Temporary files accumulating

[Guest]

I have XP Professional running on a 40GB HD partitioned into C and D drives
of 20GB each.

I recently attempted to defrag C drive - error message advised that I had
insufficient space to complete a full defrag. Surprising since programs took
up only 8GB of the 20GB. I did however uninstall a couple of programs I
hardly use in an effort to free up space but this had no effect.

After a sherlock holmes type investigation I found that the cuprit was the
the C;\Documents and Settings\[user name]\Local Settings\Temp folder. I
deleted all these 1400 odd files and the defrag was clean and successful.

I was not aware of the existance of the temporary folder because (as I now
know) it is a hidden folder.

My problem is that since taking this action two things have happened:

1) Booting up takes a longer than usual and
2) Two temporary files are created (which remain forever) at each boot up
and occasionally during the day as a result of doing something that I haven't
quite worked out yet but seems it might be as a result of doing something in
windows explorer - like deleting a file - but not always!.

The only other odd thing is that all links in "Help and Support" no longer
work eg, "related topics". Discovered this whilst trying to troubleshoot my
problem.

Apart from the above everything works fine and fast once the computer has
booted up.

I have an automatically updated virus scanner (CA Anti Virus) and have done
several complete scans of both C and D drives with nothing found.

The temporary files seem to come often in pairs of size 144kb and 588kb and
always have the name ~DF[random numbers].tmp. Some days there can be 20 or
more of these accumulating in the Temp folder. Obviously they had been
accumulating for many months before I realised the problem. Unfortunately I
had deleted the files without looking at the date of the first one so I'm not
exactly sure of how long this has been going on - quite a long time it seems
to take up 8 or 9GB of space!

A system restore has had no effect - probably because it has been going on
longer than 3 months.

Would appreciate any help anyone can give me to solve this problem without
having to completely reformat or reload XP completely.

Thanks.

 

[Guest]

I'm not really sure if this will fix it but worth a try. type avgfree in your
browser download the free version of the antivirus program disable your
current one and run avg. I have had it find and repair most everything when
all others fail.

 

[Gerry Cornell]

To investigate how you are using hard disk space you need to make sure that
you can see all files. Go to Start, Control Panel, Folder Options, View,
Advanced Settings and verify that the box before "Show hidden files and
folders" is checked and "Hide protected operating system files " is
unchecked. You may need to scroll down to see the second item. You should
also make certain that the box before "Hide extensions for known file types"
is not checked. Next in Windows Explorer make sure View, Details is selected
and then select View, Choose Details and check before Name, Type, Total
Size, and Free Space.

You still will not see the System Volume Information folder.
How to Gain Access to the System Volume Information Folder
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;309531

FileSize -a useful tool for use with Windows Explorer when investigating how
disk space is being used.
http://markd.mvps.org/

The download link is not obvious. Click the here in the two sentences of the
web page accessed through the link above. "I can't count the number of times
someone has asked for this. So here is a module you can install that shows a
Folder Size column in Explorer."

To increase you free space on your C select Start, All Programs,
Accessories, System Tools, Disk CleanUp, More Options, System Restore and
remove all but the latest System Restore points? Restore points can be quite
large.

It is likely that an allocation of 12% has been made to System Restore on
your C partition which is over generous. I would reduce it to 700 mb. Right
click your My Computer icon on the Desktop and select System Restore.
Place the cursor on your C drive select Settings but this time find the
slider and drag it to the left until it reads 700 mb and exit. When you get
to the Settings screen click on Apply and OK and exit.

Are you using any Norton Utilities?

If your hard drive is formatted as NTFS another potential gain arises with
your operating system on your C drive. In the Windows Directory of your
C partition you will have some Uninstall folders in your Windows folder
typically: $NtServicePackUninstall$ and $NtUninstallKB282010$ etc.

These files may be compressed or not compressed. If compressed the
text of the folder name appears in blue characters. If not compressed
you can compress them. Right click on each folder and select Properties,
General, Advanced and check the box before Compress contents to
save Disk Space. On the General Tab you can see the amount gained
by deducting the size on disk from the size. Folder compression is
only an option on a NTFS formatted drive / partition.

Another default setting on a large drive which could be wasteful is that for
temporary internet files especially if you do not store offline copies on
disk. The default allocation is 3% of drive. Depending on your attitude to
offline copies you could reduce this to 1% or 2%. In Internet Explorer
select Tools, Internet Options, General, Temporary Internet Files, Settings
to make the change. At the same time look at the number of days history
is held.

The default allocation for the Recycle Bin is 10 % of drive. On your drive
5% should be sufficient. In Windows Explorer place the cursor on your
Recycle Bin, right click and select Properties, Global and move the slider
from 10% to 5%.

You should use Disk CleanUp regularly to Empty your Recycle Bin and
Remove Temporary Internet Files. Whenever you remove redundant files you
should always run Disk Defragmenter by selecting Start, All Programs,
Accessories, System Tools, Disk Defragmenter.


Please check Event Viewer for Warning / Error Reports in the System and
Application logs for when the error occurs and post copies.

You can access Event Viewer by selecting Start, Administrative Tools, and
Event Viewer. When researching the meaning of the error, information
regarding Event ID, Source and Description are important.

HOW TO: View and Manage Event Logs in Event Viewer in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308427&sd=tech

Part of the Description of the error will include a link, which you should
double click for further information. You can copy using copy and paste.
Often the link will, however, say there is no further information.
http://go.microsoft.com/fw.link/events.asp
(Please note the hyperlink above is for illustration purposes only)

A tip for posting copies of Error Reports! Run Event Viewer and double click
on the error you want to copy. In the window, which appears is a button
resembling two pages. Double click the button and close Event Viewer. Now
start your message (email) and do a paste into the body of the message. This
will paste the info from the Event Viewer Error Report complete with links
into the message. Make sure this is the first paste after exiting from Event
Viewer.

Are there any yellow question marks in Device Manager? Right click on
the My Computer icon on your Desktop and select Properties. Hardware,
Device Manager. If yes what is the Device Error code?


--

Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England

Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have XP Professional running on a 40GB HD partitioned into C and D drives
of 20GB each.

I recently attempted to defrag C drive - error message advised that I had
insufficient space to complete a full defrag. Surprising since programs
took
up only 8GB of the 20GB. I did however uninstall a couple of programs I
hardly use in an effort to free up space but this had no effect.

After a sherlock holmes type investigation I found that the cuprit was the
the C;\Documents and Settings\[user name]\Local Settings\Temp folder. I
deleted all these 1400 odd files and the defrag was clean and successful.

I was not aware of the existance of the temporary folder because (as I now
know) it is a hidden folder.

My problem is that since taking this action two things have happened:

1) Booting up takes a longer than usual and
2) Two temporary files are created (which remain forever) at each boot up
and occasionally during the day as a result of doing something that I
haven't
quite worked out yet but seems it might be as a result of doing something
in
windows explorer - like deleting a file - but not always!.

The only other odd thing is that all links in "Help and Support" no
longer
work eg, "related topics". Discovered this whilst trying to troubleshoot
my
problem.

Apart from the above everything works fine and fast once the computer has
booted up.

I have an automatically updated virus scanner (CA Anti Virus) and have
done
several complete scans of both C and D drives with nothing found.

The temporary files seem to come often in pairs of size 144kb and 588kb
and
always have the name ~DF[random numbers].tmp. Some days there can be 20
or
more of these accumulating in the Temp folder. Obviously they had been
accumulating for many months before I realised the problem. Unfortunately
I
had deleted the files without looking at the date of the first one so I'm
not
exactly sure of how long this has been going on - quite a long time it
seems
to take up 8 or 9GB of space!

