deleting contents of Local Settings/Temp

[aa]

I am cleaning my HD.
In Documents and Settings/myName/Local Settings/
there is a folder called Temp which if about 650Mb
If I delete its contents, leaving the folder in place, how it will affect
the work of XP?

 

[R. McCarty]

Best to purge it's contents immediately after a boot. But generally,
there is no downside to periodically cleaning it out. The same with
the System Temp folder found at \Windows\Temp.

Be aware that some files cannot be installed/updated while XP is
running. Pending operations are staged in \Temp folders until the PC
is rebooted.

It is normal that if you try to remove all contents, some files may not
be able to be deleted. Some of the content may be actively used and
the delete operation can't work against files with what's called Open
File Handles.

 

[aa]

Thanks.
Some files indeed refuse to get deleted saying that they are being used by
another application. How do I delete these?
Also I got a message that folders Cookie and History in Temp folder are
system folders and their removal can cause problems. Is this the case? Shall
I keep them just deleting their contents, ot I can delet them altogeter?
There are other History ans Cookies folders outside Temp.

 

[R. McCarty]

While XP is running, there are always applications/services that
require workspace ( Think of it as a computer's Scratch Pad).
Those files will always be there and open. Zone Alarm Free will
have a ZL-----.tmp or two in the temp folder. Don't worry about
trying to purge/remove them.

IE's TIF (Temporary Internet Files) has it's own maintenance
applet. From here you can purge contents ( All or Leave Cookies ).
Control Panel, Classic View - Internet Options.
Cookies are somewhat beneficial for retaining site information. I
wouldn't delete them unless you have a reason.
*It's normal to find replicated Temporary Internet Files folders.
When the normal TIF is inaccessible, XP uses the Temp folder
instead. Cookies are both in the TIF and a more "Permanent"
copy kept in your Profile tree.

 

[aa]

Thanks

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I am cleaning my HD.
In Documents and Settings/myName/Local Settings/
there is a folder called Temp which if about 650Mb
If I delete its contents, leaving the folder in place, how it will
affect the work of XP?

Not at all. 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.