53,000 files of 0 size in my Content IE folders

[Nightsky]

There are more than 53,000 files of 0 size in my Content IE folders.
They all have filenames similar to CAZQ2IV5 and various time stamps.

What is their purpose?
Can I delete them safely?

Nightsky

 

[Jerry]

sure - delete them all

 

[GS]

the safe way is going to IE, tool->internet options, and clear out all
temporary file using the appropriate button there

 

[Bill in Co.]

And they are routinely created by IE and OE. So even if you delete them,
new ones will keep coming in, anyways. But feel free to do so.

 

[VanguardLH]

And if you configure IE to empty its TIF folder then they also routinely
go away.

 

[Bill in Co.]

I would never do that. It takes too long to build up the TIF cache again,
especially on dial-up.

 

[Mike Torello]

I would never do that. It takes too long to build up the TIF cache again,
especially on dial-up.

Dialup is the only type of access where that might be a consideration.

Even with the slowest of DSL plans that would not be anything to worry
about.

 

[VanguardLH]

But the *OP*, the one that asked the question about their TIF folder,
is not on dial-up.

 

[Bill in Co.]

Well, by that logic, why bother even having the TIF? Might as well disable
it completely by that logic, and never cache anything in the TIF. You
think that's a good idea?

 

[Patrick Keenan]

There are more than 53,000 files of 0 size in my Content IE folders. They
all have filenames similar to CAZQ2IV5 and various time stamps.

What is their purpose?

They are the IE browser cache.

The entire content.ie5 folder is a subfolder of the "Temporary Internet
Files" folder.

Note the word "Temporary" in the folder name.

Can I delete them safely?

Yes, and you should do so. IE doesn't clean up after itself very well, and
you likely have the cache set far too high - the default value is sometimes
over a gig, and doesn't need to be any more than 25 meg.

The free tool ccleaner (www.ccleaner.com) will help you delete these and
other temporary files quickly with few steps.

HTH
-pk

 

[Gerry]

Bill

Leaving large numbers of redundant files has a downside. Whenever you
run anti-virus and anti-spyware software there are more files to check.
The result is that a full scan can take considerably longer.

--


Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[VanguardLH]

Yep. If you select the option to check for new content on every visit
to a web page, the browser has to find out from the server if its copy
of a file is stale compared with the server's copy. Why waste that time
rather than just get the file in the first place? After all, you have
the speed.

In fact, users of IE6/7 would often configure the advanced options to
always empty the TIF on exit from IE. They didn't want that stuff
hanging around. However, IE would sometimes forget to empty its TIF so
cleanup utilities showed up to make sure the TIF got cleaned out. Well,
with an empty TIF, the entire web page has to get downloaded on the next
visit.

High-speed users are not condemned to having to cache anything between
browser sessions (and don't need to cache much at all during a browser
session). As you noted, you are not in that crowd.

 

[Bill in Co.]

Yep. If you select the option to check for new content on every visit
to a web page, the browser has to find out from the server if its copy
of a file is stale compared with the server's copy. Why waste that time
rather than just get the file in the first place? After all, you have
the speed.

Well, no, I don't - I'm on dial-up. (But for the ones who aren't, maybe).
My option is set to automatically, and definitely NOT check each time.

In fact, users of IE6/7 would often configure the advanced options to
always empty the TIF on exit from IE. They didn't want that stuff
hanging around. However, IE would sometimes forget to empty its TIF so
cleanup utilities showed up to make sure the TIF got cleaned out. Well,
with an empty TIF, the entire web page has to get downloaded on the next
visit.

Which I definitely don't want in my case.

High-speed users are not condemned to having to cache anything between
browser sessions (and don't need to cache much at all during a browser
session). As you noted, you are not in that crowd.

Exactly. And quite content with that arrangement. I don't need
hi-speed; I have that old school value of patience .

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Well, no, I don't - I'm on dial-up. (But for the ones who aren't, maybe).
My option is set to automatically, and definitely NOT check each time.

Your choice of course, but with many web sites that can be a big
problem. I maintain a site where pages change often. I periodically
get complaints from people who are not set to check, and get the old
versions again.

 

[VanguardLH]

Well, no, I don't - I'm on dial-up. (But for the ones who aren't, maybe).
My option is set to automatically, and definitely NOT check each time.

Your network setup is not germane to the OP. Suggestions for solutions
were directed to the OP.

 

[Bill in Co.]

Your choice of course, but with many web sites that can be a big
problem. I maintain a site where pages change often. I periodically
get complaints from people who are not set to check, and get the old
versions again.

Interesting. I haven't seen that problem over here, as IE seems to check
the web page(s) I visit often enough to get the new page material when it
changes. For example, I'm thinking of a home page (with news headlines,
etc), as one prime example. If I go visit some other web pages, and then
go back to the home page again, it gets updated (unless I never closed the
page of course).

 

[Bill in Co.]

Your network setup is not germane to the OP. Suggestions for solutions
were directed to the OP.

So what's the point of having the TIF cache at all?? Is is solely there
just for the benefit of some dialup users, in your opinion?

 

[Gerry]

Bill

Reading Offline perhaps?

--


Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Bill in Co.]

Maybe. I rarely, if ever, do that, and am not sure why that would be so
useful.

 

[Gerry]

Bill

Pay by the minute dial up phone bills were once quite common or don't
you remember those days?


--


Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~