A system restore has had no effect - probably because it has been going on
longer than 3 months.

Would appreciate any help anyone can give me to solve this problem without
having to completely reformat or reload XP completely.

Thanks.

 

[Wesley Vogel]

To open...
C:\Documents and Settings\[user name]\Local Settings\Temp folder

Click Start | Click Run | Type: %tmp% | Click OK

Doesn't matter if it's Hidden or not.

~DF[random numbers].tmp files can be created by almost anything. Just open
a Word doc and do nothing else and you will have at least three of them.

ZoneAlarm can and will create
C:\WINDOWS\Temp\ZLT06a49.TMP
and it can not be deleted because it is in use by ZoneAlarm.

Type: temp in Start | Run to open the folder.

Help and Support Center Index is blank with a red X mark
And, "Related Topics" link does not work
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/helpctrindex.htm

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

I have XP Professional running on a 40GB HD partitioned into C and D
drives of 20GB each.

I recently attempted to defrag C drive - error message advised that I had
insufficient space to complete a full defrag. Surprising since programs
took up only 8GB of the 20GB. I did however uninstall a couple of
programs I hardly use in an effort to free up space but this had no
effect.

After a sherlock holmes type investigation I found that the cuprit was the
the C;\Documents and Settings\[user name]\Local Settings\Temp folder. I
deleted all these 1400 odd files and the defrag was clean and successful.

I was not aware of the existance of the temporary folder because (as I now
know) it is a hidden folder.

My problem is that since taking this action two things have happened:

1) Booting up takes a longer than usual and
2) Two temporary files are created (which remain forever) at each boot up
and occasionally during the day as a result of doing something that I
haven't quite worked out yet but seems it might be as a result of doing
something in windows explorer - like deleting a file - but not always!.

The only other odd thing is that all links in "Help and Support" no
longer work eg, "related topics". Discovered this whilst trying to
troubleshoot my problem.

Apart from the above everything works fine and fast once the computer has
booted up.

I have an automatically updated virus scanner (CA Anti Virus) and have
done several complete scans of both C and D drives with nothing found.

The temporary files seem to come often in pairs of size 144kb and 588kb
and always have the name ~DF[random numbers].tmp. Some days there can be
20 or more of these accumulating in the Temp folder. Obviously they had
been accumulating for many months before I realised the problem.
Unfortunately I had deleted the files without looking at the date of the
first one so I'm not exactly sure of how long this has been going on -
quite a long time it seems to take up 8 or 9GB of space!

A system restore has had no effect - probably because it has been going on
longer than 3 months.

Would appreciate any help anyone can give me to solve this problem without
having to completely reformat or reload XP completely.

Thanks.

 

[Ayush]

I have same problem (Index = Red X, Related topics not working in Help&S + HTML
Help). But the page says it is not for XP SP2. Is there a solution for SP2 ?

--
Ayush [ Be ''?'' Happy ]
-------------
Search - www.Google.com | Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org
Snip your long urls - http://snipurl.com/
-------------


Replid to [Wesley Vogel]s message :
-----------------------------------------------------------

To open...
C:\Documents and Settings\[user name]\Local Settings\Temp folder

Click Start | Click Run | Type: %tmp% | Click OK

Doesn't matter if it's Hidden or not.

~DF[random numbers].tmp files can be created by almost anything.
Just open a Word doc and do nothing else and you will have at least
three of them.

ZoneAlarm can and will create
C:\WINDOWS\Temp\ZLT06a49.TMP
and it can not be deleted because it is in use by ZoneAlarm.

Type: temp in Start | Run to open the folder.

Help and Support Center Index is blank with a red X mark
And, "Related Topics" link does not work
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/helpctrindex.htm


In

I have XP Professional running on a 40GB HD partitioned into C and D
drives of 20GB each.

I recently attempted to defrag C drive - error message advised that
I had insufficient space to complete a full defrag. Surprising
since programs took up only 8GB of the 20GB. I did however
uninstall a couple of programs I hardly use in an effort to free up
space but this had no effect.

After a sherlock holmes type investigation I found that the cuprit
was the the C;\Documents and Settings\[user name]\Local
Settings\Temp folder. I deleted all these 1400 odd files and the
defrag was clean and successful.

I was not aware of the existance of the temporary folder because (as
I now know) it is a hidden folder.

My problem is that since taking this action two things have happened:

1) Booting up takes a longer than usual and
2) Two temporary files are created (which remain forever) at each
boot up and occasionally during the day as a result of doing
something that I haven't quite worked out yet but seems it might be
as a result of doing something in windows explorer - like deleting a
file - but not always!.

The only other odd thing is that all links in "Help and Support" no
longer work eg, "related topics". Discovered this whilst trying to
troubleshoot my problem.

Apart from the above everything works fine and fast once the
computer has booted up.

I have an automatically updated virus scanner (CA Anti Virus) and
have done several complete scans of both C and D drives with nothing
found.

The temporary files seem to come often in pairs of size 144kb and
588kb and always have the name ~DF[random numbers].tmp. Some days
there can be 20 or more of these accumulating in the Temp folder.
Obviously they had been accumulating for many months before I
realised the problem. Unfortunately I had deleted the files without
looking at the date of the first one so I'm not exactly sure of how
long this has been going on - quite a long time it seems to take up
8 or 9GB of space!

A system restore has had no effect - probably because it has been
going on longer than 3 months.

Would appreciate any help anyone can give me to solve this problem
without having to completely reformat or reload XP completely.

Thanks.

 

[Rock]

I have XP Professional running on a 40GB HD partitioned into C and D drives
of 20GB each.

I recently attempted to defrag C drive - error message advised that I had
insufficient space to complete a full defrag. Surprising since programs
took
up only 8GB of the 20GB. I did however uninstall a couple of programs I
hardly use in an effort to free up space but this had no effect.

After a sherlock holmes type investigation I found that the cuprit was the
the C;\Documents and Settings\[user name]\Local Settings\Temp folder. I
deleted all these 1400 odd files and the defrag was clean and successful.

I was not aware of the existance of the temporary folder because (as I now
know) it is a hidden folder.

My problem is that since taking this action two things have happened:

1) Booting up takes a longer than usual and
2) Two temporary files are created (which remain forever) at each boot up
and occasionally during the day as a result of doing something that I
haven't
quite worked out yet but seems it might be as a result of doing something
in
windows explorer - like deleting a file - but not always!.

The only other odd thing is that all links in "Help and Support" no
longer
work eg, "related topics". Discovered this whilst trying to troubleshoot
my
problem.

Apart from the above everything works fine and fast once the computer has
booted up.

I have an automatically updated virus scanner (CA Anti Virus) and have
done
several complete scans of both C and D drives with nothing found.

The temporary files seem to come often in pairs of size 144kb and 588kb
and
always have the name ~DF[random numbers].tmp. Some days there can be 20
or
more of these accumulating in the Temp folder. Obviously they had been
accumulating for many months before I realised the problem. Unfortunately
I
had deleted the files without looking at the date of the first one so I'm
not
exactly sure of how long this has been going on - quite a long time it
seems
to take up 8 or 9GB of space!

A system restore has had no effect - probably because it has been going on
longer than 3 months.

Would appreciate any help anyone can give me to solve this problem without
having to completely reformat or reload XP completely.

