Deleting Folders/Files in Temp File?

M

Mackenrick

I have a new computer that has about 150 mb in a temp folder and want to know
if I can safely delete those files. It is located at: C:\Users\Mac\App
Data\Local\Temp. It has folders in it such as: Nero.tmp, nps.tmp, nro.log,
WPDNSE and files in it such as: WinSAT_DX.etl, Office XP Pro Setup.txt, etc.


It seems to me that if it is a Temp folder I should be able to safely delete
those folders and files but I want to be sure before I do it. Thank you for
the help.
 
P

Paul Montgumdrop

Mackenrick said:
I have a new computer that has about 150 mb in a temp folder and want to know
if I can safely delete those files. It is located at: C:\Users\Mac\App
Data\Local\Temp. It has folders in it such as: Nero.tmp, nps.tmp, nro.log,
WPDNSE and files in it such as: WinSAT_DX.etl, Office XP Pro Setup.txt, etc.


It seems to me that if it is a Temp folder I should be able to safely delete
those folders and files but I want to be sure before I do it. Thank you for
the help.

What's wrong with using Disk Clean-up, which may identify this? However,
any folder that has temp as part of the name, I delete them when necessary.
 
K

Ken Blake, MVP

I have a new computer that has about 150 mb in a temp folder and want to know
if I can safely delete those files. It is located at: C:\Users\Mac\App
Data\Local\Temp. It has folders in it such as: Nero.tmp, nps.tmp, nro.log,
WPDNSE and files in it such as: WinSAT_DX.etl, Office XP Pro Setup.txt, etc.


It seems to me that if it is a Temp folder I should be able to safely delete
those folders and files but I want to be sure before I do it. Thank you for
the help.


Yes, temp files 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.
 
M

Mike950

Thanks Ken, Great explanation of Temp Folders. Not only did I get the main
question answered, I leaned a few more things about how Windows uses them.

Mac
 
K

Ken Blake, MVP

Thanks Ken, Great explanation of Temp Folders. Not only did I get the main
question answered, I leaned a few more things about how Windows uses them.



You're welcome. Glad to help.
 

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