Thousands of 0k folders in Temp folder

BettyB · Apr 27, 2023

All of a sudden I have 500K empty 0K folders. Every time I open the folder the green progress bar starts scrolling and never goes away.. when I try to delete some folders, it persists and it will take days to get rid of all of these.. I have tried many of the typical internet solutions.. nothing is working. I tried to do delete from command mode but there are a few actual .txt and .log files that will not delete : FXSAPIDebugLogFile.txt, FXSTIFFDebugLogFile.txt which apparently are related to windows and fax and scan service.. which I do not have.. officeclicktorun.exe_streamserver.#####.log , and then my computer name-######-###-log . These files all state can't be deleted because being used by another service. If I could find out exactly what the service is and disable, I may be able to delete the folders via the command line.

Ghot · Apr 27, 2023

Hello @BettyB and welcome to ElevenForum.

You can always go into Safe Mode and delete them.
There are also free programs that will show you what is locking them and unlock whatever is using them...

For example...

UnLock IT Free - Unlock a File or Folder Locked by the System

EMCO UnLock IT is a Windows file unlocker utility that allows you to unlock a locked file or folder and rename, move or delete locked resources.

emcosoftware.com

FreeBooter · Apr 27, 2023

Copy and paste below batch script code and save it with .bat extension and double-click the batch script to clear Temp folder content.

Code:

@Echo Off
Cd %TMP%
For /f "tokens=*" %%a in ('Dir /b %LOCALAPPDATA%\Temp') do (
Echo Y | Rd /s /q "%%a" 2>NUL 1>NUL
If Exist "%%a" Echo Y | Del /a /f "%%a" 2>NUL 1>NUL
)

Haydon · Apr 27, 2023

Try running Storage Sense manually, good luck

BettyB · Apr 27, 2023

Thanks all for your suggestions. Unfortunately none of them worked... I'll keep searching. Thank you

kgarrett67 · Apr 27, 2023

BettyB said:
Thanks all for your suggestions. Unfortunately none of them worked... I'll keep searching. Thank you

Try rebooting into Safe Mode. I believe you'll be able to delete all the files and folders in %temp% directory.

glasskuter · Apr 27, 2023

If you are referring to folders located in C:\Windows\System32\config\systemprofile\AppData\Local that all begin with TW, the issue has been around a while.
The task that creates them has to be disabled before they can be deleted. See IT"S BAACK!! 22H2 ONCE AGAIN CREATING HUNDREDS OF EMPTY TMP FOLDERS

In Task Scheduler disable \Microsoft\Windows\Management\Provisioning\
Logon (at logon of any user)
Sometimes you have to disable ALL the tasks in the Provisioning section, including Cellular.

then delete the empty folders in \Windows\System32\Config\SystemProfile\AppData\Local folder

As a separate issue disable devicecensus.exe from running at boot
Task Scheduler
Microsoft>Windows>Device Information. Disable Device and Device User.

GCG1000 · Apr 30, 2023

Well, I use a very unsophisticated approach to cleaning out these empty folders: 1. Create a shortcut to the \Windows\System32\Config\SystemProfile\AppData\Local folder; 2. Place the shortcut on your desktop, or in some convenient Apps folder; 3. Monthly, or periodically, access your shortcut and selectively (using <ctl>+your left mouse button) highlight the empty tmp files (en mass) and delete them as a bunch. Good Luck.

glasskuter · Apr 30, 2023

GCG1000 said:
I use a very unsophisticated approach to cleaning out these empty folders:

IMO it makes more sense to prevent the folders from being created in the first place. Then you no longer have to remember to delete them any more.But whatever works.

MilesAhead · May 2, 2023

I found a quick way without booting safe mode. WizFile freeware. Right click shortcut to run As Administrator. For file pattern use tw*.tmp and select Folder from the Type dropdown. Press Control A to select all. Right click, then either click Delete to send to recycle bin, or shift click Delete to delete immediately.