Temp files will be created. I get these DF* files too. Anything in that
temp folder can be deleted. If it's in use Windows won't let you. Just
delete them the next day. This folder should be regularly emptied. There
is also a Temp folder at C:\Windows\Temp that accumulates files, though not
as many as the other one.

There are other space hogs in XP: Temporary internet files which should be
regularly deleted, and the amount of space allocated to them decreased,
system restore - decrease the amount of space allocated to it.

For the slower boot, that could be do to many things. How much slower? One
option is to just turn it on, get your coffee and come back - don't worry
about it. Another is to do some clean boot troubleshooting to see if
something loading at startup is causing the problem.

Clean Boot Troubleshooting

How to Troubleshoot By Using the Msconfig Utility in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=310560

How to perform advanced clean-boot troubleshooting in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=316434

How to perform a clean boot in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=310353

 

[Wesley Vogel]

<quote>
This document does not apply to Windows XP Service Pack 2. If you're using
Windows XP SP2 and this problem is seen, then it's possible that you have
set Kill-bit to the following control:

hhctrl.ocx CLSID {41B23C28-488E-4E5C-ACE2-BB0BBABE99E8}, as per the
suggestion in the MS Knowledgebase article:

How to help protect against the Internet Explorer Click and Scroll security
issue
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/888534
<quote>
from...
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/helpctrindex.htm

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\ActiveX
Compatibility\{41B23C28-488E-4E5C-ACE2-BB0BBABE99E8}\]
"Compatibility Flags"=dword:00000400

If Compatibility Flags DWORD value is set to 00000400, the kill bit is set.
I used to use that to kill Macromedia Flash before I uninstalled it
completely.

How to Stop an ActiveX Control from Running in Internet Explorer
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/240797

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

I have same problem (Index = Red X, Related topics not working in Help&S
+ HTML Help). But the page says it is not for XP SP2. Is there a solution
for SP2 ?

--
Ayush [ Be ''?'' Happy ]
-------------
Search - www.Google.com | Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org
Snip your long urls - http://snipurl.com/
-------------


Replid to [Wesley Vogel]s message :
-----------------------------------------------------------

To open...
C:\Documents and Settings\[user name]\Local Settings\Temp folder

Click Start | Click Run | Type: %tmp% | Click OK

Doesn't matter if it's Hidden or not.

~DF[random numbers].tmp files can be created by almost anything.
Just open a Word doc and do nothing else and you will have at least
three of them.

ZoneAlarm can and will create
C:\WINDOWS\Temp\ZLT06a49.TMP
and it can not be deleted because it is in use by ZoneAlarm.

Type: temp in Start | Run to open the folder.

Help and Support Center Index is blank with a red X mark
And, "Related Topics" link does not work
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/helpctrindex.htm


In

I have XP Professional running on a 40GB HD partitioned into C and D
drives of 20GB each.

I recently attempted to defrag C drive - error message advised that
I had insufficient space to complete a full defrag. Surprising
since programs took up only 8GB of the 20GB. I did however
uninstall a couple of programs I hardly use in an effort to free up
space but this had no effect.

After a sherlock holmes type investigation I found that the cuprit
was the the C;\Documents and Settings\[user name]\Local
Settings\Temp folder. I deleted all these 1400 odd files and the
defrag was clean and successful.

I was not aware of the existance of the temporary folder because (as
I now know) it is a hidden folder.

My problem is that since taking this action two things have happened:

1) Booting up takes a longer than usual and
2) Two temporary files are created (which remain forever) at each
boot up and occasionally during the day as a result of doing
something that I haven't quite worked out yet but seems it might be
as a result of doing something in windows explorer - like deleting a
file - but not always!.

The only other odd thing is that all links in "Help and Support" no
longer work eg, "related topics". Discovered this whilst trying to
troubleshoot my problem.

Apart from the above everything works fine and fast once the
computer has booted up.

I have an automatically updated virus scanner (CA Anti Virus) and
have done several complete scans of both C and D drives with nothing
found.

The temporary files seem to come often in pairs of size 144kb and
588kb and always have the name ~DF[random numbers].tmp. Some days
there can be 20 or more of these accumulating in the Temp folder.
Obviously they had been accumulating for many months before I
realised the problem. Unfortunately I had deleted the files without
looking at the date of the first one so I'm not exactly sure of how
long this has been going on - quite a long time it seems to take up
8 or 9GB of space!

A system restore has had no effect - probably because it has been
going on longer than 3 months.

Would appreciate any help anyone can give me to solve this problem
without having to completely reformat or reload XP completely.

Thanks.

 

[Enigmatic Thinker]

<quote>
This document does not apply to Windows XP Service Pack 2. If you're using
Windows XP SP2 and this problem is seen, then it's possible that you have
set Kill-bit to the following control:

hhctrl.ocx CLSID {41B23C28-488E-4E5C-ACE2-BB0BBABE99E8}, as per the
suggestion in the MS Knowledgebase article:

How to help protect against the Internet Explorer Click and Scroll security
issue
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/888534
<quote>
from...
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/helpctrindex.htm

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\ActiveX
Compatibility\{41B23C28-488E-4E5C-ACE2-BB0BBABE99E8}\]
"Compatibility Flags"=dword:00000400

If Compatibility Flags DWORD value is set to 00000400, the kill bit is set.
I used to use that to kill Macromedia Flash before I uninstalled it
completely.

How to Stop an ActiveX Control from Running in Internet Explorer
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/240797

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

I have same problem (Index = Red X, Related topics not working in Help&S
+ HTML Help). But the page says it is not for XP SP2. Is there a solution
for SP2 ?

--
Ayush [ Be ''?'' Happy ]
-------------
Search - www.Google.com | Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org
Snip your long urls - http://snipurl.com/
-------------


Replid to [Wesley Vogel]s message :
-----------------------------------------------------------

To open...
C:\Documents and Settings\[user name]\Local Settings\Temp folder

Click Start | Click Run | Type: %tmp% | Click OK

Doesn't matter if it's Hidden or not.

~DF[random numbers].tmp files can be created by almost anything.
Just open a Word doc and do nothing else and you will have at least
three of them.

ZoneAlarm can and will create
C:\WINDOWS\Temp\ZLT06a49.TMP
and it can not be deleted because it is in use by ZoneAlarm.

Type: temp in Start | Run to open the folder.

Help and Support Center Index is blank with a red X mark
And, "Related Topics" link does not work
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/helpctrindex.htm


In SAM <[email protected]> hunted and pecked:
I have XP Professional running on a 40GB HD partitioned into C and D
drives of 20GB each.

I recently attempted to defrag C drive - error message advised that
I had insufficient space to complete a full defrag. Surprising
since programs took up only 8GB of the 20GB. I did however
uninstall a couple of programs I hardly use in an effort to free up
space but this had no effect.

After a sherlock holmes type investigation I found that the cuprit
was the the C;\Documents and Settings\[user name]\Local
Settings\Temp folder. I deleted all these 1400 odd files and the
defrag was clean and successful.

I was not aware of the existance of the temporary folder because (as
I now know) it is a hidden folder.

My problem is that since taking this action two things have happened:

1) Booting up takes a longer than usual and
2) Two temporary files are created (which remain forever) at each
boot up and occasionally during the day as a result of doing
something that I haven't quite worked out yet but seems it might be
as a result of doing something in windows explorer - like deleting a
file - but not always!.

The only other odd thing is that all links in "Help and Support" no
longer work eg, "related topics". Discovered this whilst trying to
troubleshoot my problem.

Apart from the above everything works fine and fast once the
computer has booted up.

