Norton System Works does not clean out my temporary internet files and
my computer is storing every page.
I have discovered a gigabyte I can delete from my Temp Internet Files
folder which contains a folder called Content IE5 which has 8 folders
with nonsense names like Ldq34h6v (with all my viewed sites) plus an 
Index.dat file.  Can I delete everything in this Windows Temp Internet
files folder OK? They say some are system folders so I got a bit
scared!!

Can I delete the entire contents of my Windows Temp file as well?

Are there other secret places overlooked by Norton System Works where
large useless files hide filling my hard drive?

Hello drydoc,

Thank you for your question.

The best way to clear your temporary internet files is either through
the browser or the control panel utility. Both will lead you to the
same place. Go to Control Panel, for example, and choose Internet
Options. Then Delete Files and check offline content. This will delete
the hidden folders and their contents that you have seen.

Depending on your version of Internet Explorer, you will either have 4
or 8 of these folders. Make sure that IE is closed when you delete the
Temporary Internet Files as I explained above, then check this
Temporary Internet Files directory in Windows Explorer. If you still
have 4 folders left, then they are the remains of either a crash or
other error and they can now be safely deleted from Windows Explorer.
However, ALWAYS perform the deletion of these folder first from the
Internet Options control panel.

You will not be able to delete the index.dat file as that is in use
when your computer is running. It, surprisigly, keeps a record of the
sites you have visited and some folks feel that for proper security it
should be deleted every now and then. You can find a free utility for
this called IE Cache Cleaner and several others. Check the shareware
sites such as TUCOWS, CNET and NONAGS for free utilities that will
remove this file. It will be rebuilt when you reboot, but in a virgin
state.

Your temp files "for the most part" can be deleted. Some are required
while your machine is running and will not let you delete them. For
example, Zone Alarm Firewall has a required file in the TEMP directory
that can not be deleted. Microsoft Active Sync, which syncs your
Pocket PC  and Desktop creates three files that are required. Front
Page creates an entire directory. There are many others.If you select
ALL and then delete in ypour TEMP directory, you will be warned for
files that can not be deleted. Usually, the delete process will stop
when one file can not be deleted,so you will want to slect everything
but that one and try again. Repeat until all that is left are files
currently in use.

If you do happen to delete one of these files that is needed, the
program running will stop and usually give you warning and the file
will be created again when you reboot.

One other note: Internet Explorer likes to allow itself to use huge
ammounts of your hard drive. As you noted, you have almost a gig used
for cached pages. This is really unneccessary. I have my cache set to
40MB in the Internet Options / Settings and my machine proably runs a
tad faster not having to search the large cache to compare what is
already on the local drive. Since I have DSL, there is no loss of
speed in loading pages. If you are on dial-up, you should consider a
larger cache, but with any broadband connection 40-100MB should be
more than enough.

And there are other files on your machine that may be deleted and
missed by Norton, but in general they occupy trivial space and without
knowing exactly what you are doing, I would let them be. In the old
days, anything with a .tmp extention was good to go, but now-a-days,
too many programs such as Photoshop, firewalls and many others
actually make use of these temp files.


I trust this has been helpful. If anything requires further
explanation or research, please do post a Request for Clarification
prior to rating the answer and closing the question and I will be
pleased to assist further.

Regards,

-=clouseau=-

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Request for Answer Clarification by drydoc-ga on 16 May 2003 07:59 PDT

Thanks. It didn’t work though and looking at the drive I think I can
see why. I have two Temp Internet Files – one in C:Windows:Local
Settings/Temp Internet Files (which seem to be acted on with the above
instructions and contains only one cookie) and one in C: Windows/Temp
Internet Files which it doesn’t see (presumably from a later
downloaded version of the browser) The cache was appropriately set to
63Mb for my broadband connection but the instructions didn’t see this
when it was stashing pages ad infinitum. Any ideas how can I change
this safely?

---

Clarification of Answer by clouseau-ga on 16 May 2003 08:20 PDT

Hi drydoc,

If you have more than one set of temporary internet files, this has
occurred from a crash, update or other glitch. The way to get this
back to normal is to clean them through Delete Files in Internet
Options and see which set has been deleted. The other set can be
deleted manually from Windows Explorer. And since it is not tied to
the default location for Temporary Internet Files, it should all be
deletable, including the Index.dat for this set of folders.

What I then do is go to settings in Internet Options and reset the
desired location just to freshen things a bit. You are correct, the
C:\Windows\Temp\Temporary Internet Files is the corrupted folders. You
can re-choose the C:\Windows\Local
Settings\ location and all should be straightened out from here
forward. Be careful NOT to choose C:\Windows\Local
Settings\Temporary Internet Files or a new directory called Temporary
Internet Files will be created below the existing Temporary Internet
Files and further complicate the process of getting neat and clean.

Let me know if you need any more. This should work for you. Just needs
to be reset so that the system knows where your TIF files really
should be stored.

-=clouseau=-

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Request for Answer Clarification by drydoc-ga on 16 May 2003 17:57 PDT

Thanks. I have deleted the folder and the larger Temp files. Bizarrely
the setting already seems correct  - it's just that it wasn't
depositing the files there. I'll see what happens when I am next
on-line which as I am travelling will not be for a while from my
laptop. Oddly too, when I tried moving files  into the LocalSettings
/TIF location, they were invisible in Explorer even when I say to show
all hidden files. Anyway for a $3 Q you have been very helpful. Thanks
again Inspector.

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Clarification of Answer by clouseau-ga on 16 May 2003 19:29 PDT

You are quite welcome, drydoc. Thanks for the rating and the tip!

You may find that even though the settings are correct for the
location of the Temporary Internet Files, you sometimes have to reset
them for them to stick. Rechoose the proper directory and choose
apply. Then they will go to the proper directory.

Regards,

-=clouseau=-