Temporary internet files?

ladysue

ladysue

Suspended / Banned
Messages
4,222
Name
Sue
Edit My Images
Yes
I spend a lot of time on the computer but it is running very slow lately and is always getting errors so it needs to close. I have bought and used something that is supposed to clean the registry and have run a thing to clean out malware. I noticed when it was doing the scan for malware that it took ages scanning temporarry internet files. Are they something I need or could I clean them out somehow. If I did might that speed up my computer. Its a PC with Windows XP and Internet Explorer 8.

I would appreciate any advice.
Thanks
Sue
 
you don't need them so you can safely bin them
 
Try running Ccleaner, its free and works well for clearing junk etc, watch you don't remove all your saved passwords though.

(Beaten to by tina!)
 
temporary internet files are just files that have been downloaded or created by websites that you visit to make them run quicker the next time you visit. Almost like a cache... they contain image files, cookies, html files and a few other bits that you can safely remove. Always good to remove every now and then because you can accumulate a large amount of crap. The files for the most part tend to be quite small in size.
 
Thanks everyone for the replies. I will check out ccleaner. I have just paid for something which is supposed to have done all that but the computer is no better.

Can someone tell me how I find and delete the temporary internet files please.
Thanks
Sue
 
ladysue said:
Thanks everyone for the replies. I will check out ccleaner. I have just paid for something which is supposed to have done all that but the computer is no better.

Can someone tell me how I find and delete the temporary internet files please.
Thanks
Sue
Click to expand...

This should help:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/260897

CCleaner can do it for you, though.
What anti-malware software have you bought?
 
ladysue said:
Thanks everyone for the replies. I will check out ccleaner. I have just paid for something which is supposed to have done all that but the computer is no better.

Can someone tell me how I find and delete the temporary internet files please.
Thanks
Sue
Click to expand...

open Internet Explorer on menu go to tools/internet options on General tab theres button to delete temp internet files.:)
 
to be honest i dont think cleaning out your temp internet files is going to help you.

there is a cap on the cache size so shouldnt be causing you issues unless youre already low on disk space. how much disk space do you have available on a disk of what size out of interest?

cant remember the last time i cleared my files out.. certainly not in the last year and it causes me no issues. remember if you do though if youve got any saved passwords that you cant remember hitting delete all will bin them.

what kind of errors are you getting? might help diagnose the issue.
 
pmjg said:
http://www.malwarebytes.org/ is very good for any nasties :)
Click to expand...

I have got that one and have just run it. So far I havent had any errors.

bidden said:
I've just installed and run CCleaner, mega quick, no complaints so far!!
Click to expand...

I dont think I need another cleaner.Glad that one is working for you.

Jaco said:
open Internet Explorer on menu go to tools/internet options on General tab theres button to delete temp internet files.:)
Click to expand...

Thanks. I may do that but am listening to what Neil says about losing all my passwords.

neil_g said:
to be honest i dont think cleaning out your temp internet files is going to help you.

there is a cap on the cache size so shouldnt be causing you issues unless youre already low on disk space. how much disk space do you have available on a disk of what size out of interest?

cant remember the last time i cleared my files out.. certainly not in the last year and it causes me no issues. remember if you do though if youve got any saved passwords that you cant remember hitting delete all will bin them.

what kind of errors are you getting? might help diagnose the issue.
Click to expand...

I am not that good with technical stuff and cant remember how much memory I have got on the machine. I know it was said to be a lot about 5 years ago when I bought it.Last time my son checked he said I have loads of memory left but I do have probably thousands of photos stored. I was amazed at how long the scan took doing temporary internet files so there must be loads of them.

The errors mostly seem to be "Internet Explorer has encountered an error and needs to close" type things.

Thanks for your advice. Its apprecaited.
Sue
 
if you go into my computer and highlight the C: drive it should tell you X of X used i think on the grey bar at the bottom.

also what version of IE are you running - go into IE and click the Help menu then the About option.
 
neil_g said:
if you go into my computer and highlight the C: drive it should tell you X of X used i think on the grey bar at the bottom.

also what version of IE are you running - go into IE and click the Help menu then the About option.
Click to expand...

She mentioned she's running IE8 in the first post.

IE6 and IE7 used to use a certain percentage of available disk space as a cache, so you might have had your cache size set to over a gigabyte. IE8 tends to set this lower, but not in all cases.
Cleaning as many temporary directories as you can often helps apps which tend to look into them often (such as IE).
 