I have an automatically updated virus scanner (CA Anti Virus) and
have done several complete scans of both C and D drives with nothing
found.

The temporary files seem to come often in pairs of size 144kb and
588kb and always have the name ~DF[random numbers].tmp. Some days
there can be 20 or more of these accumulating in the Temp folder.
Obviously they had been accumulating for many months before I
realised the problem. Unfortunately I had deleted the files without
looking at the date of the first one so I'm not exactly sure of how
long this has been going on - quite a long time it seems to take up
8 or 9GB of space!

A system restore has had no effect - probably because it has been
going on longer than 3 months.

Would appreciate any help anyone can give me to solve this problem
without having to completely reformat or reload XP completely.

Thanks.

What we do with machines that come into our workshop is the following:

In any version of Windows, use the Search/Find Files option in your
Start menu and type this into the search box:

*.tmp,*.chk,~*.*

In XP it's best to boot into Safe Mode first. Click on "More Advanced
Options" and check search in System & Hidden folders.

All files found as a result of this search can be safely deleted. I
found nearly 2500 on one PC. Does it a power of good.

 

[Ayush]

Replid to [Wesley Vogel]s message :
-----------------------------------------------------------

I have same problem (Index = Red X, Related topics not working in
Help&S + HTML Help). But the page says it is not for XP SP2. Is
there a solution for SP2 ?

<quote>
This document does not apply to Windows XP Service Pack 2. If you're
using Windows XP SP2 and this problem is seen, then it's possible
that you have set Kill-bit to the following control:

hhctrl.ocx CLSID {41B23C28-488E-4E5C-ACE2-BB0BBABE99E8}, as per the
suggestion in the MS Knowledgebase article:

How to help protect against the Internet Explorer Click and Scroll
security issue
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/888534
<quote>
from...
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/helpctrindex.htm

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\ActiveX
Compatibility\{41B23C28-488E-4E5C-ACE2-BB0BBABE99E8}\]
"Compatibility Flags"=dword:00000400

If Compatibility Flags DWORD value is set to 00000400, the kill bit
is set. I used to use that to kill Macromedia Flash before I
uninstalled it completely.

How to Stop an ActiveX Control from Running in Internet Explorer
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/240797

I deleted the key :
{41B23C28-488E-4E5C-ACE2-BB0BBABE99E8}
and everything is working fine now. Thanks !!

 

[Guest]

Thanks to everyone who replied to my posting. I will try the various
suggestions tonight and let everyone know how I got on.

I should also have mentioned (but forgot) that also now when shutting down
the computer a window appears stating "Ending program _PTAWIA" This takes a
few moments before the computer continues to shut down. I have searched the
computer for any program that looks vaguely like this but nothing. Perhaps
this holds the secret to the problem. Does this mean anything to you? Any
ideas?

Thankyou
--
SAM

To open...
C:\Documents and Settings\[user name]\Local Settings\Temp folder

Click Start | Click Run | Type: %tmp% | Click OK

Doesn't matter if it's Hidden or not.

~DF[random numbers].tmp files can be created by almost anything. Just open
a Word doc and do nothing else and you will have at least three of them.

ZoneAlarm can and will create
C:\WINDOWS\Temp\ZLT06a49.TMP
and it can not be deleted because it is in use by ZoneAlarm.

Type: temp in Start | Run to open the folder.

Help and Support Center Index is blank with a red X mark
And, "Related Topics" link does not work
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/helpctrindex.htm

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

I have XP Professional running on a 40GB HD partitioned into C and D
drives of 20GB each.

I recently attempted to defrag C drive - error message advised that I had
insufficient space to complete a full defrag. Surprising since programs
took up only 8GB of the 20GB. I did however uninstall a couple of
programs I hardly use in an effort to free up space but this had no
effect.

After a sherlock holmes type investigation I found that the cuprit was the
the C;\Documents and Settings\[user name]\Local Settings\Temp folder. I
deleted all these 1400 odd files and the defrag was clean and successful.

I was not aware of the existance of the temporary folder because (as I now
know) it is a hidden folder.

My problem is that since taking this action two things have happened:

1) Booting up takes a longer than usual and
2) Two temporary files are created (which remain forever) at each boot up
and occasionally during the day as a result of doing something that I
haven't quite worked out yet but seems it might be as a result of doing
something in windows explorer - like deleting a file - but not always!.

The only other odd thing is that all links in "Help and Support" no
longer work eg, "related topics". Discovered this whilst trying to
troubleshoot my problem.

Apart from the above everything works fine and fast once the computer has
booted up.

I have an automatically updated virus scanner (CA Anti Virus) and have
done several complete scans of both C and D drives with nothing found.

The temporary files seem to come often in pairs of size 144kb and 588kb
and always have the name ~DF[random numbers].tmp. Some days there can be
20 or more of these accumulating in the Temp folder. Obviously they had
been accumulating for many months before I realised the problem.
Unfortunately I had deleted the files without looking at the date of the
first one so I'm not exactly sure of how long this has been going on -
quite a long time it seems to take up 8 or 9GB of space!

A system restore has had no effect - probably because it has been going on
longer than 3 months.

Would appreciate any help anyone can give me to solve this problem without
having to completely reformat or reload XP completely.

Thanks.

 

[Wesley Vogel]

<quote>
_ptwia

This is only the Kodak Easyshare connection and it is harmless. To see it go
away just go ahead and shut down kodak easyshare from your sys tray. I was
annoyed about it until I ran across the file in the kodak folders. If you
want the full auto config of easyshare then you have to load it to the tray.
However you can load it each time you use it if the slower shutdown irks
you...(grin)
<quote>
http://67.15.84.67/forum/showthread.php?s=0b2b2e8ceed5eb609bb12b8482718e2e&p=11194#post11194

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

Thanks to everyone who replied to my posting. I will try the various
suggestions tonight and let everyone know how I got on.

I should also have mentioned (but forgot) that also now when shutting down
the computer a window appears stating "Ending program _PTAWIA" This
takes a few moments before the computer continues to shut down. I have
searched the computer for any program that looks vaguely like this but
nothing. Perhaps this holds the secret to the problem. Does this mean
anything to you? Any ideas?

Thankyou
--
SAM

To open...
C:\Documents and Settings\[user name]\Local Settings\Temp folder

Click Start | Click Run | Type: %tmp% | Click OK

Doesn't matter if it's Hidden or not.

~DF[random numbers].tmp files can be created by almost anything. Just
open a Word doc and do nothing else and you will have at least three of
them.

ZoneAlarm can and will create
C:\WINDOWS\Temp\ZLT06a49.TMP
and it can not be deleted because it is in use by ZoneAlarm.

Type: temp in Start | Run to open the folder.

Help and Support Center Index is blank with a red X mark
And, "Related Topics" link does not work
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/helpctrindex.htm

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

I have XP Professional running on a 40GB HD partitioned into C and D
drives of 20GB each.

I recently attempted to defrag C drive - error message advised that I
had insufficient space to complete a full defrag. Surprising since
programs took up only 8GB of the 20GB. I did however uninstall a
couple of programs I hardly use in an effort to free up space but this
had no effect.

After a sherlock holmes type investigation I found that the cuprit was
the the C;\Documents and Settings\[user name]\Local Settings\Temp
folder. I deleted all these 1400 odd files and the defrag was clean and
successful.

I was not aware of the existance of the temporary folder because (as I
now know) it is a hidden folder.

