Is it safe to remove all *.tmp files?

[yalamo]

I notice that on Disk Cleanup, after I have done the cleanup, it says I have 0 temporary files. However, searching for *.tmp files on the disk, I see I have about 150 MB in a folder called "C:\Documents and Settings\user\Local Setting\Temp".

There are also *.tmp files in the Windows folder, plus other scattered throughout the hard disk, as well as folders with ".tmp" tacked on to their names (but containing 0 KB) in a \Symantec Shared\Virus Defs folder.

Do I need all these? Is it safe to remove them?

 

[gpalmer711]

Generally it is fine to delete all files that have a *.tmp file extension. However this is not always the case as it file may be in use by another piece of software and deleting it could cause data loss.

If you want to delete these tmp files the follow the procedure below.

1) Restart your machine

2) Close any software that automatically starts at Windows Start-Up

3) Now delete your temp files.

For an easy way of doing this you can click on Start > Then Run > Type Cmd > Click OK

Type cd\ > Press return

Type del *.tmp /s /f /q

Repeat the process for all harddrives you have.

Greg Palmer

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Any feed back is appreciated.

 

[imsohood8424]

I did this and the cmd command listed norton anitvirus virusdef.tmp, it's ok to delete these right and I deleted a bunch of stuff on AIM.

 

[gpalmer711]

Yeah it's ok to delete them all so long as you do not have the software open at the time. Even then 9.9 times out of 10 it's still ok to delete the tmp files.

Greg Palmer

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Any feed back is appreciated.

 

[linney]

I remember a good rule from years ago that said don't delete any temp file that is less than 5 days old.

Disk Cleanup wont delete files in the C:\Documents and Settings\UserNamexxxx\Local Settings\Temp folder, these have to be deleted manually. I usually clear these out every couple of days and have never had any problems as a result.

If a temp file is in use Windows wont let you Delete it.

 

[yalamo]

Thanks for the help.