Totally hidden files??

I routinely empty the 'temp' and 'temporary internet files' folders in my 'user,' local settings directory. Quite by accident I right clicked and chose 'properties' after I had deleted all trash form the temp internet files folder. To my surprise, it said that there was 97MB of data in several thousand files. I checked my other two PC's and it was even worse. The only way I could get the hidden files to display so they could be deleted (yes, I do have 'show all hidden and system files enabled') was to cut and paste to the desktop. Well, this file is a necessary Windows component so I couldn't cut and paste. But when I went back to the folder, suddenly there they were. Files dating back a few years. Has anyone heard of this situation, and if so, is there a way to force these files to be displayed at all times?

System is XP Pro w/SP2

 

I can't easily explain all the little ins and outs of the Windows OS but if you want to dump the TIF's completely, it is necessary to dump the associated index.dat file as well. That can be done but it take some hot licks that aren't easily done. I prefer to use a 3rd party helper that make it a cake walk.

Get CrapCleaner and use it for the job. It works great! Set it to delete the TIF's and the index.dat file only. Change any other setting to disable them by removing any check marks from their box. You can review them later to see if you want to use the other features. Stick with the basics for starters.

Be aware that a reboot is necessary after letting the program clean the files.

 

Hi Christer!

You do the same... Try it, you'll like it.

 

Thanks

Surferdude2 and Christer,
Thanks for the quick response. Although I had no tif files at all in the temp internet files, I did have thousands of others, but I could not delets index.dat file. Both your answers worked. I tried each one on a different PC and presto - all gone!!
Thanks again!
mcintire2

 

That's great. The TIF's folder is a strange animal for sure. I can perform a search in it if I begin the search from another folder that it resides in as a sub. If I attempt a direct search, there is no search feature listed on the context menu.

Then the search always shows the index.dat file although looking directly in the folder, it's nowhere to be seen. Have view settings enabled wide open, of course.

Very strange animal! That's why I always suggest good old CrapCleaner.

One point though, you must have the TIF folder located in the original position under your ID. If you have opted to move it to another location or another drive, as I do, CrapCleaner won't find it. I just move it back temporarily for the cleanup when I think it's needed (rarely) and then put it back where I like it. Long story. Sri about that.

 

Options galore so you wonder why anyone ever has trouble deleting the index.dat file.

Actually it stays intact when you move it so that method doesn't work Christer.

I keep mine on the secondary drive to prevent the activity from swamping my GoBack history cache down. It works well that way. Then I move it back and use CrapCleaner to dump it totally.

The moving trick does works for defragging your paging file though.. Move it and then defrag..then put it back.

 

FWIW, I might as well add another way of beating the TIF monster. I just boot to safemode, log on as administrator and then delete the TIF folder for my regular account from there. Does the job nicely. Index.dat and the whole works goes. If you have more than one user account, there's no need to boot to safemode. Just log on to somebody elses account and do it from there. If you duel boot between XP and win9X you can also boot to win9X and do it from there provided your XP TIFs are located on a FAT formatted partition.