Windows Explorer

[Loosescrew]

Currently using Win98se, IE 5.0. I constant keeping my temporary internet file folder and cookie folder empty after every session. But, I right clicked on Temporary Internet Folder and properties, it shows some 3500+ files. I can't see them. I display all hidden files, still can't see them. What are they? How do they affect my system and should I get rid of them?
Thanks

[Idnew]

Welcome Loosescrew.

If you left click on that folder or double click on it you will see what's in there which is a lot of stuff you can just delete. You may want to check each cookie and not delete those or it doesn't really matter except you might have to re-log in somewhere, but you can safely delete everything in there.

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The only time the world beats a path to your door is when your in the bathroom

[tramtwo]

First off you can have that folder deleted automatically (except for cookies)
Open Internet Explorer and click Tools
Then Internet Options
Next Choose Advanced tab
Go down the list till you see Security
Place a check in the box that says Empty Temp Internet File Folder When Browser is Closed.

This will empty all the temp files when ever you close Internet Explorer, you need not log off the net for this to happen.

AS far as cookies go you can accept them or decline them, some sites require them (hotmail). You can delete them by...

Open MSIE clcik on Tool/Internet Options/General Tab
Click on Settings and then View Files highlight and choose delete Click OK when it ask if you are sure.

Hope this helps.
Dale

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[This message has been edited by tramtwo (edited 18 November 2000).]

[Loosescrew]

Thanks for your help. I do have IE set to empty Temp Internet files upon closing. Also, I have double clicked on those folders and nothing becomes visible. If, however, I right click and Click on find, and then Click on Find Now, they then are displayed. They appear to be cookies, picture files, and html addresses. Any harm in deleting these?

[tramtwo]

No harm. Any deleted cookies may require you to log in on some sites like Idnew said. i would be concerned with why the files do not delete when you close your browser. Do you use a free ISP w/ banners if so this may be the cause. Even if you close your browser and the free ISP is connected it will continue to write to the temp folder.

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[Idnew]

Well it could be NS. IE will delete them but NS doesn't. Or if it does I don't see how to make NS automatically delete them. Do you know a way Tram in NS?

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The only time the world beats a path to your door is when your in the bathroom

[smurfy]

Netscape does not store anything in the "Temp internet files" folder.

It's temporary store is in the "Cache" folder under c:\program files\Netscape\Users\"username"\Cache
Cookies are in a file cookies.txt under c:\program files\Netscape\Users\cookies.txt

The only harm deleting cookies and files from "Temporary internet files" will be to slow down your browsing because the browser will have to re-download the content of every page you have already visited rather than getting the images from the cache on your hard drive (much faster), and (as has already been pointed out) having to re-identify yourself and re-set preferences at sites that need those cookies.

I am more concerned why Windows Explorer was hiding thse files from you.
I have just tested and found the same behaviour on my W95a system.
Folder showed 980 "visible items" (I have not cleaned it out).
Clicking folder properties showed 3820 files, 9 folders, 17.3MB!
Most seem to be from OutlookExpress5.5 HTML messages, rather than IE brower pages.

Curiouser and curiouser!!

Still investigating.....

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Smurfy
Suggest A Fix (http://www.suggestafix.com) & CyberTech Help (http://www.cybertechhelp.com) moderator.
smurfynz@netscape.net

[chacmool]

One of the biggest files is index.dat

The way to get rid of all the "hidden" files in your « Temporary Internet Files » folder, « cookies » folder is:

1. Start\Shut Down\Restart in MS-DOS mode.

2. Use the « deltree /y cookies » command.

3. Use the « deltre /y tempor~1 » command.

4. You can also « deltree /y history » (if you so desire).

5. Reboot & you will find that those thousands of files are gone.

The index.dat files will be recreated upon reboot...just a lot smaller.

[Idnew]

Well I use both browsers and I'm wondering why they were still there when I have IE set to delete them and it didn't. Investagation underway. http://www.cybertechhelp.com/ubb/confused.gif

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The only time the world beats a path to your door is when your in the bathroom

[smurfy]

idnew, have you looked at yours?
Are they actually Outlook html message content as mine are??

