[SOLVED] temporary system file deletion - is it safe?

Having had this install of Windows 7 for a while now, I noticed when I scanned with CCleaner that I have over 430,000KB of temporary system files. It ships the the option to delete them checked, but running a VM, I unchecked that option. However, you can click onto the item when it's displayed, and very few of the files has anything with my VM. Most are various setup logs and so forth. You can manually select to not include a particular file if you want.

With this in mind, is it safe to delete these files? I've always used the pre-checked options when using XP, but 7 is my main OS, and I don't want to screw anything up. I do have recent backups with Acronis True Image, but I only want to revert to that when necessary.

These files are not to be confused with "temporary internet files", which I delete with CCleaner on a daily basis (using only one pass to clean).

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Cat

What I do, is not what I neccessarily recommend for others I use asc and Ccleaner to there full extent, after a new install. After that, If I have been messing with third party software, I (seldom!) use ASC . This, as was said in another thread, leaves Ccleaner with nothing to do.
But normally, I go to the various trouble area, and delete manually. I also delete left over software entries from the two registry paths concerned with this, (Hkey_current_user\software and, ditto, Local_machine)
There are a couple of folders under the hidden systems, which remain untouched by Ccleaner or ASC. The files in these I also delete manually. Foe r example, one such is Users - username - Appdata - Local - temp

Obviously, to do this on a regular basis can be tedious, but I do like to go through it periodically. It does mean reinserting your site passwords. etc. again, but this is a very small inconvenience.

Fwiw. It is interesting to note that, with an absolutely fresh install, if you use a cleaner, in this case ASC, it removes over a hundred registry entries, without apparaent harm. IMHO, I think this is because the "boffins" in Microsoft, carry over the registry, with modifications, from legacy OS's.

I'm like you in that respect, sometimes (especially in my evaluation OS's) I do things that I wouldn't recommend to others, too. With those, I can take a chance, they are easily reinstalled, I do use all of the default options of CCleaner.

But in my OEM OS, 7 Pro (through the Anytime Upgrade) has a lot of temporary files built up. MS Works, HP Software Updater, and a few others has tons of these files, and the last time I deleted them, in December, the HP Software Updater had to be reinstalled manually. It no longer worked properly. I guess that I need to sort through them all, then delete what's not needed. There's lots of log files, too.

I do know that over time, these files will congest your system as they continue their buildup, as well as take up a lot of disc space. 430,000KB is a lot of files to sort through. What I may do is, make another backup, then bite the bullet, and just delete them, except anything related to my HP Software Updater, and VirtualBox. If anything screws up, I'll have the backup to fall back on.

Thanks for your advice, davehc. It is helpful to me.

Cat

Virtual box, I know nothing about. But perhaps if you disabled the HP update feature, it would be safe - you can always update manually?

You can delete those temp files with no issues at all. That's why they're called temp.

It is where stuff that is downloaded such as software updates, etc., are stored but no longer needed. There is no need to worry about screwing up your Windows 7 Pro by deleting them.

Nibiru is 100% right.

Thanks for all of the suggestions. I'll go ahead and delete them tonight. If they keep building up, they won't even fit on a CD. That's too much garbage to carry, and I know firsthand that useless files just clogs your system over time. I guess that's part of what's called "junkfiles".