Still lots of temp files on disk after running CCleaner

[harryz]

Aloha,

 

I'm running CCleaner V2.29.1111 on XP SP3 + all latest updates. Running with default CCleaner settings and just want to delete temp files. CCleaner removes some of the temporary files, but not all. I'm still seeing lots of temp files in:

 

c:\windows\temp

c:\documents and settings\<user name>\Local Settings\Temp

c:\documents and settings\<user name>\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files

 

I've seen this on two different machines. Does CCleaner generate a log file I can review to see if there are any errors?

 

I've looked at the advanced settings, but don't see any that might fix this behaviour.

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Harry Z.

[ident]

is only delete temp files older then 24 hours checked?

[harryz]

Yes, the "only delete files in Windows temp folders older than 24 hours" box is checked.

 

I am uploading 'dir' command output of these directories so that you can see the files that did not get deleted.

 

Mahalo for your assistance!

 

Harry Z

c_windows_temp.dirlist.txt

c_documents_and_settings_harry_local_settings_temporary_internet_files.dirlist.txt

c_documents_and_settings_harry_local_settings_temp.dirlist.txt

[ident]

And are these files less then 24 hours old? If so then un check it (sorry not got time to click the files. early start)

[harryz]

The files that were not deleted are more than 24 hours old

[JDPower]

You said the "only delete files in Windows temp folders older than 24 hours box is checked". Untick it, then run CCleaner.

[Alan_B]

Yes, the "only delete files in Windows temp folders older than 24 hours" box is checked.

 

I am uploading 'dir' command output of these directories so that you can see the files that did not get deleted.

 

Mahalo for your assistance!

 

Harry Z

 

The important thing is not the age of the file, but the age.

There are 3 ages, created, modified, and accessed.

 

I believe the accessed date is relevant here,

and you will not see that unless you append /T:A

 

See the difference below.

C:\Documents and Settings\Dad>DIR "START MENU/PROGRAMS\TR*"

Volume in drive C is ACER

Volume Serial Number is EC16-8702

 

Directory of C:\Documents and Settings\Dad\START MENU\PROGRAMS

 

06/06/2009 18:09 776 Trillian.lnk

1 File(s) 776 bytes

0 Dir(s) 8,924,225,536 bytes free

 

C:\Documents and Settings\Dad>DIR "START MENU/PROGRAMS\TR*" /T:A

Volume in drive C is ACER

Volume Serial Number is EC16-8702

 

Directory of C:\Documents and Settings\Dad\START MENU\PROGRAMS

 

03/03/2010 11:00 776 Trillian.lnk

1 File(s) 776 bytes

0 Dir(s) 8,924,225,536 bytes free

 

Alan

[harryz]

...

There are 3 ages, created, modified, and accessed.

 

I believe the accessed date is relevant here,

...

 

Aloha Alan.

 

You have identified the root cause of my problem. The last accessed date for all the files that did not get deleted was within 24 hours of when I ran CCleaner. Thank you so much!

 

Now that I know this, I think the advanced option description "Only delete files in Windows Temp folders older than 24 hours" is incorrect. May I suggest that this be changed to "Only delete files in Windows Temp folders that have not been accessed in the last 24 hours". I realize that some folks may not understand the difference between created / updated / accessed time, but this wording is more accurate.

 

I now have the mystery of what program accessed these files in the 24 hours previous to running CCleaner. It does not appear to be my anti-virus, and I've disabled the Indexing Service. Maybe it was the Google Desktop. If anyone has any suggestions on what program(s) would be accessing some / all the files in the temp directories, I would appreciate it.

 

Mahalo nui loa (Thank you very much) for your assistance.

 

Harry Z

[Alan_B]

Aloha Alan.

 

You have identified the root cause of my problem. The last accessed date for all the files that did not get deleted was within 24 hours of when I ran CCleaner. Thank you so much!

 

Now that I know this, I think the advanced option description "Only delete files in Windows Temp folders older than 24 hours" is incorrect. May I suggest that this be changed to "Only delete files in Windows Temp folders that have not been accessed in the last 24 hours". I realize that some folks may not understand the difference between created / updated / accessed time, but this wording is more accurate.

 

I now have the mystery of what program accessed these files in the 24 hours previous to running CCleaner. It does not appear to be my anti-virus, and I've disabled the Indexing Service. Maybe it was the Google Desktop. If anyone has any suggestions on what program(s) would be accessing some / all the files in the temp directories, I would appreciate it.

 

Mahalo nui loa (Thank you very much) for your assistance.

 

Harry Z

 

Perhaps YOU did it ! ! !

The DOS command DIR simply tells you information about the files.

BUT if you use Windows Explorer that will for some reason ACCESS the files.

 

I have just launched CMD.EXE and run DIR /T:A which by default shows my profile, i.e.

C:\Documents and Settings\Dad

Some files and folders were last accessed two days ago.

I launched Windows Explorer (which a long time ago I configured to display all 3 ages).

Windows explorer showed me the same access date as CMD.EXE.

I closed Windows Explorer and focus returned to CMD.EXE.

I repeated DIR /T:A and that now showed everything was accessed a few minutes ago.

W.E. was guilty of the access.

 

I opened W.E. and viewed another folder.

Some accessed dates were last year.

I hit the function key F5 and that immediately refreshed the display,

and everything had just been accessed.

 

W.E. is a control freak

If you select a 200 MB file and right click because you want to read its properties,

everything may freeze on you for many seconds whilst 200 MB of free space is wasted.

This is because the system decides to copy the 200 MB file into the current Restore Point.

This over-protective "nannying" may apply to executables,

especially if Windows File Protection gets involved (not that it should be involved with TEMP files.)

 

I agree that it would be better to use

"Only delete files in Windows Temp folders that have not been accessed in the last 24 hours"

but fear that "24 hours" is too precise so would actually prefer

"Only delete files in Windows Temp folders that have not been accessed in the last day"

 

I do not know whether CCleaner makes the effort to distinguish between files which were accessed 23 hours 59 minutes ago and 24 hours 1 minute ago, BUT the Accessed time stamp is always 00 hours 00 minutes for any FAT32 file, so if FAT32 is being cleaned then we can only tell the difference between today or previous days.

 

Regards

Alan

[harryz]

... The DOS command DIR simply tells you information about the files.

BUT if you use Windows Explorer that will for some reason ACCESS the files.

 

Aloha Alan!

 

Fascinating... who would have thought that Windows Explorer would have this effect.

 

Now that I know this, I'll go look at my other XP machine and see what happens when I run CCleaner. But, I'm pretty satisfied that we've uncovered the root cause of what I was seeing.

 

Mahalo for your assistance!

 

Harry Z.