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 ...
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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.
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:
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Ask Leo! - How do I delete items from Internet Explorer's auto-complete list?
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Ask Leo! - How do I delete history items from my Google tool bar?
Article C2581 - March 4, 2006
Well, 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 4:36 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 2:05 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 4:11 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 7:59 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 2:15 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 2:06 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 4:35 PMtemporary internet files properties: contains 1450 files and 35 folders Read Only box is checked and so is Hidden except I cannot uncheck the hidden. I have check show hidden files and folders but files i.e. jpegs are not showing up there using Vista, as they did using XP. Any ideas?
Posted by: Dion at January 12, 2009 3:41 AMDear mother of 4. Unless he accesses his mail through the web, none of his emails would be stored in the IE temp file. Since you weer able to see that he deletes his emails it seems he uses an email program. Some email programs save a backup file and others don't actually delete the emails until they are compressed. So my answer to you is a definite I don't know. My advice is to go to the local computer store and ask the guy there. Usually they are helpful and can ask you the right questions to find out how to solve your problem.
Posted by: Mark at April 16, 2009 4:49 AMWhat is this temp file (JETA459.tmp) and can I delete it? It says it won't delete because a program is using it but I have no programs running.
10-Sep-2009
Posted by: JETA459.tmp at September 8, 2009 6:08 AM