temp files _Zannnnn

  • Thread starter Thread starter E. J. Jewell
  • Start date Start date
E

E. J. Jewell

I regularly run Disk Cleanup but it leaves a lot of files in
windows\temp. None of these seem to have been accessed since last
December (when I transferred a lot of files onto the computer).

Most of these are trivial in size but there is a handful which are quite
large. All have names _Zannnnn (where n is a numeric character). What
are these? Would it be safe to delete them?
 
E. J. Jewell said:
I regularly run Disk Cleanup but it leaves a lot of files in
windows\temp. None of these seem to have been accessed since last
December (when I transferred a lot of files onto the computer).

Most of these are trivial in size but there is a handful which are quite
large. All have names _Zannnnn (where n is a numeric character). What
are these? Would it be safe to delete them?
Click to expand...



Might be left over files from you firewall if you use Zone Alarm...
I'm sure you can delete them
 
E. J. Jewell said:
I regularly run Disk Cleanup but it leaves a lot of files in
windows\temp. None of these seem to have been accessed since last
December (when I transferred a lot of files onto the computer).

Most of these are trivial in size but there is a handful which are quite
large. All have names _Zannnnn (where n is a numeric character). What
are these? Would it be safe to delete them?
Click to expand...

Any thing in the Temp, you can delete safely, unless you selected a program
to install in the Temp?
You can use this tool to clean up on regular bases:
http://www.ccleaner.com
HTH.
nass
===
www.nasstec.co.uk
 
First, it looks like you have files extensions turned off.

To show file extensions...
Start | Settings | Control Panel | Folder Options | View tab
UNCheck: Hide extensions for known file types |
Click Apply | Click OK

<quote>
For a variety of reasons you should make certain that your computer always
shows file extensions. Under Windows you can set the system to hide
extensions. This is dangerous as some malicious programs will send
executable files with a double extension in order to try to fool you into
thinking the file is not malicious. For example, if you receive the file
BADPROGRAM.TXT.VBS and have extensions turned off you would only see
BADPROGRAM.TXT and think that the file is a simple text file. If you clicked
on it you would execute a script that could do anything.
<quote>
from...
General Information about File Extensions
http://filext.com/info/showthread.php?t=35

Some ZoneAlarm temp files cannot be deleted because ZoneAlarm is running and
the files will be "in use".

You can delete files in TEMP folders. If you are unsure, reboot and
check the folder(s) again. XP will not let you delete a file that is in
use. Also if you just installed software you should reboot. Then check the
folder(s) again. Some programs require these files after a reboot. It is
good practice to always reboot after installing any software.

If a file ends with .TMP they are OK to delete. TMP means temporary. You
can't hurt anything deleting tmp files, unless you just installed some new
program. Most well mannered programs will delete tmp files when you reboot.

If you're using ZoneAlarm, ZA has at least one tmp file that is almost
always in use.

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In
 
Wesley Vogel said:
First, it looks like you have files extensions turned off.

To show file extensions...
Start | Settings | Control Panel | Folder Options | View tab
UNCheck: Hide extensions for known file types |
Click Apply | Click OK
Click to expand...
Already is unchecked.

The small files in temp do have the .tmp extension. The _Za files
seemingly don't have extensions. All of them show in blue meaning that
they have been compressed by Disk Cleanup. Some of the small .tmp files
are blue, some are not.

Main reason I want to be rid of the _Za files is that a virus scan
(Kapersky 6.0) seems to take an eternity (days rather than hours) to
scan them. As it does so it gives some clue to the content of them. It
seems to be a consolidation of the very large files which I moved onto
the computer back in December (copied over the network from an old Win95
computer which is about to be written off).
<quote>
For a variety of reasons you should make certain that your computer always
shows file extensions. Under Windows you can set the system to hide
extensions. This is dangerous as some malicious programs will send
executable files with a double extension in order to try to fool you into
thinking the file is not malicious. For example, if you receive the file
BADPROGRAM.TXT.VBS and have extensions turned off you would only see
BADPROGRAM.TXT and think that the file is a simple text file. If you clicked
on it you would execute a script that could do anything.
<quote>
from...
General Information about File Extensions
http://filext.com/info/showthread.php?t=35

Some ZoneAlarm temp files cannot be deleted because ZoneAlarm is
running and the files will be "in use".

You can delete files in TEMP folders. If you are unsure, reboot and
check the folder(s) again.
Click to expand...

