Getting rid of .tmp files

What could have changed the directory?

I'm awaiting for the content of config.sys\autoexec.bat.
That will light the shadow, I think.

I wouldn't discuss the possible cause before I'll see them.

--
Mikhail Zhilin
http://www.aha.ru/~mwz
Sorry, no technical support by e-mail.
Please reply to the newsgroups only.
======
On Thu, 7 Apr 2005 03:53:52 -0400, "Galen" wrote:

In ,
Mikhail Zhilin had this to say:

My reply is at the bottom of your sent message:

I mean:

Temporary files and folders will appear again and again in the root of
C: instead of the special temporary folder -- from where they can be
deleted from time to time with no problems and no necessity in
thinking, what these files/subfolders are.

Great point in that a) the applications MAY still function but b) the
problem may still exist. C: (or the root drive) shouldn't house the %temp%
files and what ever system paths have been changed should be changed back. I
agree entirely and stand beside you on that one. This begs to be asked: What
could have changed the directory? The OP playing with a system tweaking
tool? Malware? Then, further, could the applications that I gave even FIND
the temp files if there weren't in the root? Do the applications follow the
path to the %temp% or do they crawl up from the %SystemRoot% or worse still
%WinDir%????????? Chagrined for not thinking along those lines? Yes. But
still inquisitive.

Galen

"Mikhail Zhilin" wrote in message
...

Until TEMP and TMP variables are wrong -- all the cleaning measures are
useless because these temporary files and folders will appear again and
again.

Windows expects you to have two temp file
directories
C:\Windows\temp
C:\temp

These are parking slots for files created on a
temporary basis during instal routines (and
perhaps other routines.) A good instal routine
adds at the end delete routines to remove these
files. But if your good instal routine writes
DEL C:\Windows\temp\*.*
and (for whatever reason) your PC has assigned
some other directory (e.g. C:\root) for the temp
files, they will remain . . . and accumulate more
and more of them.

Your early advice was best:
1. Reboot (to be sure any current instal procedure
has completed).
2. Delete all *.tmp files (in Windows).
3. Reboot to be sure the PC runs OK. If it runs OK,
4. Empty the \Recycled Bin to get the *.tmp files
off the hard drive (freeing up their space.)

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

Don,

By default, in Win95/98 there is ONLY ONE temporary folder:
c:\windows\temp (if Win9x is installed at C: drive; if not -- the drive
letter will be the same as where Windows is installed). And the both
TEMP and TMP variables have to refer to this folder.

But these variables can be reassigned in Autoexec.bat to any other drive
and folder. Usually C:\TEMP folder is creating manually -- it has to
exist already when TEMP/TMP variables refer to it -- and using: like it
was, if I recall correct, in the latest DOS (some of the earlier DOS
versions used the same C:\DOS folder as the temporary folder).

To have no problems with reassigning these variables, it is better to
have the same value of the both.

But some of the [badly written] programs use %windir%\temp folder even
if TEMP/TMP variables are reassigned in Autoexec.bat.

--
Mikhail Zhilin
http://www.aha.ru/~mwz
Sorry, no technical support by e-mail.
Please reply to the newsgroups only.
======
On Thu, 7 Apr 2005 14:10:19 -0400, "Don Phillipson"
wrote:

"Mikhail Zhilin" wrote in message
.. .

Until TEMP and TMP variables are wrong -- all the cleaning measures are
useless because these temporary files and folders will appear again and
again.

Windows expects you to have two temp file
directories
C:\Windows\temp
C:\temp

These are parking slots for files created on a
temporary basis during instal routines (and
perhaps other routines.) A good instal routine
adds at the end delete routines to remove these
files. But if your good instal routine writes
DEL C:\Windows\temp\*.*
and (for whatever reason) your PC has assigned
some other directory (e.g. C:\root) for the temp
files, they will remain . . . and accumulate more
and more of them.

Your early advice was best:
1. Reboot (to be sure any current instal procedure
has completed).
2. Delete all *.tmp files (in Windows).
3. Reboot to be sure the PC runs OK. If it runs OK,
4. Empty the \Recycled Bin to get the *.tmp files
off the hard drive (freeing up their space.)

In article , Mikhail
Zhilin wrote:
Galen,

Until TEMP and TMP variables are wrong -- all the cleaning measures are
useless because these temporary files and folders will appear again and
again.

But after these variables will be correct (I don't say about the other
possible problems because of the wrong config.sys and autoexec.bat, like
HDD compatible mode) -- the other advices: WHAT ad HOW to clean up in
system, will be useful, of course.

The next question... I took the afternoon and cleaned out all the
..tmp files (except the Norton Anti virus ones.. I guess I am just
supersticious about messing with my virus programs). Now that I know
they exist, would it just be easier to go through and spend a couple
minutes a week (when I am doing my normal maintenance like running
the spybot, AV and Norton WOrks stuff) nuking them?
FWIW, I am probably going to get an XP computer by the end of
the summer anyway.

--
Here in California, US immigrants do the really dirty jobs nobody else
wants to do. Cleaning toilets. Being governor.


SBH

In article , "Galen"
wrote:

Great point in that a) the applications MAY still function but b) the
problem may still exist. C: (or the root drive) shouldn't house the %temp%
files and what ever system paths have been changed should be changed back. I
agree entirely and stand beside you on that one. This begs to be asked: What
could have changed the directory? The OP playing with a system tweaking
tool? Malware? Then, further, could the applications that I gave even FIND
the temp files if there weren't in the root? Do the applications follow the
path to the %temp% or do they crawl up from the %SystemRoot% or worse still
%WinDir%????????? Chagrined for not thinking along those lines? Yes. But
still inquisitive.