GCG1000 · May 2, 2023

MilesAhead said:
I found a quick way without booting safe mode. WizFile freeware. Right click shortcut to run As Administrator. For file pattern use tw*.tmp and select Folder from the Type dropdown. Press Control A to select all. Right click, then either click Delete to send to recycle bin, or shift click Delete to delete immediat

Thanks for a nice clean solution.

MilesAhead · May 2, 2023

GCG1000 said:
Thanks for a nice clean solution.

TechnoMage2021 · May 2, 2023

When anyone mentions the "temp" folder, I always want to ask, "Which one?" because there are MANY!

In my own Cleanup.bat program (batch file) I have several lines, to clean out numerous "temp" folders, and I've probably only scratched the surface.
The following is just one line, of six, that clean out "temp" folders:

del /F /S /Q "C:\Documents and Settings\Default User\Local Settings\Temp\."
Commands like this can be put into a batch file, or run from a Command Prompt (CMD)
Stray .tmp files can be easily and quickly removed by this command:
del /F /S /Q "C:\*.tmp"
Edge, for instance, creates .old files, almost daily, and I've not seen any program delete them, but this little line does:
del /F /S /Q "C:\*.old

Again, this can be added to a batch file or run from the command prompt.
Works just fine, either way.

Cheers Mates!
TM

Carey Brown · May 7, 2023

Ok, dumb question. Is there anything in C:\Users\<name>\AppData\Local\Temp that SHOULD NOT be deleted? Of course if one is currently in use a delete will return permission denied.

Bree · May 8, 2023

Carey Brown said:
Ok, dumb question. Is there anything in C:\Users\<name>\AppData\Local\Temp that SHOULD NOT be deleted? Of course if one is currently in use a delete will return permission denied.

I routinely delete everything I'm allowed to, usually there's only a couple of files in use. Nothing bad has come of it yet.

cheaterslick · May 8, 2023

TechnoMage2021 said:
When anyone mentions the "temp" folder, I always want to ask, "Which one?" because there are MANY!

In my own Cleanup.bat program (batch file) I have several lines, to clean out numerous "temp" folders, and I've probably only scratched the surface.
The following is just one line, of six, that clean out "temp" folders:

del /F /S /Q "C:\Documents and Settings\Default User\Local Settings\Temp\."
Commands like this can be put into a batch file, or run from a Command Prompt (CMD)
Stray .tmp files can be easily and quickly removed by this command:
del /F /S /Q "C:\*.tmp"
Edge, for instance, creates .old files, almost daily, and I've not seen any program delete them, but this little line does:
del /F /S /Q "C:\*.old

Again, this can be added to a batch file or run from the command prompt.
Works just fine, either way.

Cheers Mates!
TM

Hi,

What does your Cleanup.bat file look like?

Thanks

Carey Brown · May 8, 2023

OK, I did it. All I have left is:

Code:

-rw-rw-rw-   1 user     group     2092710 May  8 06:55 7f483374-c4a0-485f-a742-1c3986552b70.tmp
-rw-rw-rw-   1 user     group       24576 Apr  1 16:31 bc3902d8132f43e3ae086a009979fa88.db
-rw-rw-rw-   1 user     group       32768 May  8 06:54 bc3902d8132f43e3ae086a009979fa88.db-shm
-rw-rw-rw-   1 user     group     3036472 May  8 06:55 bc3902d8132f43e3ae086a009979fa88.db-wal
-rw-rw-rw-   1 user     group     1358163 May  8 06:54 c7a08b0a-f515-4cea-8f58-4449ee6fd021.tmp
-rw-rw-rw-   1 user     group     2698428 May  8 07:14 c998de91-0714-4006-b2c0-87149bd5aa8c.tmp
-rw-rw-rw-   1 user     group     3338082 May  8 06:55 d0e08170-f5a7-4e70-9e00-62aa0bb0ffd3.tmp
-rw-rw-rw-   1 user     group      412361 May  8 06:54 dae1de46-306b-4990-876d-ea0db1c7e93d.tmp
-rw-rw-rw-   1 user     group           0 May  8 06:54 mat-debug-12864.log