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General discussion

Searching ".tmp" files to delete

Nov 25, 2004 5:20AM PST

My "search" yielded me 25 files. Two of the files read as follows..."MSI1984.TMP-2C5C5FEA.pf" and "MSIB20.TMP-OD501DBD.pf". I went to C\Windows\Prefetch where they were located. In that folder, they are the only files that do not have .EXE somewhere in it's name. While these two files don't look like they belong there (not that I would know anyway!), I hesitate deleting a file that says it is a PF file. Is it ok to delete?

There was one other file (a config. setting), which read SL61.tmp.a5087c6d, that came up while searching for .tmp files. Is it ok to delete these files that have ".tmp" IN them? (using WinXP) Sorry for any confusion with duplication!

Discussion is locked

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Re: Searching ".tmp" files to delete
Nov 25, 2004 7:13AM PST

Curcat,

Because I'm a rather lazy type I don't do the manual search for *.tmp, *.chk, *.whatever.

I just crank up a little prog called EASYCLEANER (find it with google) and let it sniff out all that crud.

So far I have not seen a problem with sending that stuff to the trash.

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Re: Searching ".tmp" files to delete
Nov 26, 2004 11:14AM PST

Curcat,

It is OK to delete all of the files with a .pf file extension that reside in the "Prefetch" folder. The Prefetch folder allows Windows to loads quicker but occasionally cleaning out the old .pf folders helps clean things up a little. If needed in the future, they will get replaced.

In regards to ALL files that have .tmp ANYWHERE in their name, it IS NOT a good idea to delete them. Basically, the idea is to remove only those files that have a .tmp file extension at the end of the name of the file. That means it's a "Temporary" file and can be safely removed.

Hope this helps.

Grif

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Griff is correct in all his explination
Nov 27, 2004 7:55PM PST

Many years ago or it seems like it I aquired a superb program called Unistaller
This progam uninstalls where others drop out and it finds Registry entries to
Apart from the above it has a fabulous Temp file finder
You can rest assured that if this program finds a Temp under any definition whatsoever it is safe to remove
Sorry I can not give you the Address but do a search and buy it you will thank me for a long time.