A computer and I are just about like a monkey mating a football...it just aint happenin'.
This is probably a very dumb question, but...
We just got a new virus scan. As it runs, I've noticed what seem to be a LOT of "Temporary Internet Files" in what it is scanning (over two years worth).
Is this stuff just old deleted emails or what?
Should I delete it all, and if so, how? TIA
Mike

 

Hi OlgGuy,

Alot of what you see in there are old pages you've looked at.
I routinely delete my temp files every week and have never had a problem from doing so. There are, as with everything else, performance issues affecting the 'cleanup' but unless you want to know what they are, I will pass on that.

Click on the tool bar icon named Tools, then click Internet Options and you will see this pop down menu. Look at the middle of the menu where it says 'temp internet files' and it will allow you to view or mass delete them.




[Edited by Mark Chapman on 01-13-01 at 11:50]

 

Old Guy,

I mostly agree with Mark, you don't need them. However, some of the temp files may be "Cookies" like the one that remembers you are Old Guy, when you log on to this site. If you delete them, you will have to enter your user name and password the first time you go back to that site. After that, the info will be stored again as a Cookie.

 

Hi all,

Yes, your computer has 'cookie files' that "remember" who you are for many visited sites, including DIY. But don't be alarmed. When you click Delete Files on the popdown menu shown above in previous post, your cookies will not get deleted. This is a good thing. So go ahead with your cleanup and click delete.

This is a confusing point because if you click 'settings' and 'view', Windows will show you a long list of cookies , which one might assume, will be deleted, but they are not deleted. (strange huh )I think it's a built in safety factor since most users and cookie baking sites don't want cookies eaten (deleted).

What does all this mean then. It means that you will still have a thousand cookie files on your pc. The good news is that they are tiny itty bitty files and generally not as much a concern as the "viewed pages" road hog files.

In fact, in you weren't running a scan, I doubt that you would have cared much about any of this. Windows 98 is better than ever at managing 'temp files'. Just because you have alot of them, doesn't mean you need a tune up.

 

Thanks!
I zapped the whole nine yards. (More than two years worth of who knows what.) LOL.
Mike

 

Olg Guy... If you are running Windoze 98 you have a program from <Start> <Programs> <Accessories> <System Tools> <Disk Clean Up> This tool is very effective in keeping your caches clean. Do it about once a week if your a real internet rat or once every 2 or 3 weeks if your not. Problem with the stored internet files in <Temporary Internet Files> is that file gets HUGE, I have seen mine in a weeks time climb to 70, 80 megs. When the temp internet files get full it drasticaly reduces Internet Explorers functionality. I also <Restart in MSDOS mode> and delete the win386.swp <deltree c:\windows\win386.swp> files once a month or so. This file will be re-created when Win 98 boots back up. I notice marked speed increases in doing this too.

 

What I want to know is how did Mark Chapman insert that dialog window into his reply. That's cool!

-Buck

 

Thanks, bigmike.
But you lost me on that one. LOL
I did the Disk Cleanup, but the ms.dos, win.386, etc. I couldn't do right. duh!

 

To learn more bout the how-to on pic's, please read

http://forum.doityourself.com/showth...threadid=46327

 

Zapping the temporary internet files if also a way to erase your tracks. For example if you are browsing some questionable sites (porn or whatever) and you don't want other members in the family know were you have been , then you most likely want to erase your tracks. Delete all temporary internet files, delete all cookies, and delete the history file. If you are using netscape you have to clear the location bar.

You might be able to take out the feature about saving cookies, but you shouldn't do that, as some web pages untilize them and won't work properly without the feature.

things like real audio remembers the last places you played in real player, but in the prefs you can set it to remember one only, which means bring up something else in real player and the the forbidden place will be gone.

You can also use these temp. files and cookies, history file to help track your your children have been (hoping they don't know how to cover their tracks). Also use the windows search feature to search for files using a wildcard type search
*.jpg *.avi , *.ram *.mpg *.mpeg
which are the most common on the internet, there is likely a couple others also.

 

Thanks, Mark and dkerr!
I'm just trying to speed up this computer. (I know NOTHINK, about porn (except from personal experience) and you're too young to hear about it.
This is a family channel. LOL.

 

Hi Old Guy. Another way to speed up your computer is to run Disc Defragmenter. If you have Win 98 you simply go to Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools and to Disc Defragmenter. This is a great tool that can be ran often. As mentioned above, deleting old internet files is a plus for speeding everything up too. Hope this helps...Loomisman

 

Thanks, Loomisman.
I'm supposed to have that disc defragmenter on auto-pilot in some kind of regularly scheduled maintenance thing.