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Very Large Temporary Internet Files - Can't Remove/Delete

Anonymous
2012-12-19T18:33:14+00:00

Win7 Pro SP1 here.  In trying to free up some disk space on my SSD, I came across the following folder:

C:/Users/USERNAME/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/

In this directory is a hidden folder called Temporary Internet Files.  When I right-click | Properties, I see that this folder is consuming 14.6GB of disk space.  I went into the folder and deleted all files (including the shown hidden files), but then the file folder still takes up 14.6GB of space, yet the contents are empty.   So, I tried to delete the entire folder, and it starts trying to remove items, but when it gets up to around 4.5GB, I get a message whichs reads "The action can't be completed because the folder or a file in it is open in another program.  Close the folder or file and try again."  I've tried deleting this folder on a fresh restart, after ending all non-essential services through task manager, etc., but still get the same error.

So...what the heck is in this folder, and how can I get rid of the contents?  I've tried the basic method of removing temporary internet files through IE9 Internet Options | General Tab, but that doesn't get rid of this mysterious folder.

Please advise, as my SSD is down to about 500MB of free space!

Thanks!

Dan Bauer

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Files, folders, and storage

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  1. Anonymous
    2013-02-15T00:23:00+00:00

    Hi Daniel,

    I had the same issue and I just found a work around.

    Simply write down the sub directory under "C:\Documents and Settings\User\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files" in my case it was "Content.IE5" as I was able to see inside this directory "Temporary Internet Files" by scaning it with a virus scan.

    Open File Explorer and write the full path in the address bar "C:\Documents and Settings\User\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5" then select all files & delete.

    50+ people found this answer helpful.
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  2. Anonymous
    2012-12-22T08:39:05+00:00

    Many of the files are maintained by "Internet Explorer (IE)". They will not delete

    if IE is open.  In any case, the easiest way to delete them is to do so within IE.

    In IE, go to TOOLS/InternetOptions/General.

    Click the DELETE button.

    On the next screen, make sure "temporary Internet Files" is ticked, and

    then click the DELETE button at the bottom of the window.

    10+ people found this answer helpful.
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  3. Anonymous
    2013-07-05T21:51:47+00:00

    We found the 42GB on the SSD, For W7/64bit:  

    Treesize helped diagnose what the files were.  

     Eric/ tech guy did remote:

    Right click on start button, open windows explorer, in this case my C drive, followed the 'path'

    that was C:\windows\system32\config\systemprofile\appdata\local\microsoft\windows\temporaryinternetfiles\content.IE5\*.*

    in my case it would come to windows and then

     'caches' but that would be empty;   so you have physically go to the address bar and after windows\

    you have to enter temporaryinternetfiles\content.ie5\*.*

    then, the files would show, In my case I had about 2 million.  It took about 10-15 minutes to delete.

    I still don't know why this folder kept filling.  I'm going to regularly check from now on.

    We freed up 42.7GB.     Yahooo!!      Thanks to all...   esp. for that diagnostic tool: Treesize.

    5 people found this answer helpful.
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  4. Anonymous
    2012-12-19T19:04:23+00:00

    Hi DanielBauer,

    Usually Temporary files are automatically downlaoded once your browsing the internet. There are some Temp files that can't be deleted because the application associated with it is still running. So for you to be able to delete these Temporary files, you need to stop the service or the application that is running. Usually Temp files are associated with anti-virus programs that are always running at the background.

    You can try these steps:

    METHOD 1:

    IN NORMAL MODE

    -open run command box ( hold WINDOWS KEY + R)

    delete all files on following folders:

    type %temp%, temp, and %prefetch%

    METHOD 2:

    Perform Software Cleanboot

    http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135?wa=wsignin1.0

    METHOD 3:

    Boot to safemode

    http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Start-your-computer-in-safe-mode

    -open run command box ( hold WINDOWS KEY + R)

    delete all files on following folders:

    type %temp%, temp, and %prefetch%

    Hope it will help you out.

    Thanks,

    KOBE24_AL

    5 people found this answer helpful.
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  5. Anonymous
    2014-12-01T08:04:07+00:00

    I was able to do this with a slightly different approach. For some reason, I could not see the Content.ie5 folder from its parent, but I could change to that directory by entering at the CMD prompt:

    cd "C:\Users[USER]\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5"

    from here I entered:

    del . /f /s /q

    which deleted the majority of the files. That folder went from 40.3 GB down to 15.9 MB.

    4 people found this answer helpful.
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