search to find all temp files

[Jack B]

I did a
*.tmp,*.chk,~*.*
search to find all temp files on my pc.

Apparently, the search found files that are not on my pc, because I had
hundreds of files that could not be deleted due to Windows saying: "Cannot
delete file: Cannot read from source file or disk."

What gives?


Jack

 

[Twayne]

In

I did a
*.tmp,*.chk,~*.*
search to find all temp files on my pc.

Apparently, the search found files that are not on my pc,
because I had hundreds of files that could not be deleted
due to Windows saying: "Cannot delete file: Cannot read
from source file or disk."

What gives?


Jack

Probably your sequencing. One of the earlier commands already
deleted them, maybe. Or, they belong to another account and
you don't have rights to delete them. There are quite a few
possibilities, really.

If you want to see what's going on for sure, next time do
searches for all three and check out the duplicate entries -
usually that will expose them. Be sure to have all the system
and hidden files set to display. Also, you can search for
multiple items in Explorer by separating them with a
semi-colon. e.g. *.tmp; ~*.*; <path>\temp*; <path>\temp* and
so forth.
I can only vouch for that working on SP3 Pro versions, but
it should be consistant I'd think.

HTH,

Twayne`

 

[Jose]

I did a
*.tmp,*.chk,~*.*
search to find all temp files on my pc.

Apparently, the search found files that are not on my pc, because I had
hundreds of files that could not be deleted due to Windows saying: "Cannot
delete file: Cannot read from source file or disk."

What gives?

Jack

A lot depends on your definition of a temp file.

It would be shortsighted to assume that all temporary files involved
with Windows XP end in .tmp, .chk. or have a ~ as the first character
of the file name. Equally shortsighted would be to assume that all
files that end in .tmp, .chk or have a ~ as the first character are
temporary files.

As you can see, just because a file meets your search criteria, it
does not necessarily mean it is not being used at the moment.

If you can better define your mission, you will be able to benefit
from the experience of others.