Slapo said:
She mentioned she's running IE8 in the first post.
Click to expand...

oops sorry, too early for me :D

im still not convinced its a temp files issue, we've got machines in the office that have been in place for years and have never had them cleared for example. theyre more likely to grind to a halt due to new software on old hardware.

out of interest have you been on IE8 long and have the issues only started happening since updating to it?
 
Last edited:
neil_g said:
if you go into my computer and highlight the C: drive it should tell you X of X used i think on the grey bar at the bottom.

also what version of IE are you running - go into IE and click the Help menu then the About option.
Click to expand...

It says free space 153GB Total size 275GB

Slapo said:
She mentioned she's running IE8 in the first post.

IE6 and IE7 used to use a certain percentage of available disk space as a cache, so you might have had your cache size set to over a gigabyte. IE8 tends to set this lower, but not in all cases.
Cleaning as many temporary directories as you can often helps apps which tend to look into them often (such as IE).
Click to expand...

Thank you Peter

neil_g said:
oops sorry, too early for me :D

im still not convinced its a temp files issue, we've got machines in the office that have been in place for years and have never had them cleared for example. theyre more likely to grind to a halt due to new software on old hardware.

out of interest have you been on IE8 long and have the issues only started happening since updating to it?
Click to expand...

I think I have been on IE8 for a few months.I cant remember if I had any problems before the change but they seem to have got worse the last couple of weeks.

Thank you for your help
Sue
 
Defragging the hard drive may help. If it's 5 years old and never been defragged then this might be the problem.
 
Sue

Do the problems you are having show up in any program besides IE8? If they do it's unlikely that it is at fault. What antivirus & firewall software are you using and, if it's from a third party have you disabled any Windows versions as having two running at the same time can cause problems?

If you're using IE8 don't worry about losing passwords etc as delete browsing history allows you to keep these

IE8.jpg
 
Thank you Andy. I have just got rid of the temporary internet files. I wouldnt have known how to do that and thanks for showing me how to keep the stuff I wanted.

The problem only occurs in Internet Explorer so I think it is probably something to do with them. I have AVG virus checker. I dont know if I have disabled the microsoft stuff. I think I have. Thanks for the tips
Sue
 
Sue

Download, if you can, a copy of Firefox. and use this as your main browser, replacing IE8, or even try Google Chrome.
 
When was the last time you removed dust from inside the computer, especially the cooling fans?overheating can cause a slowing down.

You also need to go to find tools ( usually on the task bar at the top) then internet options-delete (will bring up options you want to delete), tick what you want to remove then click ok

Realspeed
 
ladysue said:
Thank you Andy. I have just got rid of the temporary internet files. I wouldnt have known how to do that and thanks for showing me how to keep the stuff I wanted.

The problem only occurs in Internet Explorer so I think it is probably something to do with them. I have AVG virus checker. I dont know if I have disabled the microsoft stuff. I think I have. Thanks for the tips
Sue
Click to expand...

If you are using AVG free it's not very good. Our local computer shop thinks AVG is brill as he gets no end of work from customers who have it installed and then catch viruses. AVAST free is much better.
 
Chappers said:
Sue

Download, if you can, a copy of Firefox. and use this as your main browser, replacing IE8, or even try Google Chrome.
Click to expand...

Thanks John.Someone suggested that( Firefox) to me but I'm worried I will have problems with my email and have to set stuff up again. I would hate to be without my computer if I messed it up.

realspeed said:
When was the last time you removed dust from inside the computer, especially the cooling fans?overheating can cause a slowing down.

You also need to go to find tools ( usually on the task bar at the top) then internet options-delete (will bring up options you want to delete), tick what you want to remove then click ok

Realspeed
Click to expand...

Thanks Bazza. I dont think I have ever cleaned out inside the compuet, though it did go in for a check up a couple of years ago so I imagine he did that. I will check it out.

astral16v said:
If you are using AVG free it's not very good. Our local computer shop thinks AVG is brill as he gets no end of work from customers who have it installed and then catch viruses. AVAST free is much better.
Click to expand...

Thanks Noel.I have had AVG for years and no problems til now.. I actually got the paid version this year.My computer shop recommended it. I guess everyone has their favourite.
 
ladysue said:
Thanks Bazza. I dont think I have ever cleaned out inside the compuet, though it did go in for a check up a couple of years ago so I imagine he did that. I will check it out.
Click to expand...

