.sav file clutter

RetroArch General
#1

I’m noticing Retroarch seems to be making .sav files for every little action I do in it and this is making me worried it will clutter up my computer with unimportant files.

Case in point, I recently set up windows 98 in Retroarch and (successfully after much confusion, thank you guys for your help) installed a pinball game from my youth. I then tried to play the game later and it didn’t work because under “load content” I thought I needed to choose the .sav file. It didn’t work. So I chose the original file I installed from (why I didn’t think of using that don’t ask me why, my mind is crazy) and that worked. But now I have an extra file of the game which I am pointing to in red along with another file I think might have something to do with it’s creation.

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I’m assuming the file I pointed to in blue is the correct one but I’m worried about just deleting files willy nilly.

If I do start deleting files I think are mistakes running the correct game or program file will just create a new one with no real consequences for me, correct (other than losing any saved games in the program, such as the PlayStation games)? I don’t want to have to bother you guys by asking permission every time I see a file I don’t recognize.

#2

As a general advice you should always make backups of save files. Just in for the case they become corrupted or you deleted the wrong one. If you are unsure about deleting files, but want to try it out, then just make a copy of the file, rename it or move it to another place. Or make an .zip archive out from the entire folder, which would serve as a backup.

These .sav files are created for every game and system that supports it. You can think of like cookie files from your web browser storing session data, or the battery save files from old cartridges. It is normal that these are created and they are very small (usually). I personally would not be concerned about the number of these files to be created, in fact I want them and I backup them. These files are associated with the name of the game file you are playing. So you can easily identify what game uses which .sav save file.

#3

To be clear, these are created by DosBox Pure, not RetroArch. That is: it’s not going to make them any time you play anything, just with that one core (or a couple of other cores that make their own save files, like gpSP).

#4

OK,thanks guys. Usually there is a way to clear cookies and that removes junk files not being used but I understand to move suspected files and run the game to see if there is any change.

#5

Some additional information…

Every time you start Windows, PURE creates a .sav file with the name of the game (plus a PURE code).
If you start Windows only, the name is DOSBox-pure(code).
If you load a game, it is exactly the name of the game(code).

These files are unique per game and are not repeated. If you have several it is because you tried to install from several different files.
In the case of Full Tilt Pinball, the one with 1KB, is an empty file and it was probably the 7z (7zip).

While you acquire skills by installing successfully, you will only have one .sav file.

Pay attention to the file “Full Tilt Pinball.zip”, that file only saves the Windows autostart, which you selected at startup.

Important, after installing the game on WIndows, you can’t edit the game zip. Because it will recognize it as a new game.