Is it safe to clear C:\Windows\Temp ?

C

Is it safe to delete the contents of C:\Windows\Temp ? it takes so much space....

R

of course. I am clearing it every now and then. Nothing will happen.

In my years of cleaning out the Temp folder, yes, it is safe to delete that stuff. But then again, I'm known to crash Windows more often than most so better look out for someone wiser than me.

Contents? I deleted the folder several times. It comes back again later.

Its safe to delete it as long as you haven't installed something in that folder

also u can clear c:\documents and setings\username\local setings\temp contents
it ll become as alrge as 5~6 GB if u dont clear them.
also in my experience, its safe to delete contents of c:\windows\temp

C

^^ ya, my folder is 5 GB!! OS bcame really slow due to the lack of space. then i had to change the location of the page file to free some space.

those are the temps used to store installation files which comes in compressed package. some installers dont clear the temporary space used, resulting in huge junk files.
good installers must clear the temps after installation is complete.

Thanks for the info dominator, mine was 67MB in size.
Deleted it.

C

i think nero uses this folder by default when copying disks.

this is just a temporary file storage folder... don't delete the folder, just delete the contents inside.

the folder gets autocreated even if deleted.
btw nero uses its own seperate cach...we can manually set its location.
and conflict with nero arises only if we delete those while burning a disc.

K

I have a related question, how do i empty up my C drive? the only thing i've installed in it is XP, but out of 10gigs only about 200 mb is free, makes my computer slower than a snake that can't wiggle right,

Buy lotsa dvds at <=8 bucks and write whatever you may need later.

Delete all games. Dont uninstall. Do the badass way

Shift+Del. Even if it doesnt free much more than uninstall, it gives you a good feeling

Delete all software you dont use. Including bloated apps like nero, adobe apps, visual studio, 3d apps etc.

While installing any soft, go to the settings and untick all you dont need. You dont really need microsoft office onenote and visio and stuff. I installed only word and powerpoint. Same with nero - who needs anything except nero burning rom and express? Same with visual studio - if you know only vc++, i dont see why you need crystal reports and mobile development stuff.

The bottom line is whatever you dont need in software, untick it while installing, dont press the next button like a maniac.

Hope it helped.

ps: last but recommended, backup settings, full format c:, reinstall. It gives me a really good feeling, that I have the entire 50 GB free

good one.....and yup, it works gr8

and lastly move those downloaded junks off the desktop and documents

and move the pagefile from C: to some other partition. And also disable hibernation if u are not gonna use it.

C

@ dheeraj- yeah im planning to format my C: ill back up all the needed things to an external HDD. then ill do a format> reinstall. its the best way to kick back some life into a sleepy windows XP. i now have 5.78 on C:

P

karmanya said:
I have a related question, how do i empty up my C drive? the only thing i've installed in it is XP, but out of 10gigs only about 200 mb is free, makes my computer slower than a snake that can't wiggle right,

Do you have My Documents in C: (default location)? With many users, this is the reason why the C: drive fills up quickly because they save just about everything in My Documents. I suggest you relocate it in another partition.

With new HDDs (for myself and for my clients), I usually create a partition for use mainly for My Documents. This way, even if the contents of C: are so screwed up that it has to be formatted and reinstalled, there's no need to back up the mixed collection of junk and important files that many people pile up in their "My Documents".

gr8 idea....this will a boon for those who reinstall each and every week.

Thanks to pimpom for that suggestion

I've got more to add to that, you can also create a partition for downloads only. Considering that most of us spend our free internet time on utorrent

we might as well have a seperate partition for that. Also, since all downloads are stored there, it'd be easy to defragment it regularly

P

Another possibility is to turn off System Restore. Most of us don't restore anyway - we just reinstall everything. I've seen huge system backup data in the System Volume Information folder in some people's computers.

For those who regularly screw up their system drive and reinstall very often, Norton Ghost or other similar backup software is invaluable. I use the DOS version of Ghost that came bundled with a motherboard.

