I have a new P 2.4 G computer, active 3 month, with 120 g H.D
I found out that I havw 17 g in the following location:
c/document and settings/my name/local settings/temp
There are about 50 different partitions in it, such as:
....tmp
....dir
...asf
....hp psc900
and some only with long numbers
I believe that most of it was created by NERO for burning cd's and dvd
and I want to delete them all.
Is it safe?

Hello dealeng,

The short answer is: Yes... go ahead and delete everything in the
directory, but not the directory itself.

Longer Answer: Anything that is in a /temp or /temporary directory is
*usually* safe to delete (unless you put something there yourself).

Any *.tmp files are safe to delete according to Microsoft:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;179798
(although the article applies to Windows 95 there are similar articles
for other Microsoft operating systems). asf files are streaming video
files so they are also safe to delete. HP PSC900 are probably drivers
downloaded from the internet and also safe to delete.

If you want to keep your hard drive nice and clean, Windows XP comes
with an excellent disk cleanup tool. This might also work with some
other versions of windows.
To start this tool: "Click Start, and then click Run. In the Open box,
type cleanmgr, and then click OK."
Entire article is here:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;310312

May I also suggest that you explore this link:
http://download.com.com/3120-20-0.html?qt=disk+cleanup&tg=dl-2001 You
will find various programs that can detect and safely remove unused
and files you do not need to free up disk space. Dont forget however,
that if you download many shareware programs and do not use them... it
is taking up space as well.

If you need any clarifications regarding this answer please let me
know and I will do my best to further assist you.

tisme-ga


Search Strategy:

-Used http://support.microsoft.com
-Also did a search on http://www.downloads.com for "disk cleanup". See
URL provided in answer.

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Request for Answer Clarification by dealeng-ga on 16 Feb 2003 13:08 PST

Hi Tisme and thanks for the quick answer.
Just a small part of this temp directory is *.tmp files so I did not
know if it is safe to clean. Since it is a very large directory of 17
giga, it will not exist in the recyle bin ...
So is it safe to delete the content of all "temp" directory and not
only TMP files? Even if some sub directories content DLL files?
I have used the Disk Cleanup by:
Start/programs/accessories/system tools but it detected only 15
mega...
I also tried some software for cleanup but they all found *.tmp, *.chk
and Internet temperary files. Not temp directory at all.
Do you know a software which can detect it and which is recommended?

---

Clarification of Answer by tisme-ga on 16 Feb 2003 13:18 PST

Hi dealeng,

I still say it is safe to delete everything in this directory. 

If you want to be absolutely sure, you could open up Nero and:

A) Click on File --> Preferences --> Cache 
   What directory is listed? If it is the directory you are asking
about, then you know it is safe. Chances are this is the directory
Nero would use, but if not:
B) Click on Start --> Settings --> Control Panel --> System -->
Advanced --> Environment Variables. My exact temporary directory by
default is C:\Documents and Settings\My Name\Local Settings\Temp\
(like yours) which further assures me that it will be safe for you to
delete the contents of the folder.

Source of this information: 
http://www.nero.com/en/content/helptool/197.htm
http://www.nero.com/en/content/helptool/462.htm#o507

Feel free to let me know if you need further clarification.

tisme-ga


Search Strategy used:

nero temporary files
://www.google.com/search?q=nero+temporary+files

Thanks a lot.