Temporary files

Can someone advice how to deal with Temporary files on Windows 7? (temporary
files created during installation of programs, windows updates, cashed web
pages, etc). Should it be cleaned periodically? Should be removed windows
updates backup files also?

On 12/08/2011 16:09, Alonso wrote:
> Can someone advice how to deal with Temporary files on Windows 7? (temporary
> files created during installation of programs, windows updates, cashed web
> pages, etc). Should it be cleaned periodically? Should be removed windows
> updates backup files also?
>

Windows Disk Cleanup will get rid of a lot of them - depending what you
set it to do. Ccleaner will find some more. I clean them all out every
month or so.

--
http://www.galen.org.uk


Dyslexia lures, KO!

"Bob Henson" <> wrote in message
news:j23gvp$nvd$...
> On 12/08/2011 16:09, Alonso wrote:
>> Can someone advice how to deal with Temporary files on Windows 7?
>> (temporary
>> files created during installation of programs, windows updates, cashed
>> web
>> pages, etc). Should it be cleaned periodically? Should be removed windows
>> updates backup files also?
>>
>
> Windows Disk Cleanup will get rid of a lot of them - depending what you
> set it to do. Ccleaner will find some more. I clean them all out every
> month or so.
>
> --
> http://www.galen.org.uk
>
>
> Dyslexia lures, KO!
------------

Should be removed updates backup files?

On Fri, 12 Aug 2011 18:09:02 +0300, "Alonso"
<> wrote:

>Can someone advice how to deal with Temporary files on Windows 7? (temporary
>files created during installation of programs, windows updates, cashed web
>pages, etc). Should it be cleaned periodically? Should be removed windows
>updates backup files also?

My advice is to ignore such things. The average user has way more
drive space than they'll use in a lifetime, so space isn't an issue.
In general, there are no downsides to leaving that stuff alone.

--

Char Jackson

Hi, Alonso.

Temporary files are meant to be...well, temporary. They are supposed to be
removed automatically by the program that creates them as soon as their job
is done. But, sometimes they aren't. Maybe the program was not written
well. Or maybe it was interrupted - by a system "hang" or by somebody
"pulling the plug" before it had a chance to clean up after itself.

No matter how it happened, temporary files are almost always useless within
24 hours of their creation and just taking up disk space. Some are meant to
survive a restart, to finish the job that was started before the shutdown,
so it's best not to be TOO hasty at removing them. And since some systems
use hibernate or sleep, rather than shutdown/restart each day, we can't be
sure that some temporary files are not still waiting for a power cycle.

If temporary files remain after a Disk Cleanup or after CCleaner (as Bob
recommended), have a look to see if you recognize any of them - you probably
will not, and you can delete them all.

Some settings will help keep temporary files to a minimum. For example, in
IE, I always use the setting in Tools | Internet Options | Advanced (under
Security) to Empty Temporary Internet Files folder when browser is closed.

Windows update backup files are really a separate topic and I'll let someone
else address those.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX

Microsoft Windows MVP (2002-2010)
Windows Live Mail 2011 (Build 15.4.3538.0513) in Win7 Ultimate x64 SP1


"Alonso" wrote in message news:j23fm9$eol$...

Can someone advice how to deal with Temporary files on Windows 7? (temporary
files created during installation of programs, windows updates, cashed web
pages, etc). Should it be cleaned periodically? Should be removed windows
updates backup files also?

On Fri, 12 Aug 2011 18:09:02 +0300, "Alonso"
<> wrote:

> Can someone advice how to deal with Temporary files on Windows 7? (temporary
> files created during installation of programs, windows updates, cashed web
> pages, etc). Should it be cleaned periodically?


Yes, they can, and should be, deleted periodically.

The temp folder provides workspace for programs. Programs can create
temporary files there for their own temporary use. 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.

Some people may suggest that you reboot before deleting anything, but
that's not necessary, for the reason described above (on the other
hand, it doesn't hurt to do it).



> Should be removed windows
> updates backup files also?


I'd leave all that alone.

On 12/08/2011 17:30, Alonso wrote:
>
> "Bob Henson" <> wrote in message
> news:j23gvp$nvd$...
>> On 12/08/2011 16:09, Alonso wrote:
>>> Can someone advice how to deal with Temporary files on Windows 7?
>>> (temporary
>>> files created during installation of programs, windows updates, cashed
>>> web
>>> pages, etc). Should it be cleaned periodically? Should be removed windows
>>> updates backup files also?
>>>
>>
>> Windows Disk Cleanup will get rid of a lot of them - depending what you
>> set it to do. Ccleaner will find some more. I clean them all out every
>> month or so.
>>
>> --
>> http://www.galen.org.uk
>>
>>
>> Dyslexia lures, KO!
> ------------
>
> Should be removed updates backup files?
>

I'd be inclined to leave those, or certainly take further advice before
removing them. I'm sure there will be some information on the Internet
if you Google it.

--
http://www.galen.org.uk


The penalty for bigamy is two Mother-in-Laws

On Fri, 12 Aug 2011 10:15:11 -0700, Ken Blake wrote:

> Some people may suggest that you reboot before deleting anything, but
> that's not necessary, for the reason described above (on the other
> hand, it doesn't hurt to do it).

I think (or at least fear) that some of the temp files needed to
complete an installation are *not* locked, so I always reboot before
cleaning the temp files.

Which I do every seven years, it seems :-)

--
Gene E. Bloch (Stumbling Bloch)

In news:j23no4$6bb$,
Bob Henson <> typed:
> On 12/08/2011 17:30, Alonso wrote:
>>
>> "Bob Henson" <> wrote in message
>> news:j23gvp$nvd$...
>>> On 12/08/2011 16:09, Alonso wrote:
>>>> Can someone advice how to deal with Temporary files on
>>>> Windows 7? (temporary
>>>> files created during installation of programs, windows
>>>> updates, cashed web
>>>> pages, etc). Should it be cleaned periodically? Should
>>>> be removed windows updates backup files also?
>>>>
>>>
>>> Windows Disk Cleanup will get rid of a lot of them -
>>> depending what you set it to do. Ccleaner will find
>>> some more. I clean them all out every month or so.
>>>
>>> --
>>> http://www.galen.org.uk
>>>
>>>
>>> Dyslexia lures, KO!
>> ------------
>>
>> Should be removed updates backup files?

It's unlikely you'll ever need those uninstall flles, but you never know: I
back mine up to DVD and stash them aside, just in case, after a month or so.

I concur with the responses to ccleaner & disk cleanup.



>>
>
> I'd be inclined to leave those, or certainly take further
> advice before removing them. I'm sure there will be some
> information on the Internet if you Google it.

On Fri, 12 Aug 2011 11:02:59 -0700, "Gene E. Bloch"
<not-> wrote:

> On Fri, 12 Aug 2011 10:15:11 -0700, Ken Blake wrote:
>
> > Some people may suggest that you reboot before deleting anything, but
> > that's not necessary, for the reason described above (on the other
> > hand, it doesn't hurt to do it).
>
> I think (or at least fear) that some of the temp files needed to
> complete an installation are *not* locked, so I always reboot before
> cleaning the temp files.


I've never run into this problem. But as I said, it doesn't hurt to do
it your way.