Once again am I seeking your help to solve a problem. I am using a Windows XP Professional PC. The size of Drive C is 7.43 G.B., with a free space of 1.85 G.B. I was surprised to find that the free space shrank to 500 MB, overnight! After checking hidden files and folders, I discovered that the 1.30 G.B. were in a folder called TEMP. Not knowing what to do, I removed the folder to another drive. My question(s) is :
a) Isn't this folder supposed to be deleted automatically after some time?

b) If it isn't, can I delete it manually without causing harm to my computer, as it is consuming a lot of space ?

c) What is a TEMP folder anyway ?!
Thanks dear friends

Remnants of an installation or patch are stored by Windows as temporary files, which can prevent the re-installation or starting of programs. These temporary files are normally created to temporarily store information in order to free memory for other purposes, or to act as a safety net to prevent data loss when a program performs certain functions. These temporary files however can trick an installation program into thinking that the program is already installed, or that a patch is installed when the patch has not been applied properly. Because this can cause complications, it may become necessary to delete these remnants to give your system a clean slate prior to launching or installing a piece of software.

Thanks Julio. But what if some of these files have a dll extension? Can I still go ahead and delete them ?

Leave the folder in it's original place and just delete the contents of the folder. I do it from time to time.

1. CCleaner (literally stands for CrapCleaner) is one good method to cleanup temporary/junk files that can collect from day-to-day use and may not be deleted for awhile. But check its settings before you run it the first time to see what it will be cleaning up (i.e. deleting). Uncheck Cookies under Internet Explorer and Applications/Firefox if you don't want all of your cookies deleted (and the latter just if you're a Firefox user!)
2. All that said, the files you saw in /TEMP are probably the result of still something else! I've seen some apps create temp folders for work space and never clean up after themselves when done. Typically, if you reboot your machine to be certain nothing is running and actively using the TEMP folder, it's ok to remove all the contents.
3. By the way, a root temp folder named TEMP is probably not the result of the apps that normally run on your computer. Anything new happen or run overnight? Are you sure this all appeared overnight? If you want to see the where most things will be putting their temp folders
   • Control Panel -> System. Click the Advanced tab
   • Click Environment Variables button towards the bottom of display
   • In both the User Variables and System Variables display, you should see the setting for TEMP and TMP variables. If no variable setting for these point directly to C:\TEMP something ran that just hard-coded a temp folder name. If files were sitting in the folder think is highly unlikely to be a problem removing

Thank you all for helping me out. Special thanks to "LookinAround" for the useful information. Yes it appeared just overnight ! I did what you suggested and it appears that both TEMP and TMP variables point to C alright.
However, my question still stands: what if some of the files in the TEMP/TMP folders have a dll extension? Does this signify anything ? Do I go ahead and delete them all the same ? Another thing how can I ascertain that nothing is running and actively using the TEMP folder, after rebooting my computer ?

If any application was using any of the files in the temp folders at the time you try to delete them, Windows won't let you delete them. You will get an error message. It doesn't matter what extension the files have, dll or otherwise. If you still have reservations, don't empty your recycle bin for awhile or move the files in question into another folder for safekeeping for awhile. Just make up a name for this folder.

Much obliged mailpup for your assistance. I guess this settles it ! I have "built up" enough courage to delete the files, thanks to you !
Warmest regards.