Remove thumbs.db & prevent Windows from creating the Thumbs.db files!

here’s a file called Thumbs.db in almost every one of the folders on my computer. What is it and how do I get rid of it? Thumbs.db is a hidden file generated automatically by Windows, you will see it in many folders if you have set the “Show hidden files and folders” option in the “Folder Options” window on.

What is Thumbs.db ?
The default behavior for many folders in Windows XP is to display thumbnail images of the files in the folder. This is primarily true of folders created from digital cameras or filed under the My Videos and My Pictures folders. Thumbs.db is Microsoft’s way of caching thumbnail images of any image or movie file in a folder. The idea behind creating a thumbnail cache is to improve the speed of displaying thumbnails the next time you open the folder by caching a set of thumbnails for the image and video files in the folder.
The only drawback of the thumbs.db file is that it takes up disk space. Although this space is very small in most cases, if you have a lot of thumbs.db files littering your hard drive you may be able to save some valuable space by removing them. Follow the steps below to turn off the creation of this file and delete the thumbs.db files that are on your hard drive. To turn this feature off, do the following:

Step 1) Open My Computer > Click on Tools
Step 2) Click on Folder Options > Click on the View Tab
Step 3) Place a check in the option “Do not cache thumbnails”
Step 4) Click Ok
Step 5) Close My Computer

Now follow the next steps to remove the thumbs.db files from your hard drive.
1) Click on Start
2) Click on Search
3) Click on All Files and Folders
4) Type the following in the section called “all or part of the file name” thumbs.db
5) In the Look in box, make sure Local Hard Drives is chosen
6) Click Search
7) A long list of thumbs.db files should appear, click on Edit, Select All
Click on File, and choose Delete
9) Close the Search Results window
Note : This tip isn’t for everyone, if you are low on disk space and don’t use the Thumbnail view to show your files, this may save you some valuable disk space.