The TEMP file

Jerrymac · January 13, 2008, 05:54:19 PM

I was searching for places to delete stuff for more room and have come across the temp file. Is all of that stuff something I can delete without causing problems?

Correct me if I am wrong but this is just a place where stuff is stored so that things come up faster if one happens to visit the same place twice right?

reinbeau · January 13, 2008, 06:48:23 PM

You can delete everything in the temp folder except anything dated today.

Properly written programs will delete their own temp files, unfortunately not everyone is that neat and tidy. Don't worry about deleting them, they'll be recreated if needed.

Jerrymac · January 13, 2008, 06:50:41 PM

Quote from: reinbeau on January 13, 2008, 06:48:23 PM
You can delete everything in the temp folder except anything dated today.

Why not today?

reinbeau · January 13, 2008, 06:54:26 PM

Because that file may be in use by some program (not necessarily one you're aware is running) and you could destabilize Windows if you delete it.

Jerrymac · January 13, 2008, 07:02:08 PM

:shock: OH :shock:

There are just a whole mess of folders in there with absolutely nothing in them Dating back to January 2007 That is when My computer received another bigger hard drive and slight updates. Then my son dumped a bunch of stuff into mine that he wanted to save while his computer was being rebuilt. Now I am looking for some more room for other projects and decided to do a lot of flushing. This is a place I had never been before.... that I remember.... and it just had a whole lot of junk in it. A lot I had no idea what was so I thought I better check. My live in computer wiz is unavailable at the moment.

Jerrymac · January 13, 2008, 07:37:45 PM

So what would a picture of a folder with the word "plugtmp" be? There are a lot of those numbered from 1 to 114. Some have stuff in them and others are empty. Yes there is one for today but the rest are from the past.

Can I delete them?

reinbeau · January 13, 2008, 08:23:08 PM

Plugtemp is a subfolder in the temp folder? If so, then kill them - but for safety's sake leave today's. Kill today's tomorrow ;) Then just make it a habit to go in there once in awhile and delete them. That's what I've done for years now on all of my computers and I have never had a problem.

Jerrymac · January 13, 2008, 09:00:48 PM

OK. Thanks a lot. I have gotten about 10% of my space back already.

Michael Bush · January 13, 2008, 10:45:58 PM

Odds are if a program needs a temp file that is in there it will have it locked and it won't delete anyway. Just shut down anything you are doing and feel free to delete them all. :)

Jerrymac · January 13, 2008, 10:58:34 PM

Yep. I hit one that wouldn't delete because it was busy.

reinbeau · January 14, 2008, 09:02:46 AM

Quote from: Michael Bush on January 13, 2008, 10:45:58 PM
Odds are if a program needs a temp file that is in there it will have it locked and it won't delete anyway. Just shut down anything you are doing and feel free to delete them all. :)

The problem is some programs aren't written properly and this will definitely cause a problem. So why bother? Not to argue the point, but just leave today's alone, you aren't going to regain all that much more space.

Jerrymac · January 14, 2008, 02:21:26 PM

But the one I hit that wouldn't close because "someone" was using it was dated back in 2007.... October I believe. :-\

Kathyp · January 15, 2008, 03:54:41 PM

if you are running a window OS, the safest way to dump stuff is to go to programs-accessories-system tools-disk cleanup. you can choose what to dump and you can also dump old system restore points. also, if you are using IE, go to tools-internet options-and look for the delete section under the 'general' tab. depending on your OS, this function will be a little different. from there, you can dump cookies, etc.

this is the easiest and safest way for a non-computer person to clean up junk. you might also want to clean off old programs that you are not using. if you do this, do it first, then do the other.

Jerrymac · January 15, 2008, 06:33:16 PM

What is OS?

Kathyp · January 15, 2008, 07:32:55 PM

sorry. operating system....like windows XP or Vista.

sneekybeez · January 17, 2008, 10:06:18 AM

Here's an easy way to clean up your puter... Do a google search for cleanup any version. I think it is currently 4.0. Download to desktop and double click to install. Click on the hand icon to start program. The program should be defaulted to do a standard cleanup which will remove all temp files, temp internet files, cookies and browser files. If your puter has never been cleaned up this program will remove a lot of junk and do it safely... I've been using it about 3 years now and do a periodic clean about 1 or 2 times a month. Hope that helps.... 8-)

Cindi · January 17, 2008, 11:14:41 AM

Yes, system disk cleanup, did that to my new and old computer, amazing. Then I did the defragmentation as well. Now that took a long time, but man oh man, did my old laptop run raster, and also my new laptop (the one that needed the new network card). I defragmented it before the network card and it was amazing how much faster I could do EVERYTHING, just couldn't get on the internet until the new network card, but I was simply amazed. Have a wonderful and greatest of days. Cindi

ooptec · January 19, 2008, 03:01:50 PM

Here is good free one

http://www.ccleaner.com/

cheers

peter

Understudy · January 20, 2008, 08:34:27 PM

OS == Operating System. The base software on your computer. This is what is used to interface with all the hardware your computer uses. Keyboards, mice, printers, video cards, sound cards, network cards and similar. The OS is also the foundation on which your other software programs run. Such as your browser (Firefox, Opera, Internet Explorer), word, spreadsheet, and other office type programs. Programs use the OS to communicate with the hardware.

Windows based Operating Systems:
Windows 95, 98, Me, 2000, XP, Vista

Linux based Operating Systems:
Suse, Red Hat, Ubuntu, and many more

BSD based Operating Systems:
FreeBSD, NetNSD, OpenBSD, Darwin

Apple Based Operating Systems:
System Software, Next, Mac OS

Ther are more types of operating systems out there. Risc, Dos, and OS/2 are some of the older favorites.

Sincerely,
Brendhan