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Can I delete Temporary Internet Files?

Discussion in 'Internet Explorer & Microsoft Edge' started by Pat Alley, 2005/02/11.

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  1. 2005/02/11
    Pat Alley

    Pat Alley Inactive Thread Starter

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    I use Windows ME and have 2.25GB in my Windows Folder of which 1GB is in Windows\Temporary Internet Files and its subfile IE5.Content.
    Can these be deleted, or at least some of them?

    Kind regards,
    Pat
     
    Pat Alley,
    #1
  2. 2005/02/11
    Steve R Jones

    Steve R Jones SuperGeek Staff

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    In IE click on Tools->Internet Options->Delete Files
     
    Steve R Jones,
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  4. 2005/02/11
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff

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    Windows assigns way too much space for TIF's. If that space is more limited, older files will be replaced by newer files.

    Open IE and go to Tools > Internet options > General tab > TIF - settings and reduce the size to 10-100 MB. If You are on broadband, the lower figure is better.

    Christer
     
    Christer,
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  5. 2005/02/11
    Welshjim

    Welshjim Inactive

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    Pat Alley--If you had 1GB of TIF, you have not been cleaning out your cache often enough. By definition, these are Temporary files. Your PC should run better without them. I clean mine perhaps 2-3 times a week.
     
    Welshjim,
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  6. 2005/02/11
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff

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    Jim,
    a low setting on the limit for the cache size does that automatically. With a 10 MB limit, I fill it in a week or so. After that, the oldest gets pushed out by the newest.

    Christer
     
    Christer,
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  7. 2005/02/12
    Pat Alley

    Pat Alley Inactive Thread Starter

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    Thankyou Mark, Christer and Jim. Yes the setting was set at 1.2GB so I have just reduced the setting to 100MB as you suggest Christer. It has not reduced it yet but will give it a few days and if it doesn't reduce it I will do so manually. I will keep you posted on the result.

    Kind regards,
    Pat
     
    Pat Alley,
    #6
  8. 2005/02/12
    Welshjim

    Welshjim Inactive

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    Pat Alley--You are welcome. Hope you see/feel some improvement in running your PC.
     
    Welshjim,
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  9. 2005/02/12
    Steve R Jones

    Steve R Jones SuperGeek Staff

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    The temp files are a real assest if you're on dialup and visit the same sites often...
     
    Steve R Jones,
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  10. 2005/02/16
    Pat Alley

    Pat Alley Inactive Thread Starter

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    Following my last post, reducing the 'Temporary Internet files' to 100MB via Tools>Internet Options>Settings has had no affect. I am now at an impasse. 'Temporary Internet files' folder itself shows no sub-folders but pressing its + shows one sub-folder named 'Contents.IE5' which contains 112 objects all containing internet addresses but shows no subfolders. However pressing its + shows 25 sub-folders with obscure titles like 092PWB69, IJ6F6LGB etc. all containing identical files (112 objects) to 'Contents.IE5'. Trying to delete folder 'Contents.IE5' or any of its subfolders brings up a warning eg. "Contents.IE5 is a system folder. If you delete it Windows or another program may no longer work correctly ". I am loath to proceed in case I find myself in a position unable to reverse the procedure by Restoring from the Recycle Bin! Thus I end as so often with the plaintive, "Any suggestions welcome ".

    Kind regards,
    Pat
     
    Pat Alley,
    #9
  11. 2005/02/16
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff

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    Pat, first of all, I'm on WinXP-pro-SP2 so, behaviour and folder locations aren't exactly the same as in WinME but that shouldn't matter (I think) since IE6 is IE6 where ever it is. As an example, I have no + to expand the subfolders in the left hand panel but I know they are there ...... :cool: ...... Norton Ghost reveals everything!

    I used Ghost Explorer to extract the TIF folder under my account from two images. The first image was created when IE had never been online in september 2004 and the most recent was created yesterday.

    I always clean up, deleting temp files and stuff prior to creating an image and there's a difference between these two extracted TIF-folders:

    In the first extracted TIF-folder there is a desktop.ini plus a Content.IE5 folder with desktop.ini and index.dat (32 kB) plus four subfolders (almost empty, only ten files all together including desktop.ini's).

