[thelist] C:\Windows\temp: Safe to trash?

[Warden, Matt]

> C:\Windows\temp: Safe to trash?
>
> I'm not terribly familiar with the inner workings of PC's. Can I
> assume that trashing anything in C:\Windows\temp is safe to
> permanently delete?

Yeah, pretty much. It'll bitch at you if a currently-running program has
something stored in that directory -- in fact, it won't let you delete it.

> setup.exe

definitely a dumpster item.

> Office 2k setup(0001).txt

throw it in the can.

> I want to free up the disk space, but don't know if I'll savage my
> system by doing so. I know how it works on a Mac, but is there a rule
> of thumb as to how I can acertain what is trashable on a PC?

Yes, you can delete anything in C:\WINDOWS ;-)

Seriously, here's the method:

a. navigate to C:\WINDOWS\TEMP
b. move focus to the contents pane (right pane)
c. press Ctrl+A
d. press Del
e. click OK
f. click OK to any messages like "the file is read-only or write-protected
blah blah..."
g. leave the "read-only" files alone
h. grab a beer



--
mattwarden
mattwarden.com