I install the OS, drivers, apps and utilities. I set up everything ready for use exactly the way I want them - printer settings, word processor settings, download settings, file associations, internet connection, desktop shortcuts, registrations and validations, etc., etc. Then I make a Ghost image of the system partition.

It takes a lot of patience, but it's worth it. Whenever I want to reinstall everything, which is roughly once every three to five months, I just restore it from the Ghost backup and it takes less than 10 minutes.

After that, I just need to update my anti-virus and some vital utilities that have had newer versions released. Then I make a fresh Ghost image for the next time, and that takes another few minutes - say half an hour to one hour total for a process that would take several hours if done from scratch.

pimpom said:
I install the OS, drivers, apps and utilities. I set up everything ready for use exactly the way I want them - printer settings, word processor settings, download settings, file associations, internet connection, desktop shortcuts, registrations and validations, etc., etc. Then I make a Ghost image of the system partition.

It takes a lot of patience, but it's worth it. Whenever I want to reinstall everything, which is roughly once every three to five months, I just restore it from the Ghost backup and it takes less than 10 minutes.

GR88888888888888888 idea.

You can delete the contents of this temp folder. To ease things use freeware CCleaner.

while using ccleaner, do not clear the cache of firefox and opera, you will be wasting unnecessary bandwidth by doing that.
in start>run type %temp% and see for yourself what it contains. parts of all softwares you have installed. so deleting them is safe.

C

Tuneup Utilities is also a good software to speed up an aging system. Its not free, but we have

dheeraj_kumar said:
utorrent

to get it for free :-D

Use ccleaner , it is best.

WOW...
This thread has taken a great turn...
Somebody change the title.. Optimize your pc

beta testing said:
Tuneup Utilities is also a good software to speed up an aging system. Its not free, but we have

to get it for free

I'd like to mention that tuneup cleans much more than ccleaner, but that's not the right way to do it.

T

get tuneup utilities 08, the best for cleaning junk files

R

enticer86 said:
GR88888888888888888 idea.

i am using Acronis True image. It also takes just 10 minutes to have commplete system with all the settings.

You can visit following tutorial to know which files/folders are safe to delete to gain free space:

*www.thinkdigit.com/forum/showthread.php?p=382334

dheeraj_kumar said:
Buy lotsa dvds at <=8 bucks and write whatever you may need later.

But any DVD less then 8 bucks is not genuine for data storage 4 a longer period.

dheeraj_kumar said:
Delete all games.

Yup...but only unwanted...& no longer played....

dheeraj_kumar said:
Dont uninstall.

y...(shift + delete)...1st uninstall the game...& then shift+del the traces frm the installed folder such c:/programfiles...

dheeraj_kumar said:
it gives you a good feeling

Ya..absolutely....it feels nice after burning a backp DVD... :lol:

dheeraj_kumar said:
While installing any soft, go to the settings and untick all you dont need.

ya...also known as custom install....

dheeraj_kumar said:
I installed only word and powerpoint.

me2

but also access,excel...others r crap 4 me... :smile:

P

We have strayed a bit from the original topic, but since we've been talking about backups, here's another tip. If, like me, you keep changing and adding to your browser bookmarks and don't want to lose them when you reinstall, here's what you can do.

Back up the small bookmark/favorite files to another partition before you format the system partition. Then, after you've reinstalled your system partition, copy the bookmark/favorites files back to the proper directory, replacing any files of the same name there. Here are the default locations in Win XP:

Internet Explorer: C:\Documents and Settings\username\Favorites\

Opera: C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Opera\Opera\profile\opera6.adr

Firefox: C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\xxxxxxxx.default\bookmarks.html

The name of the folder given as "xxxxxxxx.default" for Firefox is an 8-character name generated at the time of installation.

C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Opera\Opera\profile\

I would copy the entire folder. Why? Wand passwords, custom buttons, toolbars, skins, speed dial.

P

^Good idea.