My problem is that since taking this action two things have happened:

1) Booting up takes a longer than usual and
2) Two temporary files are created (which remain forever) at each boot
up and occasionally during the day as a result of doing something that I
haven't quite worked out yet but seems it might be as a result of doing
something in windows explorer - like deleting a file - but not always!.

The only other odd thing is that all links in "Help and Support" no
longer work eg, "related topics". Discovered this whilst trying to
troubleshoot my problem.

Apart from the above everything works fine and fast once the computer
has booted up.

I have an automatically updated virus scanner (CA Anti Virus) and have
done several complete scans of both C and D drives with nothing found.

The temporary files seem to come often in pairs of size 144kb and 588kb
and always have the name ~DF[random numbers].tmp. Some days there can
be 20 or more of these accumulating in the Temp folder. Obviously they
had been accumulating for many months before I realised the problem.
Unfortunately I had deleted the files without looking at the date of the
first one so I'm not exactly sure of how long this has been going on -
quite a long time it seems to take up 8 or 9GB of space!

A system restore has had no effect - probably because it has been going
on longer than 3 months.

Would appreciate any help anyone can give me to solve this problem
without having to completely reformat or reload XP completely.

Thanks.

 

[Guest]

Great! At least that bit is solved! I recently updated my version of Kodak
Easyshare so that is probably when it started happening and just coincidental
to my other problem of the temp files.
Thanks again.
--
SAM

<quote>
_ptwia

This is only the Kodak Easyshare connection and it is harmless. To see it go
away just go ahead and shut down kodak easyshare from your sys tray. I was
annoyed about it until I ran across the file in the kodak folders. If you
want the full auto config of easyshare then you have to load it to the tray.
However you can load it each time you use it if the slower shutdown irks
you...(grin)
<quote>
http://67.15.84.67/forum/showthread.php?s=0b2b2e8ceed5eb609bb12b8482718e2e&p=11194#post11194

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

Thanks to everyone who replied to my posting. I will try the various
suggestions tonight and let everyone know how I got on.

I should also have mentioned (but forgot) that also now when shutting down
the computer a window appears stating "Ending program _PTAWIA" This
takes a few moments before the computer continues to shut down. I have
searched the computer for any program that looks vaguely like this but
nothing. Perhaps this holds the secret to the problem. Does this mean
anything to you? Any ideas?

Thankyou
--
SAM

To open...
C:\Documents and Settings\[user name]\Local Settings\Temp folder

Click Start | Click Run | Type: %tmp% | Click OK

Doesn't matter if it's Hidden or not.

~DF[random numbers].tmp files can be created by almost anything. Just
open a Word doc and do nothing else and you will have at least three of
them.

ZoneAlarm can and will create
C:\WINDOWS\Temp\ZLT06a49.TMP
and it can not be deleted because it is in use by ZoneAlarm.

Type: temp in Start | Run to open the folder.

Help and Support Center Index is blank with a red X mark
And, "Related Topics" link does not work
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/helpctrindex.htm

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In SAM <[email protected]> hunted and pecked:
I have XP Professional running on a 40GB HD partitioned into C and D
drives of 20GB each.

I recently attempted to defrag C drive - error message advised that I
had insufficient space to complete a full defrag. Surprising since
programs took up only 8GB of the 20GB. I did however uninstall a
couple of programs I hardly use in an effort to free up space but this
had no effect.

After a sherlock holmes type investigation I found that the cuprit was
the the C;\Documents and Settings\[user name]\Local Settings\Temp
folder. I deleted all these 1400 odd files and the defrag was clean and
successful.

I was not aware of the existance of the temporary folder because (as I
now know) it is a hidden folder.

My problem is that since taking this action two things have happened:

1) Booting up takes a longer than usual and
2) Two temporary files are created (which remain forever) at each boot
up and occasionally during the day as a result of doing something that I
haven't quite worked out yet but seems it might be as a result of doing
something in windows explorer - like deleting a file - but not always!.

The only other odd thing is that all links in "Help and Support" no
longer work eg, "related topics". Discovered this whilst trying to
troubleshoot my problem.

Apart from the above everything works fine and fast once the computer
has booted up.

I have an automatically updated virus scanner (CA Anti Virus) and have
done several complete scans of both C and D drives with nothing found.

The temporary files seem to come often in pairs of size 144kb and 588kb
and always have the name ~DF[random numbers].tmp. Some days there can
be 20 or more of these accumulating in the Temp folder. Obviously they
had been accumulating for many months before I realised the problem.
Unfortunately I had deleted the files without looking at the date of the
first one so I'm not exactly sure of how long this has been going on -
quite a long time it seems to take up 8 or 9GB of space!

A system restore has had no effect - probably because it has been going
on longer than 3 months.

Would appreciate any help anyone can give me to solve this problem
without having to completely reformat or reload XP completely.

Thanks.

 

[Wesley Vogel]

I would be lost without Help and Support. Half of the answers that I post
come right out of there. If most people would look there first for answers
to their questions, I wouldn't have much to do. ;-)

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

Replid to [Wesley Vogel]s message :
-----------------------------------------------------------

I have same problem (Index = Red X, Related topics not working in
Help&S + HTML Help). But the page says it is not for XP SP2. Is
there a solution for SP2 ?

<quote>
This document does not apply to Windows XP Service Pack 2. If you're
using Windows XP SP2 and this problem is seen, then it's possible
that you have set Kill-bit to the following control:

hhctrl.ocx CLSID {41B23C28-488E-4E5C-ACE2-BB0BBABE99E8}, as per the
suggestion in the MS Knowledgebase article:

How to help protect against the Internet Explorer Click and Scroll
security issue
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/888534
<quote>
from...
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/helpctrindex.htm

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\ActiveX
Compatibility\{41B23C28-488E-4E5C-ACE2-BB0BBABE99E8}\]
"Compatibility Flags"=dword:00000400

If Compatibility Flags DWORD value is set to 00000400, the kill bit
is set. I used to use that to kill Macromedia Flash before I
uninstalled it completely.

How to Stop an ActiveX Control from Running in Internet Explorer
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/240797

I deleted the key :
{41B23C28-488E-4E5C-ACE2-BB0BBABE99E8}
and everything is working fine now. Thanks !!

 

[Wesley Vogel]

It took me about 5 minutes at www.google.com to find that. Hint hint, nudge
nudge.

Nudge nudge, know what ah mean, say no more. ;-)

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

Great! At least that bit is solved! I recently updated my version of
Kodak Easyshare so that is probably when it started happening and just
coincidental to my other problem of the temp files.
Thanks again.
--
SAM

<quote>
_ptwia

This is only the Kodak Easyshare connection and it is harmless. To see
it go away just go ahead and shut down kodak easyshare from your sys
tray. I was annoyed about it until I ran across the file in the kodak
folders. If you want the full auto config of easyshare then you have to
load it to the tray. However you can load it each time you use it if the
slower shutdown irks you...(grin)
<quote>
http://67.15.84.67/forum/showthread.php?s=0b2b2e8ceed5eb609bb12b8482718e2e&p=11194#post11194

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

Thanks to everyone who replied to my posting. I will try the various
suggestions tonight and let everyone know how I got on.

I should also have mentioned (but forgot) that also now when shutting
down the computer a window appears stating "Ending program _PTAWIA"
This takes a few moments before the computer continues to shut down. I
have searched the computer for any program that looks vaguely like this
but nothing. Perhaps this holds the secret to the problem. Does this
mean anything to you? Any ideas?