    In the second extracted TIF-folder there is a desktop.ini plus a Content.IE5 folder with desktop.ini and index.dat (1872 kB) but no subfolders.
    There is a second subfolder in that TIF-folder, Content.mso, which is empty. A check for the extension "mso" indicates that it is FrontPage related but I don't have a clue what it's there for.

    Two things to notice;

    - index.dat has grown from 32 kB to 1872 kB in 4½ months,

    - the fact that the first image contained subfolders but not the second indicates that an update to IE since my initial installation has altered the behaviour of IE when it comes to deleting TIF's from within IE.

    The Temporary Internet Files folder will not be deleted from within Windows ME since it is locked in use.

    Bring out Your Windows ME startup disk and start the computer from it. No CD-ROM support needed.

    When started at the A: prompt:

    type C: > enter

    type cd windows > enter

    type deltree tempor~1 > enter

    when asked for confirmation, type Y > enter

    Remove the floppy and hit ctrl-alt-del to restart. The folder will be recreated fresh. (I just checked on a LapTop that runs WinME.)

    Christer
     
    Last edited: 2005/02/16
    Christer,
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  12. 2005/02/16
    Welshjim

    Welshjim Inactive

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    Pat Alley--When I ran Win98 I used a program called Deltemp.exe to delete TIF, Content.IE5 and the alphanumeric files therein, as well as TEMP and Recent files. It did not remove cookies. Worked like a charm. It also shrank but did not delete the index.dat file in Content.IE5.
    The only catches were, you had to have Windows Scripting Host running and when you clicked on it, there was a period of perhaps 30-60 seconds when it seemed nothing was happening. But it eventually told you that it had cleared those files.
    See my post of a year ago (which has a link to the Deltemp.exe program).
    http://www.windowsbbs.com/showthread.php?t=28356
    I suspect it will work with WinME.
    (In Win98 there was only one TIF folder and only one Content.IE5 folder, which I think is the same for Win ME. WinXP, on the other hand has several TIF folders, but only one contains a Content.IE5 folder with all the cache's content in the alphanumeric folders.)

    However, if that Deltemp.exe does not work with ME then try here.
    http://www.compu-docs.com/Cleanup.htm

    P.S. I never quite understood the difference between TIF and the alphanumeric files. TIF has mirror images of cookies which the alphanumeric files do not. (In fact MS' instructions for deleting individual cookies are to do it from the TIF folder, not the Cookies folder.
    http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;278835 ) But I suspect most of the rest of the content of TIF is duplicated in the alphanumeric files and that they really are the cache. If you check the size of TIF and Content.IE5 you will see they are pretty much the same.
    You in fact can Delete the individual alphanumeric files and accomplish a pretty good cleaning of the "cache ". New alphanumeric files (with different numbers and letters) will be created on reboot.
    But why not be lazy and just use Deltemp.exe which also cleans up the other stuff, too?
     
    Welshjim,
    #11
  13. 2005/02/17
    Pat Alley

    Pat Alley Inactive Thread Starter

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    Thankyou Christer and Jim for your replies. Its hard to know where to begin since I cannot say I understood all you both said due to deplorable computer illiteracy. Mine not yours! Thus I was easily persuaded by Jim's last sentence, "Why not be lazy and just use Deltemp.exe" which I downloaded then ran, realising too late that Jim had mentioned something about having Windows Scripting Host running, whatever that is! So perhaps I should not have been too surprised when I got a warning headed Deltemp, "This program has performed an illegal operation and will be terminated. Quit all programs and restart computer. If program encounters problems, click Start button, select HELP, Troubleshooting and if you have trouble running MS-DOS problems - OK "; which begs more questions than answers!
    After restarting, TIF was still in its previous state so I decided to use Jim's alternative Cleanup.htm from Compu-docs.com. However before I could do that I got another warning, "A Runtime error has occurred. Do you wish to debug Line 434 Error Object expected ". I pressed No, hoping it would go away but it insisted I press Yes, which I did, thinking it would debug automatically. Instead it said, "An exception of type 'Microsoft JScript runtime error, Object expected was not handled - OK. Pressing OK it presented me with a Dialogue box headed 'Miscellaneous Files - MS Development Environment [break]' I had no idea what to do and the long list of Help files might as well have been written in Swahili so after 15 minutes I pressed OK and it said, "This command will stop the debugger ", although I had noticed no sign of activity during that time. However it disappeared so I downloaded 'Cleanup' and ran it straight from the download but little happened and then I couldn't find where the 'Cleanup' program had disappeared to. It certainly is not in the 'Program' Folder. Then I got the dreaded "Do you wish to debug Line 434 Error Object expected" warning again so I restarted the computer again in the hope it may not re-occur. It did; not long after I re-started and it has me stumped!! However the good news is that in the meantime the little elves have been and reduced the TIFs and Index.dat files to 10MB and when I click the alphanumeric files there is a long explanation that they have gone, its not specific as to where, but the impression it gives is don't worry we've hidden them from you for their own good!

