advice on temp folder

G

Guest

i would like to know if it is ok to delete all of the temp files and folders
in my temp folder . i have used disk clean to to delete temp folders but it
has left empty folders and a lot of of files ,some of which are quite big an
example is Winsat_kernallog.etl 12mb are these files needed to run programs
,thanks for any help
 
J

Jon

marty said:
i would like to know if it is ok to delete all of the temp files and
folders
in my temp folder . i have used disk clean to to delete temp folders but
it
has left empty folders and a lot of of files ,some of which are quite big
an
example is Winsat_kernallog.etl 12mb are these files needed to run
programs
,thanks for any help


You can usually delete everything in there, unless you're in the process of
installing a program or updates, in which case delete them after a reboot.
 
G

Guest

thanks for the help
--
martyb


Jon said:
You can usually delete everything in there, unless you're in the process of
installing a program or updates, in which case delete them after a reboot.
 
K

Ken Blake, MVP

i would like to know if it is ok to delete all of the temp files and folders
in my temp folder . i have used disk clean to to delete temp folders but it
has left empty folders and a lot of of files ,some of which are quite big an
example is Winsat_kernallog.etl 12mb are these files needed to run programs
,thanks for any help


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.
 
G

Guest

thanks ken that was most informative and helpfull i will periodically check
my temp folder and clean it out
 

Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments. After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.

Ask a Question

Similar Threads

TEMP FOLDER 9
Remove empty folders in C:\Windows\Temp ?? 10
Temp Folder 3
Why is my Windows folder 16.2GB? 4
Vista temp or unecessary files 8
empty temp folder 2
Temp Files 3
%WinDir%\Temp 7

Top