Automatic deletions

[Guest]

I've noted that files (Usually old but still retained for historical
purposes) are disappearing.

I do systematic back-ups, but since they disappear from a variety of
folders, they can be totally lost ... ie I do not routinely check on their
presence such that they can be identified and recovered from back-ups.

I've wondered whether Windows XP has an automatic feature (Unfortunately
set) which deletes files of greater than a certain age.

 

[Ted Zieglar]

Windows XP has no such feature.

What files are 'disappearing'?

 

[Wesley Vogel]

The only "feature" close to this is when using Disk Cleanup (cleanmgr.exe).

Temporary files
[[ Programs sometimes store temporary information in a Temp folder. Before
a program quits, the program usually deletes this information. You can
safely delete temporary files that have not been modified in over a week.]]

Safely delete access time stored here (7 is days):
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Volume
Caches\Temporary Files\
Value Name: LastAccess
Value Type: REG_DWORD
Value Data: 7

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Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

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