Thankyou
--
SAM


:

To open...
C:\Documents and Settings\[user name]\Local Settings\Temp folder

Click Start | Click Run | Type: %tmp% | Click OK

Doesn't matter if it's Hidden or not.

~DF[random numbers].tmp files can be created by almost anything. Just
open a Word doc and do nothing else and you will have at least three of
them.

ZoneAlarm can and will create
C:\WINDOWS\Temp\ZLT06a49.TMP
and it can not be deleted because it is in use by ZoneAlarm.

Type: temp in Start | Run to open the folder.

Help and Support Center Index is blank with a red X mark
And, "Related Topics" link does not work
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/helpctrindex.htm

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In SAM <[email protected]> hunted and pecked:
I have XP Professional running on a 40GB HD partitioned into C and D
drives of 20GB each.

I recently attempted to defrag C drive - error message advised that I
had insufficient space to complete a full defrag. Surprising since
programs took up only 8GB of the 20GB. I did however uninstall a
couple of programs I hardly use in an effort to free up space but this
had no effect.

After a sherlock holmes type investigation I found that the cuprit was
the the C;\Documents and Settings\[user name]\Local Settings\Temp
folder. I deleted all these 1400 odd files and the defrag was clean
and successful.

I was not aware of the existance of the temporary folder because (as I
now know) it is a hidden folder.

My problem is that since taking this action two things have happened:

1) Booting up takes a longer than usual and
2) Two temporary files are created (which remain forever) at each
boot up and occasionally during the day as a result of doing
something that I haven't quite worked out yet but seems it might be
as a result of doing something in windows explorer - like deleting a
file - but not always!.

The only other odd thing is that all links in "Help and Support" no
longer work eg, "related topics". Discovered this whilst trying to
troubleshoot my problem.

Apart from the above everything works fine and fast once the computer
has booted up.

I have an automatically updated virus scanner (CA Anti Virus) and have
done several complete scans of both C and D drives with nothing found.

The temporary files seem to come often in pairs of size 144kb and
588kb and always have the name ~DF[random numbers].tmp. Some days
there can be 20 or more of these accumulating in the Temp folder.
Obviously they had been accumulating for many months before I
realised the problem. Unfortunately I had deleted the files without
looking at the date of the first one so I'm not exactly sure of how
long this has been going on - quite a long time it seems to take up 8
or 9GB of space!

A system restore has had no effect - probably because it has been
going on longer than 3 months.

Would appreciate any help anyone can give me to solve this problem
without having to completely reformat or reload XP completely.

Thanks.

 

[Smirnoff]

Since I now know how to access Temp folder (thanks to this thread), I
thought I'd clear it.
Got error message that 2 files were "Read only, do you still want to delete"
Said files are IEC2C4.tmp and IEC2D7.tmp.
Both are 338kb and both show modified 2002!
Looked in properties and both show "Unknown"
Did search for both but no results.
Is it usual for read only files to be in Temp folder?
Should I delete or leave well alone?

To open...
C:\Documents and Settings\[user name]\Local Settings\Temp folder

Click Start | Click Run | Type: %tmp% | Click OK

Doesn't matter if it's Hidden or not.

~DF[random numbers].tmp files can be created by almost anything. Just
open a Word doc and do nothing else and you will have at least three of
them.

ZoneAlarm can and will create
C:\WINDOWS\Temp\ZLT06a49.TMP
and it can not be deleted because it is in use by ZoneAlarm.

Type: temp in Start | Run to open the folder.

Help and Support Center Index is blank with a red X mark
And, "Related Topics" link does not work
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/helpctrindex.htm


In

I have XP Professional running on a 40GB HD partitioned into C and D
drives of 20GB each.

I recently attempted to defrag C drive - error message advised that I had
insufficient space to complete a full defrag. Surprising since programs
took up only 8GB of the 20GB. I did however uninstall a couple of
programs I hardly use in an effort to free up space but this had no
effect.

After a sherlock holmes type investigation I found that the cuprit was
the the C;\Documents and Settings\[user name]\Local Settings\Temp
folder. I deleted all these 1400 odd files and the defrag was clean and
successful.

I was not aware of the existance of the temporary folder because (as I
now know) it is a hidden folder.

My problem is that since taking this action two things have happened:

1) Booting up takes a longer than usual and
2) Two temporary files are created (which remain forever) at each boot
up and occasionally during the day as a result of doing something that I
haven't quite worked out yet but seems it might be as a result of doing
something in windows explorer - like deleting a file - but not always!.

The only other odd thing is that all links in "Help and Support" no
longer work eg, "related topics". Discovered this whilst trying to
troubleshoot my problem.

Apart from the above everything works fine and fast once the computer has
booted up.

I have an automatically updated virus scanner (CA Anti Virus) and have
done several complete scans of both C and D drives with nothing found.

The temporary files seem to come often in pairs of size 144kb and 588kb
and always have the name ~DF[random numbers].tmp. Some days there can be
20 or more of these accumulating in the Temp folder. Obviously they had
been accumulating for many months before I realised the problem.
Unfortunately I had deleted the files without looking at the date of the
first one so I'm not exactly sure of how long this has been going on -
quite a long time it seems to take up 8 or 9GB of space!

A system restore has had no effect - probably because it has been going
on longer than 3 months.

Would appreciate any help anyone can give me to solve this problem
without having to completely reformat or reload XP completely.

Thanks.

 

[Wesley Vogel]

Delete them. Whatever process created them must not have been very good to
not clean up after itself. 2002 Wow!

You can delete files in TEMP folders. If you are unsure, reboot and
check the folder(s) again. XP will not let you delete a file that is in
use. Also if you just installed software you should reboot. Then check the
folder(s) again. Some programs require these files after a reboot. It is
good practice to always reboot after installing any software.

If a file ends with .TMP they are OK to delete. TMP means temporary. You
can't hurt anything deleting tmp files, unless you just installed some new
program. Most well mannered programs will delete tmp files when you reboot.

If you try to select and delete all the tmp files in a folder and if any of
them are in use, you'll get an error message. Try to delete a few at a time
to avoid the error message. But, try to delete them all first.

If you're using ZoneAlarm, ZA has at least one tmp file that is almost
always in use.

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

Since I now know how to access Temp folder (thanks to this thread), I
thought I'd clear it.
Got error message that 2 files were "Read only, do you still want to
delete" Said files are IEC2C4.tmp and IEC2D7.tmp.
Both are 338kb and both show modified 2002!
Looked in properties and both show "Unknown"
Did search for both but no results.
Is it usual for read only files to be in Temp folder?
Should I delete or leave well alone?

To open...
C:\Documents and Settings\[user name]\Local Settings\Temp folder

Click Start | Click Run | Type: %tmp% | Click OK

Doesn't matter if it's Hidden or not.

~DF[random numbers].tmp files can be created by almost anything. Just
open a Word doc and do nothing else and you will have at least three of
them.

ZoneAlarm can and will create
C:\WINDOWS\Temp\ZLT06a49.TMP
and it can not be deleted because it is in use by ZoneAlarm.

Type: temp in Start | Run to open the folder.

Help and Support Center Index is blank with a red X mark
And, "Related Topics" link does not work
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/helpctrindex.htm


In

I have XP Professional running on a 40GB HD partitioned into C and D
drives of 20GB each.

I recently attempted to defrag C drive - error message advised that I
had insufficient space to complete a full defrag. Surprising since
programs took up only 8GB of the 20GB. I did however uninstall a
couple of programs I hardly use in an effort to free up space but this
had no effect.