    Meanwhile I do appreciate the trouble you went to on my behalf Christer and your suggestion would have been first had it not been for Jim's siren call, "Why not be lazy and just use Deltemp.exe ".

    Kind regards,
    Pat
     
    Pat Alley,
    #12
  14. 2005/02/17
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff

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    Well, it isn't always that easy does it, especially when accompanied by a few caveats.

    I hope You're up and running well!

    Christer
     
    Christer,
    #13
  15. 2005/02/18
    Pat Alley

    Pat Alley Inactive Thread Starter

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    Christer, I agree with your sentiment. However I should explain that I have now found the 'Cleanup' program together with its 'Readme text file'. In fact it was on the desktop so only a fool could miss it. I missed it! It is also on the Start Menu. I did confirm that it was 'Cleanup' which cleared up the TIF and it is there on the desktop ready at any time to be clicked to do the same job in the future. So that seems to take care of that.

    Meanwhile perhaps the warning "A Runtime error has occurred. Do you wish to debug Line 434 Error - Object expected" is nothing to do with yesterday's quest. It only seems to occur if I am on Internet and on my way to some specific website. I have now found that if I repeatedly click the No! a few times quickly it disappears and I get to the website. However it could become a permanent problem unless I sort it out. Any idea what it might mean and what one can do about it? I have searched through Microsoft and Google and found no answers?

    Kind regards,
    Pat.
     
    Pat Alley,
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  16. 2005/02/18
    Welshjim

    Welshjim Inactive

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    Pat Alley--You can get Windows Scripting Host for WinME here
    http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...F6-249C-4A72-BFCF-FC6AF26DC390&displaylang=en
    I think that should get rid of the error messages in both cases, especially DelTemp.exe.
    There are some people who do not like having WSH run all the time. If you feel that way, you can also install the program NoScript.exe which will allow you to toggle it on and off only when you want to use it.
    http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/win.script.hosting.html
     
    Welshjim,
    #15
  17. 2005/02/20
    Pat Alley

    Pat Alley Inactive Thread Starter

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    I am most obliged for the information Jim. DelTemp was removed previously after the original warning. Compu-Cleanup is in place and seems to work fine. I had no idea what WSH was but through the links you gave I am now a little wiser. However since I had no idea it was there or how to use it I have followed your last link and its instructions on deleting Windows\wscript.exe after copying it to a floppy in the unlikely event I should ever need it in the future. Meanwhile I am still getting the "Runtime error" warning!

    Kind regards
    Pat
     
    Pat Alley,
    #16
  18. 2005/02/20
    Welshjim

    Welshjim Inactive

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    Welshjim,
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  19. 2005/02/24
    Pat Alley

    Pat Alley Inactive Thread Starter

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    Thankyou Jim and I take my hat off to you for those links which cured my "Runtime error" warnings problem. The fix was to Select Tools>Internet Options>Select Advanced tab then tick "Disable Script debugging" under the heading 'Browsing'.
    Kind regards,
    Pat
     
    Pat Alley,
    #18
  20. 2005/02/24
    Welshjim

    Welshjim Inactive

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    Pat Alley--thanks for posting. Always good to hear that a suggestion helped.
     
    Welshjim,
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  21. 2005/03/10
    RickyD2

    RickyD2 Inactive

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    With reference to clearing cache - I use Zone Alarm Pro and it can be set to automatically clear cache for you on the time basis you set. I have mine set to 2 days. Seems to help a lot.

    FWIW
     
    RickyD2,
    #20
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