Looks as if I could delete them all. I am just a little wary as I don't
want to lose the files I copied from the W95 machine. I could, if push
comes to shove, copy them again but don't really want to go down that
road as the W95 often does not boot up properly.

As an aside ...

I posted here some weeks ago about the computer running slowly at times.
Someone sensibly asked what had changed just before the problem
appeared. Three things: (1) upgrade from SP1 to SP2, (2) Norton
removed [1] and (3) KAV 6.0 installed.

[1] I know that a simple uninstall of Norton leaves bits behind. The
job was done for me by a computer dealer who had a special CD and some
kind of dongle for the job. It seems to have removed everything
cleanly.
XP will not let you delete a file that is in
use. Also if you just installed software you should reboot. Then check the
folder(s) again. Some programs require these files after a reboot. It is
good practice to always reboot after installing any software.

If a file ends with .TMP they are OK to delete. TMP means temporary. You
can't hurt anything deleting tmp files, unless you just installed some new
program. Most well mannered programs will delete tmp files when you reboot.

If you're using ZoneAlarm, ZA has at least one tmp file that is almost
always in use.
Click to expand...
No firewall active other than the Windows firewall.
 
If any files are in a temporary folder then they are temporary, delete them.

This will open...
C:\WINDOWS\Temp
Start | Run | Type: temp | Click OK |
Hit Ctrl + A to select all the files | Hit your delete key

If you try to select and delete all the tmp files in a folder and if any of
them are in use, you'll get an error message. Try to delete a few at a time
to avoid the error message. But, try to delete them all first.

This will open...
C:\Documents and Settings\Your Name Here\Local Settings\Temp
Start | Run | Type: %tmp% | Click OK |
Hit Ctrl + A to select all the files | Hit your delete key

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In
E. J. Jewell said:
Wesley Vogel said:
First, it looks like you have files extensions turned off.

To show file extensions...
Start | Settings | Control Panel | Folder Options | View tab
UNCheck: Hide extensions for known file types |
Click Apply | Click OK
Click to expand...
Already is unchecked.

The small files in temp do have the .tmp extension. The _Za files
seemingly don't have extensions. All of them show in blue meaning that
they have been compressed by Disk Cleanup. Some of the small .tmp files
are blue, some are not.

Main reason I want to be rid of the _Za files is that a virus scan
(Kapersky 6.0) seems to take an eternity (days rather than hours) to
scan them. As it does so it gives some clue to the content of them. It
seems to be a consolidation of the very large files which I moved onto
the computer back in December (copied over the network from an old Win95
computer which is about to be written off).
<quote>
For a variety of reasons you should make certain that your computer
always shows file extensions. Under Windows you can set the system to
hide extensions. This is dangerous as some malicious programs will send
executable files with a double extension in order to try to fool you into
thinking the file is not malicious. For example, if you receive the file
BADPROGRAM.TXT.VBS and have extensions turned off you would only see
BADPROGRAM.TXT and think that the file is a simple text file. If you
clicked on it you would execute a script that could do anything.
<quote>
from...
General Information about File Extensions
http://filext.com/info/showthread.php?t=35

Some ZoneAlarm temp files cannot be deleted because ZoneAlarm is
running and the files will be "in use".

You can delete files in TEMP folders. If you are unsure, reboot and
check the folder(s) again.
Click to expand...

Looks as if I could delete them all. I am just a little wary as I don't
want to lose the files I copied from the W95 machine. I could, if push
comes to shove, copy them again but don't really want to go down that
road as the W95 often does not boot up properly.

As an aside ...

I posted here some weeks ago about the computer running slowly at times.
Someone sensibly asked what had changed just before the problem
appeared. Three things: (1) upgrade from SP1 to SP2, (2) Norton
removed [1] and (3) KAV 6.0 installed.

[1] I know that a simple uninstall of Norton leaves bits behind. The
job was done for me by a computer dealer who had a special CD and some
kind of dongle for the job. It seems to have removed everything
cleanly.
XP will not let you delete a file that is in
use. Also if you just installed software you should reboot. Then check
the folder(s) again. Some programs require these files after a reboot.
It is good practice to always reboot after installing any software.

If a file ends with .TMP they are OK to delete. TMP means temporary. You
can't hurt anything deleting tmp files, unless you just installed
some new program. Most well mannered programs will delete tmp files
when you reboot. If you're using ZoneAlarm, ZA has at least one tmp file
that is almost
always in use.
Click to expand...
No firewall active other than the Windows firewall.
Click to expand...
 
Back
Top