Deleting Temporary Files Painlessly
This article is not intended to be a DOS lesson or tutorial, but to show you
a simple and painless way that I help keep my drive free from useless file
clutter. There are other command variations to do this, however, this is
what I have found to work best for me. This article assumes that you already
have a basic knowledge of DOS commands, the autoexec.bat file and the
consequences of typos and the incorrect use of wildcards.
The temporary internet files folder, history folder and cookies folder
contain a file called index.dat. Windows uses index.dat to keep a coded
record of the files in the folder where it resides. Windows will NOT let you
delete index.dat! If you delete the files in these folders through any
Windows method, you are still left with the index.dat containing all the
info you thought you just deleted. So much for deleting your tracks! This
file can become completely bloated, not to mention corrupted, since it won't
match the actual files in the folder. The index.dat file can only be deleted
in DOS and are included in your cleanup using the DELTREE command.
All modifications are done in the autoexec.bat file. This is my preference
so that these files are deleted each time I boot. The autoexec.bat file is
not required after Windows 3.1. If you do not have this file in the root
directory of your C:\ drive, just create it in Notepad (make sure that the
"Word Wrap" option is OFF) and save as autoexec.bat. The file could actually
be saved as "whatever_you_want_to_name.bat" file, but would have to be ran
manually and in DOS mode. (Not a DOS window)
If I ever use Netscape, (far and few between) I have the cache files
directed to my C:\Windows\Temporary Internet Files location rather than
adding yet another directory to clean. If you use a Netscape browser, your
cache files may be in the default location at: C:\Program
Files\Netscape\users\username\cache (or whatever drive Netscape is
installed) Just add another DELTREE line with the path where they can be
found.
Here is a copy of my autoexec.bat file with explanation of the commands
below. The grayed out lines are what existed before I added the cleanup
routine. (Yes, I know neither is necessary, but I have my own reasons) Make
sure you change any paths where your files may be kept in different folders
than mine and delete out any lines of folders you decide not to have cleaned
up.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
autoexec.bat File
@ECHO OFF
rem - By Windows Setup - c:\windows\command\mscdex.exe /D:aspicd0 /M:12 /L:I
PATH=%PATH%;
if exist c:\windows\smartdrv.exe c:\windows\smartdrv.exe 2048 16
DELTREE /y c:\windows\history\*.* > NUL
DELTREE /y c:\windows\tempor~1\*.* > NUL
DELTREE /y c:\windows\temp\*.* > NUL
DELTREE /y c:\windows\cookies\*.* > NUL
DELTREE /y c:\windows\applic~1\micros~1\office\recent\*.* > NUL
DELTREE /y c:\windows\ShellIconCache
if exist del c:\windows\ff*.tmp
if exist del c:\windows\system\advert.dll
_________________________________________________________________
Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.com
PCSOFT maintains many useful files for download
visit our download web page at:
http://freepctech.com/downloads.shtml
|