Just remember to unplug your PC from the mains if you plan on doing this.
 
Someone suggested that( Firefox) to me but I'm worried I will have problems with my email and have to set stuff up again. I would hate to be without my computer if I messed it up
Click to expand...

Hi Sue. Installing Firefox won't cause any problems with your emails, it's just a program that does the same job as Internet Explorer (only better IMHO) that's made by a different company.

When you install it, it'll even ask if you want to transfer all of your Internet Explorer favourites (called 'Bookmarks' in Firefox). It's worth a shot, as if it doesn't get any better or you don't like it, you can continue to use Internet Explorer.
 
buzz said:
Just remember to unplug your PC from the mains if you plan on doing this.
Click to expand...
Thank you. Will do.

Nemesis said:
Hi Sue. Installing Firefox won't cause any problems with your emails, it's just a program that does the same job as Internet Explorer (only better IMHO) that's made by a different company.

When you install it, it'll even ask if you want to transfer all of your Internet Explorer favourites (called 'Bookmarks' in Firefox). It's worth a shot, as if it doesn't get any better or you don't like it, you can continue to use Internet Explorer.
Click to expand...

Thank you Michael. I have changed to Firefox.
 
Has Firefox made an improvement?
 
ladysue said:
Thanks everyone for the replies. I will check out ccleaner. I have just paid for something which is supposed to have done all that but the computer is no better.

Can someone tell me how I find and delete the temporary internet files please.
Thanks
Sue
Click to expand...


Just get CCleaner and run it. That will find all the stuff you don't need. You can even get a defragger from there as well, for free.
 
step by step order

msconfig (check the programs running apple crap quicktime can be killed)
CCleaner (everything)
Defraggler or Smart Scan iirc
Service packs like sp3 for xp or sp2 for vista (THEY DO MAKE A NOTICEABLE DIFFERENCE)
 
Sue

Glad you got it sorted - doing a Google search to try and find solutions it seems as though quite a few people have had this problem with IE8 with the belief being that it is some way hardware related but no-one has been able to come up with a definition of the cause or a solution. Using one of the alternatives may well have been the best solution:)
 
mickledore said:
Just get CCleaner and run it. That will find all the stuff you don't need. You can even get a defragger from there as well, for free.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I have got the message about ccleaner. I will get it and run it.

neil_g said:
technically the problem is still there but youve side stepped it.. ;)
Click to expand...

Thats good enough for me. I havent had one error since installing Firefox and I was getting one every 15 mins approx with IE8. Thanks

knowlesy said:
step by step order

msconfig (check the programs running apple crap quicktime can be killed)
CCleaner (everything)
Defraggler or Smart Scan iirc
Service packs like sp3 for xp or sp2 for vista (THEY DO MAKE A NOTICEABLE DIFFERENCE)
Click to expand...

Ok . Thanks. I will look into these over the next week.

Softshoe said:
Sue

Glad you got it sorted - doing a Google search to try and find solutions it seems as though quite a few people have had this problem with IE8 with the belief being that it is some way hardware related but no-one has been able to come up with a definition of the cause or a solution. Using one of the alternatives may well have been the best solution:)
Click to expand...

Thanks. I reckon it was since I updated to IE8.

Thanks for your help everyone

Sue
 
Since reading this thread my wife has complained to me of the same thing within IE8 - looks like they could have a problem! Anyway, glad you got it sorted, and welcome to the world of Firefox :thumbs:
 
Last edited:
Nemesis said:
Since reading this thread my wife has complained to me of the same thing within IE8 - looks like they could have a problem! Anyway, glad you got it sorted, and welcome to the world of Firefox :thumbs:
Click to expand...
yes,had Firefox for 8 months now will never go back to IE8,its great with adblock and script block.:clap:
 
Open Google Chrome browser and go to Customize and control Google Chrome and select Options then select the Under The Hood on the inside you'll see Privacy and you will find the "Clear Data Navigation button. use it deletes all your temporary Internet files.
 
ladysue said:
Thanks everyone for the replies. I will check out ccleaner. I have just paid for something which is supposed to have done all that but the computer is no better.

Can someone tell me how I find and delete the temporary internet files please.
Thanks
Sue
Click to expand...

CCleaner is the one to have. It is highly regarded and very efficient.
Your problem may not be related to old files.

Look in Task Mgr. (Press Cntrl + Alt + Delete at the same time) and look in the processes tab to see what is using your computer's resources.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top