About to image a drive & have a question

Win 7 Home Prem - 64 Bit.
With Acronis True Image Home 2011.

I think this is more of a windows question then an Acronis.

Using RED (Remove Empty Directories) or Nuker, I would like to get rid of empty folders so that the image is not as bloated.
I understand that some programs need folders that could be empty.

I ran both of the programs and they report pretty much the same.
Some entries were of programs that I have deleted, so suspect safe to remove those folders.

But what about
C:/users/me/AppData/local low/sun/java/develoyment/systemcache/6.0 ... ( see a number of those)
or c:/users/me/msuic/itunes/album artwork/cache/2988e5755744c5554 (there are about 11 pages of similar entries)
or
c:/users/me/pictures. ipod photo cache/f18...

I would say that any entry with "windows" or "system 32" or "sysWOW64" leave alone?

Is there a 'guide' that shows what is safe- or what not sure, don't delete, thinking?

Thx

Anything under Appdata is a hidden file/folder. I make images regularly. One purpose is to ensure that I can return to a solid working copy, before my "experiments" messed up. I would be very apprehensive of removing any such hidden folders, empty or otherwise, unless I was sure of there origing (i.e. - left over from a bad install, or a removed priogram.)

As you are making an image, why do you feel an empty folder is going to "bloat" it? Do you have a premium on disk space, perhaps?

I seriously doubt that empty folders, even assuming you had a thousand of them, would make much difference in the size of the backup.

If it's drive space that's the concern, either delete an older backup that you no longer need, or buy another drive. Many 1TB HDD's can be had for as little as $59.99, sometimes w/free shipping, just hunt around for bargains, and sign up for promo email from major etailers like Newegg.

Then, all you'll need is a drive enclosure, these can be had for as little as $15 on eBay & Amazon, and even Newegg. It's just that when considering a enclosure, regardless of the source of purchase, read the feedback on it. Amazon & Newegg lists feedback, use Bing or Google to research any purchase you consider making from eBay sellers, and make careful note of the seller's feedback ratings. More than 5 negatives within the last 30 days is a good sign of a dishonest seller.

The reason that I recommend assembling your own, which takes less than 5 minutes, is that you can buy a much higher capacity drive for those pre-assembled ones, and some of those develop defects within the case. I've assembled 2, and both are much faster than the pre-assembled 500GB Seagate that I purchased over a year ago.

Cat

Unless you REALLY know what you're doing and which folders to eliminate, I would highly recommend that leave the setup as is. It's really not going to affect your image size that much. A few Kb here and there and that's about it.

OK - thanks guys.
will leave alone (unless a program I uninstalled).