|
|
Deleting Temp
Files 101
How to delete unnecessary temporary files and create a
shortcut to do it again
****These
instructions are for deleting the temporary files created when certain
programs are run or installed. (Windows is SUPPOSED to do this
automatically but it often misses LOTS and these files, if left behind,
can cause many problems with your computer.) These instructions
will NOT delete temporary Internet files*****
NOTE: I'm getting a lot
of emails asking how to delete temp files in
Windows Vista. At this
point, I'm not giving out instructions on deleting temp
files in Vista because I'm still testing to see what's safe
and what's not. Obviously, I don't want to advise people to
do something unless I'm completely sure it's safe, and so
far, I've been able to delete temps on Vista without any
problems, but it may be a year or so before I'm feeling
confident enough to tell others to do it too. Check back to
see if and when I include Vista in these instructions.
NOTE:
Many
people will tell you that all you need to do is open your
Windows Temp folder and delete everything in there because
that's where all temp files are stored. This is NOT
true. That's where all programs are SUPPOSED to store
their temp files but many don't. You can delete temp
files that way, but I promise you that you won't get them
all. To test this, go ahead and delete all the files
in your Windows Temp folder, then try my method and see how
many more you find.
Once
you've done this one time, use my instructions at the end to
create the shortcut so you can do it again without these
instructions.
First,
close ALL
open programs, including any running in the background, like your
anti-virus
program, etc.
Click on your start button, then go to Find, then Files or
Folders (In Windows XP, go to Start, then Search). In
this dialog box, make sure where it says "look in", that it
is looking at your C: drive (or, if you have multiple hard
drives or partitions, be sure "All Local Drives" is
selected) and be sure there is a check in the box next to
where it says "include subfolders". (This is in "More
Advanced Options" in XP. Also, in Windows XP you need to put
checks in the boxes that say "Search hidden files and
folders" and "Search system folders".) Now, click your mouse pointer in the
box that says "named" (in XP, it says "All or part of the file
name") and type the following, exactly as it is
here.
*.tmp,*.chk,~*.*
That's
asterisk period t m p comma asterisk period c h k comma tilde asterisk
period
asterisk .....with no
spaces.
(The
"tilde" is the little squiggle above the Tab key on the left end
of your keyboard.....DO
NOT FORGET THE TILDE as
~*.* will find all files which begin with ~, but *.* without the tilde
would find all files on the drive and you DON'T want to do that!!)
To be sure you've got it right, just highlight this --->
*.tmp,*.chk,~*.* <---
copy it and paste it in that box.
Once it finds all the files, it will list them and, at the
bottom, it will tell you how many it found. (If you are using Windows XP,
and it didn't find any files, open My Computer and click
on the Tools menu and choose Folder Options, then click
on the View tab and scroll thru that list to be sure
"Show hidden files and folders" IS checked and "Hide
protected operating system files" is NOT checked.
Then try the search again.)
Hit ctrl+a to select them all, then hit your delete key. If it won't
delete some of them, that's because they are attached to some program
running in the background, so you may have to delete them one at a time.
If one or two won't delete, they will probably delete
when you reboot next, so don't worry about them.
NOTE:
Windows XP tends to hang onto temp files
more than the earlier versions, so you may run into more
that you can't delete. If so, just note the name
of the file Windows won't delete and find it in the
list, then hit ctrl+a to select them all again, then hold
down your control key and click on the one Windows won't
delete. This will select all but that one.
Try deleting them again. If XP finds another it
won't delete, repeat this same process. If this
won't work for you, try deleting them in Safe Mode (or
go to Start> All Programs> Accessories> System Tools>
Disk Cleanup and use the Windows utility to delete them,
however this won't find any that are not in your Windows
Temp folder) . Bottom line is these particular files will
probably be
deleted by Windows when you reboot, but then will be
recreated again because XP needs them while it's
running. So, if you delete all but the ones XP is
temporarily hanging onto, you will be fine.
Generally, all of these files and folders (**see below for
exceptions) are safe to delete and removing them can solve some
crazy problems you may be having. However, if you are concerned
about this, leave the files you deleted in your recycle
bin for a few days until you are sure all is working
properly. This way, you can restore the files from
the recycle bin if you have a problem ... or, as is
*always* the case when I do this, just permanently
delete the files from the recycle bin once you are sure
all is well.
*******************
**On rare occasion, I get emails from people telling me that they have
programs that NEED their tmp and chk files in order for the program
to find previously stored information. First off, I have never seen
this in my own experiences with deleting temp files from thousands
of machines. And, secondly, I would question the intelligence of any
program that stores critical information in tmp or chk files, since
these file types are universally known for their temporary nature
and many people delete them. The only thing I can suggest is read
the instructions and documentation for your programs. If they, in
fact, require tmp or chk files stored in a specific folder, do not
delete anything in that folder. Personally, if I had a program like
this on my computer, I would contact the manufacturer and tell them
this is unacceptable and if they didn't change this, I would remove
that program from my computer. But, remember, my instructions
tell you to leave the files in your recycle bin until you are sure
everything is ok and I would suggest you do this if you suspect you
may have programs that might require tmp or chk files.
EXAMPLE: It was brought to
my attention that some wireless network software creates a file
called OEM.tmp and deleting this file will break your Internet
connection. So, click the header bar at the top of your Search
results and sort the files by file name; then hit ctrl+A to select
all, then hold the ctrl key and click OEM.tmp to de-select it, then
delete the rest. Evidently, from what I see in my research,
this file is deleted by all temp file deletion software, including
Windows XP's cleanup utility, so I would hope the maker of this
software would wise up to this shortcoming; but until they do, you
will have to de-select this one before you delete the files.
******************
Once they
are all deleted, you can save this process as an Icon on your desktop so
you can repeat it with one click.
Still
inside the Find/Search dialog box, go to the File menu and click
on "Save Search"......this will put an icon on your desktop that
you can click on any time you want to delete temps again!
DISCLAIMER and WARNING:
I have personally done this on hundreds of computers with no ill
effects. I also do it on my own computers all the time.
However, like I say above, if you are afraid to do this, just leave
the files in your Recycle Bin for a few days until you are sure
everything is ok, then you can empty your Recycle Bin. Or, if
you are REALLY afraid to delete them, just delete them one at a time
and reboot your computer between each delete so you can see that
everything still works fine. However, most people find a LOT
of them, when they use my method, so this could take you all day
J |
Background Processes
Clean Desktop
Fight SPAM
GeekSpeak
HowTo Search
IE - OE
Interface
Passwords
Registry
Screensaver
Security
Shutdown/Restart
Sounds
Spyware
Temp Files
Virus or Hoax?
Virus News
Wingdings |
.
