What is the "Temporary Internet Files" folder?

[shempmcgurk]

What is the "TEmporary Internet Files" folder?

I accidently stumbled onto it and found images -- hundreds of them! --
of practically every image I've seen in the last several months! When
I did a right-click and "properties" on this folder there were over 225
MG of storage there.

Can I delete all the files in this folder? It seems like a waste of
memory to me...

 

[Will Denny]

Hi

There are the files accumulated when visiting web sites. You can clear that
folder by opening Internet Explorer and going to Tools>Internet Options and
clicking on 'Delete Files...' and also 'Delete all offline content'.
Whenever you visit a web site, however, that will folder will start to fill
up again.

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

This is why folks run Disk Cleanup fairly regularly.

 

[Thomas Wendell]

Just delete the contents..

--
Tumppi
Reply to group
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[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi,

It holds parts of web pages you visit so that the page reloads faster if you
revisit it (doesn't have to re-download all the graphics). This is by
design, and you can affect the size of the storage under the Control
Panel/Internet Options by clicking settings on the General tab.

Can I delete all the files in this folder? It seems like a waste of
memory to me...

Yes, but it's not a waste of memory as they do not occupy the memory unless
you are actually visiting that page. What it does occupy is drive space, and
if it is of concern, then you can adjust the allotment of space as
previously mentioned.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

 

[Ron Martell]

What is the "TEmporary Internet Files" folder?

I accidently stumbled onto it and found images -- hundreds of them! --
of practically every image I've seen in the last several months! When
I did a right-click and "properties" on this folder there were over 225
MG of storage there.

Can I delete all the files in this folder? It seems like a waste of
memory to me...

Others have explained the basic purpose of Temporary Internet Files.
The primary advantage of having these files are for people with
dial-up Internet service, as having information from previously
visited web pages will speed up the loading of those pages when you
visit them again.

For people with high speed Internet service (Cable or DSL) the
advantages are not as important.

If you have a Cable/DSL service you can configure your computer to
empty the T.I.F. contents automatically when you exit Internet
Explorer. Use Control Panel - Internet Options and go to the
Advanced tab. Scroll down to the Security section at the bottom of
the list and click on the checkbox for "Empty Temporary Internet Files
folder when browser is closed" to select it then click on Apply and OK
as needed to exit. As I said previously I do not recommend this
setting for dial-up users because it increased the time required to
load previously visited web pages, but dial-up users can use this
setting if they really want to.

Good luck


Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

In memory of a dear friend Alex Nichol MVP
http://aumha.org/alex.htm

 

[shempmcgurk]

Hi,

It holds parts of web pages you visit so that the page reloads faster if you
revisit it (doesn't have to re-download all the graphics). This is by
design, and you can affect the size of the storage under the Control
Panel/Internet Options by clicking settings on the General tab.


Yes, but it's not a waste of memory as they do not occupy the memory unless
you are actually visiting that page. What it does occupy is drive space, and
if it is of concern, then you can adjust the allotment of space as
previously mentioned.

What exactly is "drive space" and how does it differ from memory?

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi,

What exactly is "drive space" and how does it differ from memory?

Drive space is the amount of physical hard drive space, generally defined in
GB now, which is the amount of storage space available to the system. Memory
refers to the amount of physical ram (installed ram, usually in MB) and
virtual memory (known as the pagefile) in a system. Program files and data
are stored on the hard drive. When called for use, they are loaded into
memory. Once use is done, they are eventually purged from memory as other
processes and programs use it.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org