Problem emptying %TEMP% folder

[GizmoFreak]

I'm trying to empty out my %TEMP% folder. Everything deletes fine except one folder. Called Temporary Internet Files. Inside that folder is a folder called Content.IE5. Inside that is a bunch of folders each with numerous files inside. When I try to delete the Temporary Internet Files folder, it's saying a file called TODAY_~1.HTM cannot be found and thus not deleted. Does anyone know what's going on? How can I delete this? Should I be deleting this?

Thanks


EDIT: this is win 2k

 

[DeeperWell]

Normally you want to delete IE Temporary Files from within IE itself. Click the Tools menu and choose Internet Options. The General tab will have a button for deleting these files.

 

[Lord Evermore]

Sometimes websites create files with names that are not valid in the file system, but they are created in such a way that they work until you try to access them manually.

Try going into Internet Explorer's settings and changing the location of the temporary files folder, then change it back later. This might delete them all.

You can also navigate to that directory through a command prompt, and use dir/a to see all the files. If one of them has a really long name, that is probably what's causing the issue. If you rename the temporary internet files to something short, like a single letter, you might be able to delete it, then change the temporary internet files name back.

 

[MetroRider]

Originally posted by: GizmoFreak
How can I delete this? Should I be deleting this?

no, you really shouldn't be trying to delete those directories manually. it is best to use the 'Delete Files' option in the Internet properties of IE when it comes to 'Temporary Internet Files'.

the %TEMP%\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5 is a very key and critical part to where IE stores its temp files during your internet browsing cache.

hope this helps...

 

[Lord Evermore]

Actually, because of problems like the extremely long file names, IE won't always manage to clear the cache entirely, so there end up being files that never get deleted. If it hits the undeleteable file, it simply stops and doesn't try to delete any further. So clearing the cache, then looking at the directory to see if there are files remaining is a good idea.

 

[MetroRider]

ok, that's a fair point you make Lord Evermore. then, one easy way to do it would be to go to a command prompt, and change to %TEMP%\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5 directory and type:

del *.* /S /Q

that way, it would delete all the files, yet keep the directory structure inside intact.

the /S switch deletes the files from the all the subdirectories while
the /Q switch will quietely deletes the files, without prompting during each subdirectory delete.