After a sherlock holmes type investigation I found that the cuprit was
the the C;\Documents and Settings\[user name]\Local Settings\Temp
folder. I deleted all these 1400 odd files and the defrag was clean and
successful.

I was not aware of the existance of the temporary folder because (as I
now know) it is a hidden folder.

My problem is that since taking this action two things have happened:

1) Booting up takes a longer than usual and
2) Two temporary files are created (which remain forever) at each boot
up and occasionally during the day as a result of doing something that I
haven't quite worked out yet but seems it might be as a result of doing
something in windows explorer - like deleting a file - but not always!.

The only other odd thing is that all links in "Help and Support" no
longer work eg, "related topics". Discovered this whilst trying to
troubleshoot my problem.

Apart from the above everything works fine and fast once the computer
has booted up.

I have an automatically updated virus scanner (CA Anti Virus) and have
done several complete scans of both C and D drives with nothing found.

The temporary files seem to come often in pairs of size 144kb and 588kb
and always have the name ~DF[random numbers].tmp. Some days there can
be 20 or more of these accumulating in the Temp folder. Obviously they
had been accumulating for many months before I realised the problem.
Unfortunately I had deleted the files without looking at the date of the
first one so I'm not exactly sure of how long this has been going on -
quite a long time it seems to take up 8 or 9GB of space!

A system restore has had no effect - probably because it has been going
on longer than 3 months.

Would appreciate any help anyone can give me to solve this problem
without having to completely reformat or reload XP completely.

Thanks.

 

[Smirnoff]

Have now deleted them, thanks

Delete them. Whatever process created them must not have been very good
to not clean up after itself. 2002 Wow!

You can delete files in TEMP folders. If you are unsure, reboot and
check the folder(s) again. XP will not let you delete a file that is in
use. Also if you just installed software you should reboot. Then check
the folder(s) again. Some programs require these files after a reboot.
It is good practice to always reboot after installing any software.

If a file ends with .TMP they are OK to delete. TMP means temporary. You
can't hurt anything deleting tmp files, unless you just installed some new
program. Most well mannered programs will delete tmp files when you
reboot.

If you try to select and delete all the tmp files in a folder and if any
of them are in use, you'll get an error message. Try to delete a few at
a time to avoid the error message. But, try to delete them all first.

If you're using ZoneAlarm, ZA has at least one tmp file that is almost
always in use.


In

Since I now know how to access Temp folder (thanks to this thread), I
thought I'd clear it.
Got error message that 2 files were "Read only, do you still want to
delete" Said files are IEC2C4.tmp and IEC2D7.tmp.
Both are 338kb and both show modified 2002!
Looked in properties and both show "Unknown"
Did search for both but no results.
Is it usual for read only files to be in Temp folder?
Should I delete or leave well alone?

To open...
C:\Documents and Settings\[user name]\Local Settings\Temp folder

Click Start | Click Run | Type: %tmp% | Click OK

Doesn't matter if it's Hidden or not.

~DF[random numbers].tmp files can be created by almost anything. Just
open a Word doc and do nothing else and you will have at least three of
them.

ZoneAlarm can and will create
C:\WINDOWS\Temp\ZLT06a49.TMP
and it can not be deleted because it is in use by ZoneAlarm.

Type: temp in Start | Run to open the folder.

Help and Support Center Index is blank with a red X mark
And, "Related Topics" link does not work
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/helpctrindex.htm


In SAM <[email protected]> hunted and pecked:
I have XP Professional running on a 40GB HD partitioned into C and D
drives of 20GB each.

I recently attempted to defrag C drive - error message advised that I
had insufficient space to complete a full defrag. Surprising since
programs took up only 8GB of the 20GB. I did however uninstall a
couple of programs I hardly use in an effort to free up space but this
had no effect.

After a sherlock holmes type investigation I found that the cuprit was
the the C;\Documents and Settings\[user name]\Local Settings\Temp
folder. I deleted all these 1400 odd files and the defrag was clean and
successful.

I was not aware of the existance of the temporary folder because (as I
now know) it is a hidden folder.

My problem is that since taking this action two things have happened:

1) Booting up takes a longer than usual and
2) Two temporary files are created (which remain forever) at each boot
up and occasionally during the day as a result of doing something that
I haven't quite worked out yet but seems it might be as a result of
doing something in windows explorer - like deleting a file - but not
always!.

The only other odd thing is that all links in "Help and Support" no
longer work eg, "related topics". Discovered this whilst trying to
troubleshoot my problem.

Apart from the above everything works fine and fast once the computer
has booted up.

I have an automatically updated virus scanner (CA Anti Virus) and have
done several complete scans of both C and D drives with nothing found.

The temporary files seem to come often in pairs of size 144kb and 588kb
and always have the name ~DF[random numbers].tmp. Some days there can
be 20 or more of these accumulating in the Temp folder. Obviously they
had been accumulating for many months before I realised the problem.
Unfortunately I had deleted the files without looking at the date of
the first one so I'm not exactly sure of how long this has been going
on - quite a long time it seems to take up 8 or 9GB of space!

A system restore has had no effect - probably because it has been going
on longer than 3 months.

Would appreciate any help anyone can give me to solve this problem
without having to completely reformat or reload XP completely.

Thanks.

 

[Guest]

An update.

Re: Help & Support Index
First I registered the regsvr32 hhctrl.ocx. No resolution.
Second I installed the 811630 patch. Still no resolution!

This problem has only occurred recently and I cannot work out what has
caused it to suddenly occur. I have XP Professional SP1.

Re: Temp files
The accumulation continues with at least 2 of the ~DF.tmp files remaining
after each boot up. As you suggested, many more ~DF.tmp files occur on the
opening of, say, Word but the majority disappear on closure of the relevant
program, as they should.

As a result of your help I have now discovered the Events log and that was
enlightening. At each bootup and at the same time as the "permanent" temp
files are created there is an error logged in the Events file. The
description states:

"Fax Service failed to initialize Activity Logging because it did not
succeed in opening the activity logging files. Verify that the log directory
is valid and writabl. Restart the Service. Win32 error Code 5. This error
code idicates the cause of the error."

I have not been able to find the log directory referred to above to "verify".

Despite the implication of this, the fax program (XP) seems to work ok.

And just as I thought I had found the source or reason for my problem (even
though I don't know how to fix it) I took a look at the temp folder in my
husband's less than a year old computer to find that he is also accumulating
two ~DF temp files of 144kb and 528kb at each boot up! His events log does
not indicate any errors! So another theory up the spout. I'm beginning to
think that it is normal to have these two files accumulate at each boot up!

Seems to me that I might have to live with these problems unless anyone has
another solution. My fax service is working ok and I can manually delete the
temp files on a regular basis.

I would like to solve the Help and Support problem though, if possible.

Many thanks for your help...I have learnt a lot as a result.....even if I
didn't think of using Google to find _PTAWIA!!

Of course, if you or anyone else, have any further ideas I'd appreciate
hearing them.




--
SAM

To open...
C:\Documents and Settings\[user name]\Local Settings\Temp folder

Click Start | Click Run | Type: %tmp% | Click OK

Doesn't matter if it's Hidden or not.

~DF[random numbers].tmp files can be created by almost anything. Just open
a Word doc and do nothing else and you will have at least three of them.

ZoneAlarm can and will create
C:\WINDOWS\Temp\ZLT06a49.TMP
and it can not be deleted because it is in use by ZoneAlarm.

Type: temp in Start | Run to open the folder.