[tramtwo]

http://www.romulus2.com/ubb/Forum6/HTML/000225.html is some insight.

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[smurfy]

GOT IT!!!!!

Here you go:
THE ANSWER (http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q154/8/37.asp?LN=EN-US&SD=gn&FR=0&qry=temporary%20internet%20files&rnk=25&src=DHCS_MSPSS_gn_SRCH&SPR=IE) Check out the "Cause"

This behavior occurs because the files that you see in the Temporary Internet Files folder are not actually in that folder; they reside in hidden cache folders in the Temporary Internet Files folder instead. Using the context menu (the menu that appears when you use the right mouse button to click a file) works because you are selecting the file in its location in one of the cache folders. You cannot view the hidden cache folders from within the Windows 95 graphical user interface (GUI), but you can view them from a command prompt.

STATUS
This behavior is by design.

Similar story for cookies:
here (http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q158/7/69.asp?LN=EN-US&SD=gn&FR=0&qry=temporary%20internet%20files&rnk=29&src=DHCS_MSPSS_gn_SRCH&SPR=IE)

Bottom line, if you can't SEE them from the Windows GUI, you can't rely upon the GUI to delete them either.
It is possible to add the commands given by chacmool as lines in your autoexec.bat file to automatically delete these files on every bootup rather than having to go to DOS.

[This message has been edited by smurfy (edited 21 November 2000).]

[tramtwo]

Good work.

By design... guess that means it's no of our bizness what's on our Windows PC. WTG Bill!!

[chacmool]

The files can be viewed by a combination of checking & unchecking the "Enable thumbnail view" and "Read-only" boxes in the « Attributes » area of "Properties" for the TIF folder & the sub-folders.

It's somewhat complicated, but can be done....I do it all the time.

Just use the « deltree » command & they are gone.

The index.dat is the big one. It contains tracers/pointers to web sites that are visited.

In addition, it keeps getting bigger & bigger. I deleated mine on Nov. 15 & is now 3.5MB in size.

[tramtwo]

I used file manager and was able to see some of them but not all of them. winfile from the run menu. I wonder if the spider would work on this index file like it works for the cookie index. Hum I will have to check it out.

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[This message has been edited by tramtwo (edited 22 November 2000).]

[Idnew]

I don't use Outlook. I can view all my files though. I had over 5,000 of them I didn't know was there. This is an interesting thread. Going to print it out. Good work Smurfy.

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The only time the world beats a path to your door is when your in the bathroom

[Loosescrew]

Thanks to all for your help. I added the coding to my autoexec.bat and voila, those dastardly files are not there anymore.

Has anyone figured out why they are there to start with or is it a collaboration between BG and U.S. for ease of tracking by whomever.

[Lloyd]

Great post! I tried the deltree commands part, and the deltree /y tempor~1 command seemed to run forever. I even began to think I'd done something wrong. After I rebooted, the index.dat was a whopping 32 kb! Now that I learned that......Maybe someone could check out a few messages I got when I rebooted in ms dos. I'll post that under a new topic. Thanks

[redstone]

I once made a batch file using the deltree /y temp & temp internet files & history files & cookies. It worked like a charm until I was editing it once and mistakenly deltree'd windows. Yeah, I spent a few hours reloading stuff.... ÿ

[redstone]

I just got to thinking, "Why not make another one" and I did. It looks like this:

deltree /y D:\Internet\*.*
deltree /y C:\Windows\Cookies\*.*
deltree /y C:\Windows\History\*.*
deltree /y C:\Windows\Recent\*.*
saved as clear.bat

D:\Internet is where I store my temp internet files. This file safely deletes cookies, history, recent & temp internet files. ÿ

[Junky]

Don't forget this little beauty: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/zeus/cleanup.html

It's a very nice program for controling the very things everyone is talking about here.

[redstone]

junky, Clean-up.exe is 750Kb and that batch file is less than 1Kb. You can add any directory or file to it. Besides, you have bragging rights on a batch file you made. http://www.cybertechhelp.com/ubb/smile.gif
ÿ

[MishY]

Hey,

I used to use a batch file for this which from memory went like ...

