Clear the TEMP folder on shutdown

3

I am following some instructions in More Ways To Speed Up Windows XP to help speed up my computer. One of those was to delete the temp folder on shutdown. Yet after I shutdown and then boot up, the script did not touch my temp folder, and I am unsure what's wrong. What should I change?

Here are the instructions I have:

1. Open Notepad and create a new file with the following entries:

RD /S /q “C:\Documents and Settings\"UserName without quotes”\Local Settings\
          History”
RD /S /q “C:\Documents and Settings\Default User\Local Settings\History”
RD /S /q “D:\Temp” <–”Deletes temp folder, type in the location of your temp 
                      folder”

2. Save the new file as anything you like, but it has to be a ‘.bat’ file,
   for example, `fastboot.bat` or `deltemp.bat`

3. Click ‘Start’ then ‘Run’

4. Type in ‘gpedit.msc’ and hit ‘OK’

5. Click on ‘Computer Configuration’ then ‘Windows Settings’

6. Double-click on ‘Scripts’ and then on ‘Shutdown’

7. Click ‘Add’ and find the batch file that you created and then press ‘OK’

I have followed these instructions, and I see where Windows says "Running Shutdown Script". Am I missing something here?

L84

Posted 2011-09-22T02:35:35.180

Reputation: 3 403

Did you verify that your temp directory is in D:\temp? – jonsca – 2011-09-22T03:22:18.410

@jonsca - That was the example, I changed the file path to my temp folder which is C:\Documents and Settings\Lynda\Local Settings\Temp – L84 – 2011-09-22T03:25:10.450

What happens when you run the batch file manually at a prompt? – jonsca – 2011-09-22T03:29:47.373

@jonsca - I have not tried, how exactly do I run it at prompt? – L84 – 2011-09-22T03:39:10.180

Start up a cmd and change to whatever directory your .bat file is in. Run it by typing the name without the .bat. (it may work if you include the ending, but I know for sure that it works if you don't) – jonsca – 2011-09-22T03:41:13.433

Answers

2

Rather than going through all this, which may be overkill to do it on a daily basis anyway, run something like CCleaner every week or so to get rid of the temp files.

jonsca

Posted 2011-09-22T02:35:35.180

Reputation: 3 889

1Thanks for the help, I figured it out though. When I ran it it kept telling me file path not found. What I realized is the folder was "hidden" and when I changed it from hidden to visible it worked like a charm. Thanks for your assistance. – L84 – 2011-09-22T03:58:44.033

2

It should be noted here somewhere, that if you ever go to install a program and the program installation fails, that you should disable wiping out the temporary folders at shutdown or startup.

I have been there and done that :-) Very rarely, a program will bust itself out in the temp folders, then reboot the system to complete the instalation. Ahh, you know the rest.

Psycogeek

Posted 2011-09-22T02:35:35.180

Reputation: 8 067

Asked: 2011-09-22T02:35:35.180

Viewed: 2 153 times

Active: 2012-07-12T16:21:31.463