Help and Support Center Index is blank with a red X mark
And, "Related Topics" link does not work
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/helpctrindex.htm

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

I have XP Professional running on a 40GB HD partitioned into C and D
drives of 20GB each.

I recently attempted to defrag C drive - error message advised that I had
insufficient space to complete a full defrag. Surprising since programs
took up only 8GB of the 20GB. I did however uninstall a couple of
programs I hardly use in an effort to free up space but this had no
effect.

After a sherlock holmes type investigation I found that the cuprit was the
the C;\Documents and Settings\[user name]\Local Settings\Temp folder. I
deleted all these 1400 odd files and the defrag was clean and successful.

I was not aware of the existance of the temporary folder because (as I now
know) it is a hidden folder.

My problem is that since taking this action two things have happened:

1) Booting up takes a longer than usual and
2) Two temporary files are created (which remain forever) at each boot up
and occasionally during the day as a result of doing something that I
haven't quite worked out yet but seems it might be as a result of doing
something in windows explorer - like deleting a file - but not always!.

The only other odd thing is that all links in "Help and Support" no
longer work eg, "related topics". Discovered this whilst trying to
troubleshoot my problem.

Apart from the above everything works fine and fast once the computer has
booted up.

I have an automatically updated virus scanner (CA Anti Virus) and have
done several complete scans of both C and D drives with nothing found.

The temporary files seem to come often in pairs of size 144kb and 588kb
and always have the name ~DF[random numbers].tmp. Some days there can be
20 or more of these accumulating in the Temp folder. Obviously they had
been accumulating for many months before I realised the problem.
Unfortunately I had deleted the files without looking at the date of the
first one so I'm not exactly sure of how long this has been going on -
quite a long time it seems to take up 8 or 9GB of space!

A system restore has had no effect - probably because it has been going on
longer than 3 months.

Would appreciate any help anyone can give me to solve this problem without
having to completely reformat or reload XP completely.

Thanks.

 

[Gerry Cornell]

If you want help with Error Report this extract from my post 2 days ago may
help.

A tip for posting copies of Error Reports! Run Event Viewer and double click
on the error you want to copy. In the window, which appears is a button
resembling two pages. Double click the button and close Event Viewer. Now
start your message (email) and do a paste into the body of the message. This
will paste the info from the Event Viewer Error Report complete with links
into the message. Make sure this is the first paste after exiting from Event
Viewer.

--

Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England

Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

An update.

Re: Help & Support Index
First I registered the regsvr32 hhctrl.ocx. No resolution.
Second I installed the 811630 patch. Still no resolution!

This problem has only occurred recently and I cannot work out what has
caused it to suddenly occur. I have XP Professional SP1.

Re: Temp files
The accumulation continues with at least 2 of the ~DF.tmp files remaining
after each boot up. As you suggested, many more ~DF.tmp files occur on
the
opening of, say, Word but the majority disappear on closure of the
relevant
program, as they should.

As a result of your help I have now discovered the Events log and that was
enlightening. At each bootup and at the same time as the "permanent" temp
files are created there is an error logged in the Events file. The
description states:

"Fax Service failed to initialize Activity Logging because it did not
succeed in opening the activity logging files. Verify that the log
directory
is valid and writabl. Restart the Service. Win32 error Code 5. This
error
code idicates the cause of the error."

I have not been able to find the log directory referred to above to
"verify".

Despite the implication of this, the fax program (XP) seems to work ok.

And just as I thought I had found the source or reason for my problem
(even
though I don't know how to fix it) I took a look at the temp folder in my
husband's less than a year old computer to find that he is also
accumulating
two ~DF temp files of 144kb and 528kb at each boot up! His events log
does
not indicate any errors! So another theory up the spout. I'm beginning
to
think that it is normal to have these two files accumulate at each boot
up!

Seems to me that I might have to live with these problems unless anyone
has
another solution. My fax service is working ok and I can manually delete
the
temp files on a regular basis.

I would like to solve the Help and Support problem though, if possible.

Many thanks for your help...I have learnt a lot as a result.....even if I
didn't think of using Google to find _PTAWIA!!

Of course, if you or anyone else, have any further ideas I'd appreciate
hearing them.




--
SAM

To open...
C:\Documents and Settings\[user name]\Local Settings\Temp folder

Click Start | Click Run | Type: %tmp% | Click OK

Doesn't matter if it's Hidden or not.

~DF[random numbers].tmp files can be created by almost anything. Just
open
a Word doc and do nothing else and you will have at least three of them.

ZoneAlarm can and will create
C:\WINDOWS\Temp\ZLT06a49.TMP
and it can not be deleted because it is in use by ZoneAlarm.

Type: temp in Start | Run to open the folder.

Help and Support Center Index is blank with a red X mark
And, "Related Topics" link does not work
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/helpctrindex.htm

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

I have XP Professional running on a 40GB HD partitioned into C and D
drives of 20GB each.

I recently attempted to defrag C drive - error message advised that I
had
insufficient space to complete a full defrag. Surprising since
programs
took up only 8GB of the 20GB. I did however uninstall a couple of
programs I hardly use in an effort to free up space but this had no
effect.

After a sherlock holmes type investigation I found that the cuprit was
the
the C;\Documents and Settings\[user name]\Local Settings\Temp folder. I
deleted all these 1400 odd files and the defrag was clean and
successful.

I was not aware of the existance of the temporary folder because (as I
now
know) it is a hidden folder.

My problem is that since taking this action two things have happened:

1) Booting up takes a longer than usual and
2) Two temporary files are created (which remain forever) at each boot
up
and occasionally during the day as a result of doing something that I
haven't quite worked out yet but seems it might be as a result of doing
something in windows explorer - like deleting a file - but not always!.

The only other odd thing is that all links in "Help and Support" no
longer work eg, "related topics". Discovered this whilst trying to
troubleshoot my problem.

Apart from the above everything works fine and fast once the computer
has
booted up.

I have an automatically updated virus scanner (CA Anti Virus) and have
done several complete scans of both C and D drives with nothing found.

The temporary files seem to come often in pairs of size 144kb and 588kb
and always have the name ~DF[random numbers].tmp. Some days there can
be
20 or more of these accumulating in the Temp folder. Obviously they
had
been accumulating for many months before I realised the problem.
Unfortunately I had deleted the files without looking at the date of
the
first one so I'm not exactly sure of how long this has been going on -
quite a long time it seems to take up 8 or 9GB of space!

A system restore has had no effect - probably because it has been going
on
longer than 3 months.

Would appreciate any help anyone can give me to solve this problem
without
having to completely reformat or reload XP completely.

Thanks.

 

[peterhun]

These have always been there and always will be created but you
haven't noticed them before. They are used by Windows to record your
movements during a Windows session so that when you Shut Down,
Windows saves your Settings.

Everyone should be using a Cleaner of some description as a matter of
course to keep their PC free of this accumulated rubbish, that's why
MS has included these Tools in Start/Programs/Accessories/System
Tools for use but not many ppl are aware of them. Use them regularly
to gain the most benefit of your HDD.

There are also commercial progs available that delete your temporary,
history and internet tracks including .DAT files that are not
scrubbed by Windows and this file saves a map of ALL your sites
visited since day 1 and can be read by anyone using a DAT viewer (not
very private is it).
A good one is Cyberscrub Privacy Suite.

Your problems I don't believe were caused by you deleting the contents
of the Temporary folder, but you can search Google for a fix on how to
enter the shortcuts to the Help etc, just type in your question eg how
do I get the ...... to show in Start menu? .....or whatever