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My Temporary Internet Files show a lock and cannot be deleted, I'm thinking this is a problem. There are 23 files; eg. 8XE96F4H, ALFCPSNU, DUXEMEN9 etc. I have Googled some of them and they show a website in Japan but some show nothing. Norton AV doesn't catch(see) them, neither does Spybot. So far I don't see them causing problems but I don't like this at all. First, let me put your mind at ease. There's no problem. They're definitely oddly named directories, but it's just Internet Explorer being ... well, being Internet Explorer. Here's what's going on ... As you browse the internet, IE "caches", or keeps local copies of, lots of the files that are downloaded as part of your surfing. For example the images that might be part of a web page are downloaded and placed in the cache. Why? So that when you return to that page, or another page that references the same image, IE doesn't have to download it again. And again. And again. The result is that your browsing experience is much faster. "Rather than throw all the files into a single
directory, IE creates several subdirectories..."
Did I mention that there could be a lot of files? Thousands of files. Thousands and thousands of files. Various hard disk file systems (FAT, FAT32, NTFS, and perhaps others we haven't even thought of yet) have different limits and performance characteristics when you place a large number of files in a single directory. But they all do relatively well with lower numbers of files. Rather than throw all the files into a single directory, IE creates several subdirectories, and spreads the files among them. So why the odd names? To be brutally honest, I'm not sure. There may be some very geeky reason that it makes the software elegant or more effective, I suppose. Personally, I'd have chosen more normal names, in case real people end up actually seeing them and getting confused or concerned. And of course your question is not uncommon, and shows that's exactly what happens. And there's the key; these directories were actually never meant to be viewed directly by real people. The intent is that Internet Explorer would manage them. In fact, Windows Explorer even goes the extra mile to hide those directories by making it look like all the files in them are actually directly in Temporary Internet Files. If you view the "Temporary Internet Files" directory in Windows Explorer, you'll see that it contains lots of files. (You may have to configure Windows Explorer to "Show hidden files and folders" - I touch on that in Part 2 of How should I set up my computer?) However, if you open up a Windows Command Prompt, and navigate to that same directory, you'll see the list of subdirectories with funny names and a file "index.dat", which is what IE uses to keep track of what files are where in the subdirectory. The actual files you saw listed in Windows Explorer are actually distributed within the subdirectories here. I wouldn't expect Norton or Spybot to say anything because everything is as expected. Confusing, perhaps, but as expected. Related:
Article 9978 | Posted March 4, 2006 |
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Leo - I searched my "Temporary Internet Files" directory in Windows Explorer and found over 1000. A lot of these had 20 or more individual folders containing over 500 files each and used up over 20MB of disk space each. Some of the files within the folders showed a creation date in 2004 (for example) and an expiration date into the year 2010. That sounds kinda permanent to me. How does Windows or IE determine that a file or folder should be temporary vs. permanent? If it's labeled temporary, why would it last so many years? Are all temporary files or folders safe to delete? If some temporary files or folders are crucial to proper operation of one's system, (ie: hidden from view) why aren't they permanent? I'm a little confused on this. Thanks for clarifying.
Posted by: Leroy at March 5, 2006 02:53 PMWell, there's temporary, and then there's temporary.
:-)
Anyway, you can certainly delete the contents of your Temporary Internet Files directory tree. IE will start rebuilding it the next time you run it. It's pretty much equivalant to flushing your cache and deleting your cookies from within IE. Your browsing experience will slow down a little on some sites as it rebuilds the cache, and any logins and the like that you have saved in cookies will simply need to be reentered.
But there's nothing crucial to operation in Temporary Internet Files.
Posted by: Walt at March 5, 2006 04:36 PMHow do I get into these hidden files to see the websites my girlfriend has viewed. I think she is cheating and know she deletes the cookies.
Posted by: Ken at March 28, 2006 02:05 PMI have been using the Internet Options dialog to eliminate Temporary Internet Files, regularly, at the end of each computing session, and it has appeared to work fine...until, at the beginning of the next session--before connecting to the Internet--I run a SpySweeper scan and note that it spends an awful lot of time scanning files which have somehow mysteriously 'reappeared' (?) in the Temporary Internet Files directories. What's going on? I thought they were all cleared out! Can you explain this?
Posted by: Jon Cobin at September 30, 2006 04:11 PMI am a mother with 4 children. My husband has recently been gone non-stop. I think he is having an affair. He doesn't let me work so I don't have the money to hire a private detective. He is constantly on his email when he is home. When I check them, he has deleted his emails. Is there any way to see those emails through the temporary internet files? I have tried to open them, but they just won't open.
Posted by: Mindy at February 17, 2007 07:59 AMTo delete those pesky "in use so cannot be deleted" files or other locked files you can use "unlocker". It's a great program and works flawlessly. You can find it here: http://ccollomb.free.fr/unlocker/
Posted by: David at June 9, 2007 02:15 PMHi, I was wondering why the size of my temporary Internet Files are getting bigger even if I'm not surfing?
Posted by: Millicent Rhoades at August 7, 2007 02:06 PMHi leo i'm wondering is it possible to put files into the temporary files directory....as i copied the files downloaded for a game i play & i deleted the Temp's & want to paste them back in but i wont let me
Posted by: aaron at February 1, 2008 04:35 PM