Some files never seem to get deleted.

  • Thread starter Thread starter Gary Burton
  • Start date Start date
G

Gary Burton

There is a tremendous amound of what looks like junk files and olders
in my
C:\Documents and Settings\Gary Burton\Local Settings\Temp\

Much of it is very old. One folder is called "Cookies". Another is
called "History" and contains "History.IE5", which contains index.dat and
desktop.in. Everything else just looks like debris from sites I have
visited. I am running IE6 btw.

I have cleared history, deleted temporary internet files, and run disk
cleanup, but it all stays.

Why isn't it deleted by the actions I have taken.

How can I tell what I can manually delete safely?
 
These things sometimes get left behind when a system glitch cause Windows
to lose track of where such stuff should be kept. Normal cleanup actions
don't remove them because the system doesn't know about them.

So long as you're not in the process of installing something, you can
delete everything from the Temp folder except for any files that may be
open.


Gary Burton said:
There is a tremendous amound of what looks like junk files and olders
in my
C:\Documents and Settings\Gary Burton\Local Settings\Temp\
Click to expand...
Much of it is very old. One folder is called "Cookies". Another is
called "History" and contains "History.IE5", which contains index.dat and
desktop.in. Everything else just looks like debris from sites I have
visited. I am running IE6 btw.
Click to expand...
I have cleared history, deleted temporary internet files, and run disk
cleanup, but it all stays.
Click to expand...
 
Thank you!!

I stiill don't understand it. There seems to be a lot of duplication.
Some folders (such as History and Cookies) also exist above the \TEMP
folder. If you don't mind explaining that, I would appreciate it. If not,
that's fine and I appreciate the help you have already given me. I could
delete everything but the INDEX.DAT fiiles.
 
I could delete everything but the INDEX.DAT
fiiles.
Click to expand...

start>settings>folder options>view
and enable "show all files"
then open (edit) autoexec.bat and copy/paste this:

C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\deltree /y c:\windows\temp
mkdir c:\windows\temp
C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\deltree /y c:\windows\cookies
C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\deltree /y c:\windows\history
C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\deltree /y c:\windows\tempor~1
C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\deltree /y c:\windows\recent
C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\deltree /y c:\temp

next time you reboot, your index.dat files will be clean...
but, attention!, your tif files will be gone as well...
but then, delete the lines you don't like...
 
I agree that would work, but why deleted from c:\windows\temp instead of
C:\Documents and Settings\Gary Burton\Local Settings\Temp\?

Do you have any comment on why we get the duplication? All this
duplication makes no sense to me. It looks like an unorganized mish-mosh.


Zoro said:
I could delete everything but the INDEX.DAT
fiiles.
Click to expand...

start>settings>folder options>view
and enable "show all files"
then open (edit) autoexec.bat and copy/paste this:

C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\deltree /y c:\windows\temp
mkdir c:\windows\temp
C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\deltree /y c:\windows\cookies
C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\deltree /y c:\windows\history
C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\deltree /y c:\windows\tempor~1
C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\deltree /y c:\windows\recent
C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\deltree /y c:\temp

next time you reboot, your index.dat files will be clean...
but, attention!, your tif files will be gone as well...
but then, delete the lines you don't like...
 
"WTF!!!", uzvikne Gary Burton@desktop , te nastavi:
I agree that would work, but why deleted from c:\windows\temp
instead of C:\Documents and Settings\Gary Burton\Local Settings\Temp\?

Do you have any comment on why we get the duplication? All this
duplication makes no sense to me. It looks like an unorganized
mish-mosh.
Click to expand...

now i see...you don't run win9x, right?
sorry...can't help...i have 98se...
....and i am very happy with it! :)
 
No, I have XP. Thanks anyway.

"WTF!!!", uzvikne Gary Burton@desktop , te nastavi:
I agree that would work, but why deleted from c:\windows\temp
instead of C:\Documents and Settings\Gary Burton\Local Settings\Temp\?

Do you have any comment on why we get the duplication? All this
duplication makes no sense to me. It looks like an unorganized
mish-mosh.
Click to expand...

now i see...you don't run win9x, right?
sorry...can't help...i have 98se...
....and i am very happy with it! :)
 
The usual structure of the Documents and Settings folder is something like
this:

Documents and Settings
Username
Application Data
Cookies
Desktop
Favorites
Local Settings
Application Data
History
Temp
Temporary Internet Files
My Documents
NetHood
PrintHood
Recent
SendTo
Start Menu
Templates

Temp normally has no subfolders, but apparently Windows sometimes gets
confused and starts creating system folders there instead of in their
normal locations. I don't know what causes that.

If you can't delete index.dat, either the system is using it for something
or you don't have the appropriate permissions for that file. Most likely
the file is in use or appears to be in use because there's a reference to
it in the registry. To get rid of it, log on as a different user with
administrator privileges (If you don't have one, create it now. Every
system should have a second administrator account for recovery purposes.)
and use Windows Explorer to locate and delete the file. If it's in a
folder subordinate to Temp, delete that whole folder.

If the index.dat file is recreated when you log back on as the original
user, some registry editing may be needed to clean everything up.
 
Thank you!

I am the only one I ever expect to use this machine. When I originally
set it up, I can't remember what I did about the administrator assignment.
There was some option that seemed to make the logons simpler and I went for
it. I must be the administrator, but I don't know how to confirm that or
how to create another one.

You have already helped me a lot. If you can give me a quick pointer or
two, I would greatly appreciate it. I intend to follow your advice because
I really like having a clean unconfused machine. I can (and will) research
the administrator issues, but a couple of pointers would help if you have
the time. If not, thanks anyway for what you have already done.
 
Unfortunately my system is Win2000 and you're using XP, so I can't give
you the procedure for adding another user. Perhaps someone else will
chimei n here, or you could post the question to an XP group.
microsoft.public.windowsxp.general sounds like a good choice.


Gary Burton said:
Thank you!
Click to expand...
 
When you open the Control Panel, there should be something to Users or
perhaps Users and Passwords. That would be the place to start.
 
To simply tell if you're an adminstrator, Right click on the Start button.
If, in the popup list, you see Open ALL Users and Explore ALL Users (the
important word is the "ALL"), then you're an admin user.
 
I am an administrator, but I believe Gary was suggesting that I log on
under a different administrator account and delete the files. When I boot
up in safe mode, I am supposed to have the option of doing that; but for
some reason I don't on this machine.
 
The objective is to create a new user wuth administrator privileges.


Sam Malone said:
To simply tell if you're an adminstrator, Right click on the Start button.
If, in the popup list, you see Open ALL Users and Explore ALL Users (the
important word is the "ALL"), then you're an admin user.
Click to expand...
 
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