Expert: Karl Zick - 6/9/2009

Question
Hello

3 days ago after I did Search *.TMP  and deleted all the temp files that were not deleted by XP Home Clean Disk and Advanced System Optimizer,
All programs ran good and only when I wanted to turn off to computer, I could not as well as Restart it.   I powered it off, and then half of the programs did not work.  I tried to do Windows Repair, but it did not help.   I had to reformat the hard drive and reinstall all again.

The reason I wanted to delete these files is that one program, Info Select, a PIM program is delaying on searches.  After I deleted all the files from the Search, Info Select worked perfectly !!

Now, I am not sure what to do -
The files are all Temp.  in Folders :  Fonts,  Windows System 32 ,  Common files/system, AppPatch, Program files messenger , C:windows,

1 Is it safe to delete all the temp files (some are from 2001 and 2004...)    ?  If no, which ones ARE safe to delete?

2  If I delete them, can I for sure restore them from the Recycle bin if something went wrong?

Thank you very much,   Gabe

XP Home
Pentume 4     2 Ghtz
2 Gig of   DDR  RAM

Answer
Hi Gabe,

First, no *.tmp files have any system value and deleting them cannot mess up anything.  The same goes for *.bak files and cookies and cache and lots of other stuff.

The best (and safest) tool I have ever found for getting rid of junk files in your computer is a program called Window Washer.  You can buy it from Webroot for $30 - or download it from my web site and try it: www.kzconsulting.info.