.tmp files & other unnecessary files; how to dejunk my hard drive

[Guest]

Evan after doing a LiveCare scan, my hard drive is virtually full, so to make
space I want to clean out the junk. I did a search and found that there are
1020 *.tmp files on my computer. I wanted to delete them, but my attempts
are denied. Should I just accept that my hard disk will be choked with these
files or is there something I can do to have them and all other unnecessary
files removed.

(One message I get is that the files are being used by another program, even
though I have closed all programs. Another problem is that even if a few
files are in use for background programs, it seems strange that there would
be 1020 of them. Yet I can go through 1020 and try to individually see if it
is deletable or not.

Basically, this comes down to how do I dejunk my hard drive?

Thanks for any thoughts.

Bob

 

[Detlev Dreyer]

Evan after doing a LiveCare scan, my hard drive is virtually full, so
to make space I want to clean out the junk. I did a search and found
that there are 1020 *.tmp files on my computer.

If this is the case, you have installed some crapware. Properly written
software removes its temp files at shutdown - at the latest.

I wanted to delete them, but my attempts are denied.

Find out what software does access the locked files.
"Process Explorer for Windows"
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/utilities/processexplorer.mspx

 

[mikeyhsd]

try using Disk Cleanup from System Tools.
on its menu select the option to delete all but latest restore files.

(e-mail address removed)@sport.rr.com

Evan after doing a LiveCare scan, my hard drive is virtually full, so to make
space I want to clean out the junk. I did a search and found that there are
1020 *.tmp files on my computer. I wanted to delete them, but my attempts
are denied. Should I just accept that my hard disk will be choked with these
files or is there something I can do to have them and all other unnecessary
files removed.

(One message I get is that the files are being used by another program, even
though I have closed all programs. Another problem is that even if a few
files are in use for background programs, it seems strange that there would
be 1020 of them. Yet I can go through 1020 and try to individually see if it
is deletable or not.

Basically, this comes down to how do I dejunk my hard drive?

Thanks for any thoughts.

Bob

 

[Guest]

Thanks for your reply. Most of the software I use on a daily basis is from
Microsoft. I'm not sure why, but based on my informal observations, it seems
that when even MS programs are shut down, frequently some .tmp files are left
behind until I delete them manually.

 

[Guest]

Thanks Mike.
I have a couple of follow up questions. If you can reply that would be
great. First, I run a LiveCare scan every week and I thought it was supposed
to take care of this. I think part of the problem is that my hard disk is so
full that there may not be the space for swap files. (I'm not technically
particularly sophisticated so I may have this all mixed up.)

1. If LiveCare isn't doing this, is there some way to automate this cleanup
process?

2. I noticed one unchecked box was "Office Setup files" 280 MB. Can that be
safely removed?

3. Before I follow your advice and click on the System Restore button under
the "More options" tab, are there any serious risks I should be aware of in
doing this? Thanks,
Bob

 

[Detlev Dreyer]

Thanks for your reply. Most of the software I use on a daily basis is
from Microsoft. I'm not sure why, but based on my informal
observations, it seems that when even MS programs are shut down,
frequently some .tmp files are left behind until I delete them
manually.

No temp files on my systems beyond 2-3 files being in use by third-party
software running in the background. Again, the "Process Explorer" will
tell about the process owner of your locked (access denied) temp files.

 

[mikeyhsd]

do not know anything about one care and what it does.
thought is was supposed to be like a virus program.

if you no longer need the setup files, being that office is working as expected, go ahead and check it.

it will prevent you from using any restore points to restore the computer past the last one.
again if your computer is running satisfactorily, there SHOULD be no problem.

Disk Cleanup does not always get rid of all the internet temporary files.\, history and cookies.
you should turn off your virus program while doing the cleanup to help it.

I manually clean/delete the IE files before running Disk Cleanup.

(e-mail address removed)@sport.rr.com

Thanks Mike.
I have a couple of follow up questions. If you can reply that would be
great. First, I run a LiveCare scan every week and I thought it was supposed
to take care of this. I think part of the problem is that my hard disk is so
full that there may not be the space for swap files. (I'm not technically
particularly sophisticated so I may have this all mixed up.)

1. If LiveCare isn't doing this, is there some way to automate this cleanup
process?

2. I noticed one unchecked box was "Office Setup files" 280 MB. Can that be
safely removed?

3. Before I follow your advice and click on the System Restore button under
the "More options" tab, are there any serious risks I should be aware of in
doing this? Thanks,
Bob