IF EXIST C:\WINDOWS\TEMP\*.* DELTREE /Y C:\WINDOWS\TEMP\*.* if exist c:\windows\cookies\*.* deltree /y c:\windows\cookies\*.* IF EXIST C:\WINDOWS\RECENT\*.* DELTREE /Y C:\WINDOWS\RECENT\*.* IF EXIST C:\WINDOWS\HISTORY\*.* DELTREE /Y C:\WINDOWS\HISTORY\*.*

MiShY

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Cyber Tech Help (http://www.cybertechhelp.com)
You Break 'em - We Fix 'em

[Junky]

I hear ya redstone, just suggesting an option to the problem. http://www.cybertechhelp.com/ubb/smile.gif I too use those handy batch files for cleaning out temp and tmp files. Works great.

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[DB8088]

Hi. Great board. I did the deltree/y tempor~1, worked great, but now I have a Temporary Folder within my Temporary Folder. Everything is being saved within this folder within a folder, not within the original folder. http://www.cybertechhelp.com/ubb/smile.gif I can't delete it, as it's a system folder. What happened?

[Junky]

Hi DB8088.

What is the name of the sub-folder? Are cookies in there, or something else?

Caution: You can exit out of windows [start, shut down, restart computer in MS DOS mode] and at the windows DOS prompt work your way to the folder with the files and delete them there. But make sure what you are deleting is not a file that a program or widows needs to run with. If it's a cookies file no problem. You can also delete the index.dat file this way too. Just know this, when you delete something at a DOS prompt, you may not be able to get it back...no Recycle Bin. http://www.cybertechhelp.com/ubb/wink.gif

Give a holler if ya need more help. http://www.cybertechhelp.com/ubb/smile.gif

[DB8088]

Hi, Junky. Thanks for responding. The name of the folder is Temporary Internet Folder. It appears to be an exact duplicate of my original Temporary Internet Folder. Everything that normaly would be saved in the first folder, is now being saved in this second folder. I'll try the DOS thing. I was working with DOS long before Windows, so I shouldn't have any problems there. Thank you. I'm still curious what happened. Any thoughts?

[Junky]

Hi,

No idea. I have had this same thing happen on my machines and just deleted 'em, and deleted the extra folder too. IE will run just fine, just like it was first installed...at least for me it did. http://www.cybertechhelp.com/ubb/smile.gif

Remember, cookies are just stored info from web sites and have nothing to do with how Windows or IE run per se, they are just that...cookies. So BLAST 'em! http://www.cybertechhelp.com/ubb/biggrin.gif Another thing though, cookies store your log-in info for UBB's and so forth, so you'll need to redo them if ya like it that way.

Have fun.

[nico]

Hi,I solved this problem in windows.
Download the program Spider from http://go.to/protect2000 and run it.
After the message "Spider has bitten"
Just reboot and that's it.
Succes Nico.

[DB8088]

Originally posted by nico:
Hi,I solved this problem in windows.
Download the program Spider from http://go.to/protect2000 and run it.
After the message "Spider has bitten"
Just reboot and that's it.
Succes Nico.



Hi, Nico. Cool program, but my problem still exists. Not that I can't get rid of those hidden URL's, but that I can't get rid of the second Temporary Internet Files folder. How does one delete a system file? I've tried everything from changing the name to changing the attribute, to DOS attempts, etc. etc. etc......Please, can anyone offer any suggestions? It's not effecting anything that I can tell, this second Temp. Int. File folder, it's just annoying.

[Junky]

Hi,

Have you checked the Properties of the temp directory to see if it is "Read Only" or something like that? Just wondering if that could be it.

As far as DOS goes, you should be able to get rid of it with the "deltree" command at the DOS prompt. Boot directly to DOS, then into Windows till you find the directory you want to blast.

[DB8088]

Originally posted by Junky:
Hi,

Have you checked the Properties of the temp directory to see if it is "Read Only" or something like that? Just wondering if that could be it.

As far as DOS goes, you should be able to get rid of it with the "deltree" command at the DOS prompt. Boot directly to DOS, then into Windows till you find the directory you want to blast.

