the System directory and many of them will be totally unnecessary. This will leads to cluttering up the system . Removing these unwanted files can liberate many megabytes of space on your hard disk.

Main cause of DLL clutter is file duplication. This happens when multiple applications install copies of the same DLL in different directories.When you install an application, it will usually place its DLLs either in its own directory or in the Windows System directory.

A separate DLL-related problem is that of orphaned files:DLLs that get left behind
after their parent applications have been uninstalled. This especially affects DLLs in the System directory. The uninstall utility will assume that these files are shared, but it will have no way of knowing which other applications use them or whether these applications are actually present on your system. In most cases the un installer will play safe and decline to erase any DLLs at all from the System
directory, which thus becomes a warehouse of orphaned files.

Clearly, before you can do any pruning of duplicate or obsolete DLLs, you must know what each DLL is used for, which applications it belongs to, and what version it is. One way to find this out is to look at the DLL’s property sheet. To do so, locate the DLL file in Windows Explorer or a folder window, right-click on it, select Properties, then select the Version tab.

You can use AnalogX DLL Archive to find what application uses as a .dll, and if it no longer is required, you can archive it instead

Here are some tools  for tracking down and eliminating orphaned DLLs is Norton Cleansweep and McAfee Uninstaller ,both include tools which will locate multiple copies of DLLs, and both programs will help you decide how to deal with them.DLL Finder,RJ System File Checker ,DiskCleanGold , Ccleaner, Advanced WindowsCare Personal Edition are some others.

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