My "for Dummies" book says Windows' temporary files usually but not always end with ".TMP", and the file names usually start with "~". However, they say absolutely nothing about whether one can safely delete them. Then I found this through HowThingsWork.com, at http://filext.com/info/showthread.php?t=16:
Can I Delete Temporary (.TMP) Files? Can I safely delete temporary (.TMP) files?
Maybe
.
Temporary files are just that, designed to be temporary. But, that does not always mean you can safely delete them. A running program, for example, may have created a temporary file that, if deleted, could cause problems for that program. Windows is an example of this; it creates temporary files that are used during any given session. While it usually recovers and recreates files it finds deleted, that is not always the case.
Consider the following as guidelines but not guarantees (make certain the file is actually a temporary file and not some critical data file with a .TMP extension): [Silk: and exactly how does one determine that?]
Maybe
.Temporary files are just that, designed to be temporary. But, that does not always mean you can safely delete them. A running program, for example, may have created a temporary file that, if deleted, could cause problems for that program. Windows is an example of this; it creates temporary files that are used during any given session. While it usually recovers and recreates files it finds deleted, that is not always the case.
Consider the following as guidelines but not guarantees (make certain the file is actually a temporary file and not some critical data file with a .TMP extension): [Silk: and exactly how does one determine that?]
- If the .TMP file date is earlier than the last time the computer was started and the file size is zero bytes it's almost always safe to delete the file. [Silk: Duh, yeah. That means there's no file. It's just a "placeholder" in a directory.] [Uh, "almost always"?]
- If the .TMP file date is earlier than the last time the comptuer was started its usually safe to delete the file. [Silk: Usually?]
- Everything else depends on the situation. [Silk: Aaaaggghhh!]
__________________
Tom
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DaBoss at FILExt.com
Very helpful, folks! Bleck!
A commenter has recommended Webroot's "Window Washer". I have a copy of it right here on my desk, along with Webroot's "Cache and Cookie Washer". I bought them at the local office supply store in January of 2002. The first time I ran Window Washer, it crashed Windows 98SE and completely destroyed AOL, and it took three IPLs before Windows would come up again. I was never able to recover that level of AOL, and had to install a new version - which for some reason couldn't find the old mail folders, so I lost all the emails to Jay's sisters from when he was sick, which was essentially the entire diary of Jay's treatments, reactions, feelings, and progress. (That made me cry.)
Ya gotta give me credit for courage - I ran it again a few days later, and Windows crashed again. So now I'm afraid to use it. (Although maybe the old version had some bugs which have since been fixed?)
.
Tom
---------------------
DaBoss at FILExt.com
Very helpful, folks! Bleck!
A commenter has recommended Webroot's "Window Washer". I have a copy of it right here on my desk, along with Webroot's "Cache and Cookie Washer". I bought them at the local office supply store in January of 2002. The first time I ran Window Washer, it crashed Windows 98SE and completely destroyed AOL, and it took three IPLs before Windows would come up again. I was never able to recover that level of AOL, and had to install a new version - which for some reason couldn't find the old mail folders, so I lost all the emails to Jay's sisters from when he was sick, which was essentially the entire diary of Jay's treatments, reactions, feelings, and progress. (That made me cry.)
Ya gotta give me credit for courage - I ran it again a few days later, and Windows crashed again. So now I'm afraid to use it. (Although maybe the old version had some bugs which have since been fixed?)
.
3 comments:
Oh.
Ooops.
Sorry about that, but we only had AOL briefly.
aol is finiky about what kind of programs it disagrees with...
as far as hard disk clutter goes...good luck!
happy holidays.
Hi, I found some other interesting information about file extensions and file formats at file-extensions.org
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