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Windows Forum / Windows XP / Performance and Maintainance / March 2007Deleting *.tmp files and TEMP Folders
After running CCLeaner, I did a wildcard search of *.tmp, and was surprised to find a large number of files that were missed during the CCleaner cleanup-- files that were ID'd as TMP Files. Several *.tmp file folders were also left behind during the CCleaner process. Most of these files/folders were empty, but some were not. Can these TMP files and *.tmp File Folders be safely deleted manually? Or do I need to be selective about which files/folders are purged? Similarly, when I ran a file search of TEMP, I uncovered several TEMP Folders still residing within my C:\Documents and Settings, C:\Windows, C:\Program Files , etc. directory paths that CCleaner missed. Any advice/recommendations for handling these TEMP folders would also be appreciated. Hi Reboot your system to make sure that those files aren't being used. Then the *.tmp files can be deleted.  SignatureWill Denny MS MVP Shell/User Please Reply to the News Groups > After running CCLeaner, I did a wildcard search of *.tmp, and was > surprised [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > Any advice/recommendations for handling these TEMP folders would also be > appreciated. > After running CCLeaner, I did a wildcard search of *.tmp, and was > surprised to find a large number of files that were missed during the [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > C:\Windows, C:\Program Files , etc. directory paths that CCleaner > missed. You can safely delete any *.tmp file. Each program should delete all its temporary files when it closes, but for various reasons it doesn't always happen (for example, if the program crashes, it never gets to do this). That's why it's a good idea to periodically clean out anything left there. Also note that there are some program installations which work in two steps. The first step concludes by writing temporary files and rebooting. The second step starts automatically after rebooting and needs to find those files there (and then deletes them when it's done). Other than doing it automatically when rebooting (that would interfere with installations like the kind I described), it's always safe to delete the contents of the temp folder. Because it's safe to delete any temp files that aren't open and in use by an application, and since Windows won't let you delete open files, it's safe to (try to) delete them at any time. If any fail to delete because they're open, they'll either be deleted automatically when the app using them closes, or you'll get them the next time you delete manually. SignatureKen Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User Please reply to the newsgroup > > Any advice/recommendations for handling these TEMP folders would also > be appreciated. > After running CCLeaner, I did a wildcard search of *.tmp, and was > surprised [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > Any advice/recommendations for handling these TEMP folders would also be > appreciated. You can safely delete any file whose extension is tmp or temp. If these files are actually in use, XP will not allow you to delete them. Leave the TEMP folders alone. Jim Thanks to all for your input -- clear, concise and right-to-the-point I was pretty certain from one of Ken's earlier posts that *.tmp files were OK to delete, but I wanted to be certain. Also, thanks to Jim for the clarification on NOT DELETING any TEMP Folders. (I just assumed they were OK to delete, so I'm sure you've saved me some grief) Presumably, NO DELETE also applies to TMP Folders (e.g., msdownld.tmp) ??? Bottom line: 1) *. tmp files are OK TO DELETE 2) TEMP Folders and tmp Folders should be left alone Thanks again! I really appreciate the help. > Thanks to all for your input -- clear, concise and right-to-the-point > [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > > Thanks again! I really appreciate the help. Yes. Just a clarification: It is a waste of time to delete temporary folders because the program that needs them can either create them or abort with an error message. Jim |
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