How do you delete internet temp files that will NOT delete?

This person is running Internet Exp with windows 98 (I think) ??

I assume that you're referring to files that remain in the C:\Windows\Temporary Internet Files folder, after running the "Delete Files" button in Internet Explorer/Tools/Internet Options/General tab.

Whew...what a sentence!

I suggest you run the "Delete Files" folder from the Internet Options in the Control Panel. It seems to be a little bit better from there for some reason. Also, you can run a "batch" file that will clean out the .tmp files left behind by the Internet Options "Delete Files" button.

Windows 95/98 Batch files

There is a rather lengthly explanation of how these work, but unless the system is customized, the files should work fine just as they are. I've run these files on dozens of different Win 95/98 systems with almost no problems. Once in a great while, there is a minor tweak required, but in no case does it hurt anything if it doesn't run correctly. It will simply report "Can't find...".

You can use the "Novice" version which is the easiest, yet still quite effective. The best results will be the "Clean9X" bach file. You can see a brief explanation about clean9x by clicking the following link.

Click here to read about using the Clean9X batch file.

Dwight

Howdy Tree:

I just delete them through Windows Explorer..

BTW, "index.dat" won't delete unless you do it through DOS..

Murray

I wanted to mention, Tree's original question was "How do you delete internet temp files that will NOT delete?". Usually if a file or folder will not delete, it is because the file or folder is "open" somewhere. Often, a simple solution is to run the computer in Safe Mode and then remove it.

Starting in Safe Mode: Restart the computer, and during the start up do one of the following:
After the Power On Self Test (P.O.S.T) beep repeatedly press the F8 key.
or
After seeing the first screen, press and hold the Ctrl key.
When you see the Windows Start Menu, use your arrow keys to scroll to the "Safe Mode" option. When Safe Mode is selected, press the Enter key.

You will see an advisory dialog box explaining what Safe Mode is. Click on the OK button to finish the Safe Mode boot-up. When you're running in Safe Mode, open Internet Explorer and then Tools/Internet Options and click the "Delete Files" button.

While in Safe Mode, you may wish to go ahead and run the Scan Disk and Disk Defragmenter utilities.

Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools/Scan Disk
Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools/Disk Defragmenter

To return to Normal Mode, just restart the computer.

Note: Internet Explorer 6 will automatically delete temporary files, but only if you tell it to:

Start the browser, select Tools / Internet Options.

Go to the Advanced tab.

Go to the Security area (near the bottom) and check the box to Empty Temporary Internet Files folder when the browser is closed.


Murray S, in my Temporary Internet Files folder, there are a number of files and folders that I don't want to delete. They include cookies, useful javascript files and desktop.ini files. I've always been leery of just deleting the folder and possibly deleting something that I want.

I use a cable modem, so with the fast downloads, I don't really need to keep a large cache of Temporary Internet Files. I've set the *cache value to 3 MB. But when I was using a slower dial-up modem, I kept the cache quite large (300 MB) to prevent having to download so much when revisiting pages.

In either event, I found it time consuming to sort through the folders to determine what I wanted to keep and what I wanted to remove. That is what I've found I like about using the Fred Langa batch files. They remove only files that I know I want removed quickly and without any worries about not losing something I want to keep. If I do want to sort through the remaining items, there are fewer items to sift through.

This is what my Temporary Internet Files folder looks like now.

C:\WINDOWS\Temporary Internet Files
C:\WINDOWS\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5
C:\WINDOWS\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\0L2R09YF
C:\WINDOWS\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\4HOJQXEX
C:\WINDOWS\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\89ABCDEF
C:\WINDOWS\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\MFQPE16G

I'm using Internet Explorer 6.0, so I don't know why it still shows "IE5".

*Set cache value

Internet Explorer/Tools/Internet Options/General tab/Settings button
Drag the "Amount of disk space to use" slider bar to the value you wish to set. Then click "OK".

Note: You can also access this from the Control Panel.
Start/Settings/Control Panel
or
Start/Control Panel

I hope something in this will be helpful!

Dwight

Dwight:

Your system works well if you want to keep something.. However, I am one of those that is of the opinion that a "temp internet file" is exactly that - temporary..

To each his own as I am sure there will be as many people wanting to keep specific files in their temp folder as there are that really don't care if they dump everything !!

Murray

Murray S, I guess that is why these machines are called "personal computers", huh? Have a great day!

Dwight

Hi again!

Yes, Dwight, they are the Internet temp files, but I deleted them by going my computer's "explore" and C and windows, etc.- same diff, no?

I do as Murray does - I delete all of my temp files.

Thanks for all of this info, now I have to sit down and read all of this and do it! THAT'S the tough part! LOL!