Hi, Junky. Thanks for your suggestions. Yes, I've checked the properties, it's a system file and yes, I've tried deleting it from DOS, it will not delete. DOS responds as if the folder doesn't exist, but only if I try to delete it. I'm able to enter the second Temp folder, but when I attempt to check attrib, RD or delete any files relating to this folder, it says it's not empty or does not exist. By the way, DOS labels the folder as Tempor~2. Very odd.

[Junky]

Dang, I'm stumpped. I'll try to find out more on the issue.

[DB8088]

Originally posted by Junky:
Dang, I'm stumpped. I'll try to find out more on the issue.

Haha. Yeah, me too. I appreciate your efforts, Junky.

[Loosescrew]

I believe that if you are trying to remove these files via DOS that you must use the Deltree command. The standard ERASW or DEL or RD will not work because these files have their DOS attributes set to hidden. I have added the following line to my autoexec.bat and clears up the temporary internet files everytime I boot up.


deltree /y c:\Windows\tempor~1

Thanks to others involved in this thread I added the code and works everytime.

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If it ain't broke, don't fix it. If you can't fix it, it wasn't broke.

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[DB8088]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Loosescrew:
[B]I believe that if you are trying to remove these files via DOS that you must use the Deltree command. The standard ERASW or DEL or RD will not work because these files have their DOS attributes set to hidden. I have added the following line to my autoexec.bat and clears up the temporary internet files everytime I boot up.

I can't thank you guys enough for your efforts put into this issue. However, http://www.cybertechhelp.com/ubb/smile.gif my problem remains. I cannot delete the second Temporary Internet Folder within the first Temporary Internet Folder. Not only don't I know how it got there, but I can't get rid of it. I'll try and outline the exact issues here:

1. I originaly used the deltree \y tempor~1 to remove hidden url's. This worked beautifully, but,

2. it created a second folder within the first. Under Win '98 it appears as a dupicate tempory internet folder, same system attrib's and all. However,

3. in DOS it's labed tempor~2 and will not be deleted---period. No delete command of any sort will dispose of this folder. RD, Deltree, etc. comes back with the message that this folder either doesn't exist or is not empty, but

4. I can go into this directory and all url's and cookies are being saved here.

I am at wits end with this. The "problem" doesn't seem to effect my system in anyway, besides annoying me, there doesn't seem to be any negative aspects. I really hope that I haven't overstayed my welcome with regard to this thread. Please, don't put any more effort into it if I've gone beyond the proper etiquite of this board. Thank you.

[Junky]

Here is some info on how to turn off switches in DOS so you can delete that thing...I hope!

***********************
ATRIB SYNTAX

Displays or changes file attributes.

ATTRIB [+R | -R] [+A | -A] [+S | -S] [+H | -H] [[drive:][path]filename] [/S]

+ Sets an attribute.
- Clears an attribute.
R Read-only file attribute.
A Archive file attribute.
S System file attribute.
H Hidden file attribute.
/S Processes files in all directories in the specified path.

EXAMPLES

attrib +r autoexec.bat - This would make the autoexec.bat so it cannot be modified until the read only attribute is taken off.

attrib +h config.sys - This would make the config.sys hidden so to the average user this file would not be existent however if the attrib command it typed alone "attrib" this will show any hidden files.
***********************************
Here is the DOS site: http://www.computerhope.com http://www.computerhope.com/attribhl.htm

You need to learn and understand these commands and I think you'll be able to delete that file. But it needs to be done from a DOS prompt. If you can't do it from there, then a powerful program that will do such a task must be found either as Freeware or Shareware. You'll have to do a search on the internet.

I wish I was there to do this for you, but since I'm not, dig in and learn this stuff till you can blast that file off the face of this earth. http://www.cybertechhelp.com/ubb/smile.gif

[DB8088]

Junky, thank you again for your continuing assistance. I'm pretty familiar with DOS commands and have already tried attrib. No matter what I do, I cannot delete this file, through Windows or DOS. I'm just going to leave it be, seeing that it appears to cause no harm. Again, thank you for your time.