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cab_xxxx files found in WINDOWS\TEMP folder

Anonymous
2012-07-24T18:02:49+00:00

Does anyone know what program can create files in the Windows\Temp folder that begin with cab_xxxx (four digits typically)? these files are building up; one of every four is 41MB in size; the rest are usually 0 bytes. Any ideas?

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

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  1. Anonymous
    2014-07-24T14:06:22+00:00

    Hello,

    we had the same problem. Deleting the cab_xxxx files only resulted in regeneration every 30min.

    Checking <windows>\Logs\CBS folder I found lots of .log and (some) .cab files

    It seems, that windows wasn't able to zip (makecab.exe) one of the .log files.

    Solution was:

    in <windows>\Logs\CBS folder delete the oldest .log file (you can also delete them all)

    in <windows>\temp folder delete every cab_xxxx

    in the following regeneration process, the remaining (CBS) logs where zipped correctly, and <windows>\temp was left clean

    1200+ people found this answer helpful.
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  1. Anonymous
    2012-07-25T08:53:09+00:00

    Hi,

    The CAB-xxxx files that you see in the *C:\Windows\Temp* folder are some temporary files created by different Windows Operations, like installing Updates. You can safely delete these files off from that folder. Alternatively, you can also run Disc Cleanup to delete the temporary files from your computer.

    I would suggest you to try the Methods mentioned below and check if it helps:

    Delete files using Disk Cleanup

    http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/Delete-files-using-Disk-Cleanup

    Also refer:

    Please scan your computer from Microsoft Safety Scanner, which would help us to get rid of viruses, spyware, and other malicious software.

    The Microsoft Safety Scanner is a free downloadable security tool that provides on-demand scanning and helps remove viruses, spyware, and other malicious software. It works with your existing antivirus software.

    **http://www.microsoft.com/security/scanner/en-us/default.aspx**

    Note: The Microsoft Safety Scanner expires 10 days after being downloaded. To rerun a scan with the latest anti-malware definitions, download and run the Microsoft Safety Scanner again.

    Note: Any data files that are infected may only be cleaned by deleting the file entirely, which means there is a potential for data loss.

    Hope this information is helpful.

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  1. Anonymous
    2014-10-07T00:48:34+00:00

    Thanks for the tip about the Log files.  I found over 300GB of these leftovers, and removed them.  Then later the same day, I looked again and there was another 1.4GB that had regenerated.  Over time it would have eaten my hard drive space again.  Looked in the Log folder as you suggested and deleted the whole 6GB+ mess of old logs.  Doesn't look like the CAB_xxxx files are regenerating now.  What a stupid system!  Funny thing is, CCleaner didn't "find" those leftovers either.  Grrr.

    Anyway, thanks again for the tip!

    • Dayton - Mon. 10/06/2014 @ 17:48:30

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  2. Anonymous
    2017-04-05T22:25:00+00:00

    Above solution is correct but earlier posts are incorrect

     this is wrong!!!!!

    Delete files using Disk Cleanuphttp://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/Delete-files-using-Disk-Cleanup

    Could someone let Bill Gates know that this thread is not correct. The problem is NOT corrected by Disk Cleanup on windows seven or windows 2008 r2. Once a large file is present as a persist file, massive numbers of files collect  in c:\windows\logs\cbs and c:\windows\temp, up to 6 GB in one I saw and are not Cleaned up

    delete all *persis*.cab files from c:\windows\logs\cbs

    delete all cab_* or  *_cab files from c:\windows\temp

    Credit to Felix Burkhard , Armidale, NSW, Australia for a detailed description of the issue

    http://felixyon.blogspot.com.au/2013/03/mysterious-cab-files-fill-up-temp-folder.html

    6 people found this answer helpful.
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  3. Anonymous
    2017-01-04T09:19:27+00:00

    Please unmark this as the answer and mark SkyFx's post as the correct answer. This is nothing more than general advice that can be found anywhere. The fact this is causing an issue should make it clear to Microsoft "tech support" that a general response is not the answer.

    For anyone else encountering this, the problem could be down to installing the countless patches required after a W7 re-install. That most likely generates a CBS log file greater than 2GB which cannot be cab'ified. Instead of marking the file invalid, Windows just keeps on trying eventually filling up the disk.

    To prevent this, after patching W7 following a reinstall, delete the resulting CBS log file.

    The issue should go away once the new W7 patching scheme (as of Oct 2017) is fully in place and the monthly rollup includes all previous patches.

    6 people found this answer helpful.
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