Windows Temporary Files
Usually Windows Temporary files are closed and deleted by Windows when you quit a Windows session. However, if you quit Windows in an irregular way (e.g. restart your computer or turn it off during an active Windows session) Windows Temporary files (Temp files) are not closed or deleted.
 How to delete Windows Temporary Files manually
Not to be confused with Temporary Internet files, Windows Temporary files are files used to store data currently being worked on, or information to be swapped with the operating system or other programs. These may be temporary files created by Windows that remain on the hard drive due to an irregular exit from Windows session
If you use Windows XP/2000/ME/NT/98/95 Windows 95, you should follow the below instructions to delete Temporary files:
1. Open 'Start' menu, select 'Search' -> 'For Files or folders'
2. Select 'All files and folders'.
3. In 'All or part of file name' field type *.tmp to search for any files ending with tmp.
4. Click Find Now
5. Delete all temporary files that are found
 Attention : Most Temporary files begin with (~) and end with a .tmp extension. However some Temporary Files have other extesions and they wouldn't be deleted if you delete *.tmp files only. To delete all Temporary files, it is better to visit all directories there Windows Temporary Files are stored and empty these Temporary Files directories manually.
Note: You may receive error message while temporary files are being deleted. It happens as some Temporary file(s) are currently being used by program(s).
Make sure that all programs are closed before deleting Temporary Files. If you still receive error message, restart your PC.
Where Windows Temporary Files are stored
Windows Temporary Files are stored in differen locations:
- Temp sub-diectory in the directory where Windows is installed
- current user Temporary directory (a typical path is C:\Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\Temp)
How to delete Temporary files in seconds
Clear All History provides an easy way to delete Windows Temporary Files with one click. If you want, you can schedule Clear All History to automatically delete Windows Temporary Files. Shredder option makes recovering deleted information absolutely impossible.
Program Temporary Files
Program temporary files may be created by computer programs for different purposes. One of the reason why programs create temporary files is when a program doesn't have enough memory for its tasks. Another reason is to prevent data loss when a program performs certain functions.
Temporary files may appear on the hard drive in various directories and usually (but not always) begin with (~) and end with a .tmp extension. Temporary files are normally created in a designated temporary directory reserved for the creation of temporary files.
Usually programs close Temporary Files and then delete them when you exit the program. However, if you quit program in an irregular way (e.g. program crash) program Temporary files (Temp files) are not closed or deleted. Temporary files left by programs are accumulated over time and can take up a lot of disk space. So you should delete temporary file on a regular basis to protect your privacy and increase computer performance.
How long program temporary files exist
Program temporary files only exist during the current program session. When program is shut down in a normal way, all temporary files are first closed and then deleted.
Why you should delete Temporary files
Program temporary files only exist during the current program session. When program is shut down in a normal way, all temporary files are first closed and then deleted.
But from time to time it happens that programs are not closed in a normal way and program Temporary Files left by programs can take up a lot of disk space and slow down your computer.
Word Temporary Files
Why Word creates temporary files
There several reasons why Word creates temporary files:
1. If there is not enough memory available to keep the document with all its edits in memory and still perform different manipulations with documents and with other applications that are running, Word moves some part of documents code that is not being currently used from memory to temporary files on disk. This movement frees more memory for different manipulation with document.
2. Another reason why Word creates Temporary Files is to protect information from being lost. At first Word saves information to a temporary file and then rename the file to the proper name that prevents losing information.
3. When Word performs copy/paste operations between documents, it may create a temporary file in the same directory as the source file.
4. When previously saved file is opened for editing, printing, or review, Word creates a temporary file with a .doc file name extension that begins with a tilde (~) followed by a dollar sign ($) followed by the remainder of the original file name. This temporary file holds the logon name of person opening the file and is known as the "owner file."
Word temporary files only exist during the current session of Word. When Word is shut down in a normal way, all created temporary files are closed and deleted.
Clean history FAQ
• How to clean Recent Documents on Vista
To clean 'Recent Items' (recent documents and files history) from Start menu
• Click 'Start' button.
• Right-click 'Recent items'.
• Click 'Clear Recent Items List'.
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