This is new (at least within the last 3 months or so, since these
..tmp files have been showing up everytime I went to C:\ directory
for anything but especially for WORD stuff). The only thing I added
during that time was Spybot and regular updates for norton, Windows,
Spybot, etc. Nothing appears to be weird other than that, other than
slowing of the system which has been taken care of with the mass
deleting.

--
Here in California, US immigrants do the really dirty jobs nobody else
wants to do. Cleaning toilets. Being governor.


SBH

In article , Mikhail
Zhilin wrote:
Kurt,

Run (Start -- Run...) Sysedit, copy the content of these two files, one
by one, and paste in your reply here.


This is the autoexec.bat What was the other one you wanted?


ECHO OFF
SET BLASTER=A220 I7 D1 T2
SET SNDSCAPE=C:\WINDOWS
cls
if not exist dm.exe goto NODM
dm.exe
goto NOCDROM

:NODM
echo Loading CD-ROM Drivers

set temp=c:\
set tmp=c:\

rem - By Windows Setup - LH C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\MSCDEX.EXE /D:gener

:AUTOSETUP
set CDROM=FOO23
FINDCD.EXE
if "%CDROM%"=="FOO23" goto NOCDROM

echo your CD-ROM drive letter is: %CDROM%
:NOCDROM

Set tvdumpflags=10

Set tvdumpflags=10



--
Here in California, US immigrants do the really dirty jobs nobody else
wants to do. Cleaning toilets. Being governor.


SBH

Yes, Kurt, that is almost what I expected (and absolutely what I
expected -- in the part concerning your problem).

Your Autoexec.bat had been copied from non-MS diskette or non-MS CD when
you (or someone else) installed Windows, and Windows used this
unsuitable file with the minor correction, as it always does when it
exists.

In your case Autoexec.bat has to be (4 significant lines):

ECHO OFF
SET BLASTER=A220 I7 D1 T2
SET SNDSCAPE=C:\WINDOWS
Set tvdumpflags=10

(most likely either second, or third line is unnecessary -- but won't
hurt the system either).

Your problem is in

set temp=c:\
set tmp=c:\

lines. The other lines are unnecessary. Windows deactivated already the
line with MSCDEX.EXE, that could dramatically slow down HDD.

But I don't see anything about Config.sys, which may be incorrect too.
Is your Config.sys empty, or simply does not exist when you run Sysedit?
--
Mikhail Zhilin
http://www.aha.ru/~mwz
Sorry, no technical support by e-mail.
Please reply to the newsgroups only.
======
On Thu, 07 Apr 2005 23:05:15 GMT, (Kurt Ullman)
wrote:

In article , Mikhail
Zhilin wrote:
Kurt,

Run (Start -- Run...) Sysedit, copy the content of these two files, one
by one, and paste in your reply here.


This is the autoexec.bat What was the other one you wanted?


ECHO OFF
SET BLASTER=A220 I7 D1 T2
SET SNDSCAPE=C:\WINDOWS
cls
if not exist dm.exe goto NODM
dm.exe
goto NOCDROM

:NODM
echo Loading CD-ROM Drivers

set temp=c:\
set tmp=c:\

rem - By Windows Setup - LH C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\MSCDEX.EXE /D:gener

:AUTOSETUP
set CDROM=FOO23
FINDCD.EXE
if "%CDROM%"=="FOO23" goto NOCDROM

echo your CD-ROM drive letter is: %CDROM%
:NOCDROM

Set tvdumpflags=10

Set tvdumpflags=10

In article , Mikhail
Zhilin wrote:


But I don't see anything about Config.sys, which may be incorrect too.
Is your Config.sys empty, or simply does not exist when you run Sysedit?
Here is config sys. Somewhere along the way I missed your request
for this one.

device=C:\WINDOWS\himem.sys /testmemff
device=oakcdrom.sys /D:gener

files=60
dos=high,umb


So, exactly what do I want to with the other file? What is to be
taken out and what is to be kept?

--
And to have an elected official question one's integrity is rather like
having a street whore question one's virginity.
Tom Clancy, on alt.book.tom-clancy (of all places)

Kurt,

This config.sys is needless if you don't use very specific DOS programs.
If you work in "pure" DOS (Command Prompt Only) sometimes -- then only
the second line,

device=oakcdrom.sys /D:gener

can be helpful: it allows to use CDROM in Command Prompt Only mode.

So you can either delete C:\Config.sys at all, or rename it as, say,
Config.old (what will deactivate it), or even leave it as it is. In the
last case it will eat several kilobytes of memory, with no useful
functions.

Your Autoexec.bat, as I said already, has to be:

ECHO OFF
SET BLASTER=A220 I7 D1 T2
SET SNDSCAPE=C:\WINDOWS
Set tvdumpflags=10

If you don't use ZoneAlarm firewall -- then the last line (Set
tvdumpflags=10) is unnecessary, too.

--
Mikhail Zhilin
http://www.aha.ru/~mwz
Sorry, no technical support by e-mail.
Please reply to the newsgroups only.
======
On Fri, 08 Apr 2005 10:57:54 GMT, (Kurt Ullman)
wrote:

In article , Mikhail
Zhilin wrote:


But I don't see anything about Config.sys, which may be incorrect too.
Is your Config.sys empty, or simply does not exist when you run Sysedit?
Here is config sys. Somewhere along the way I missed your request
for this one.

device=C:\WINDOWS\himem.sys /testmemff
device=oakcdrom.sys /D:gener

files=60
dos=high,umb


So, exactly what do I want to with the other file? What is to be
taken out and what is to be kept?