Solved Windows 10 & 11 create tons of empty folders in System32

The Pool Man · Nov 4, 2021

Wisewiz said:
Once again, for our West Coast audence: Not impossible at all. They just don't give a flying f---.

Haha.

Dear Ontario CANADA. Invite you to a town that's 30 minutes East of me --

Home | City of Ontario, California

www.ontarioca.gov

They have better weather! (And otherwise it's a cultureless hellhole.) Please visit and ask WTF IS THIS PLACE.

Wisewiz · Nov 4, 2021

The-Hive said:
I think it was an installer for their other products, I may be wrong on that as I haven't used it for years

Hey, Hive, we love ya, but you're wrong, but only because your long-term memory is failing. :scream:

Years? I have trouble remembering what I had for breakfast.

Nirsoft's software is almost without exception free of the need to install anything.

And it's -- without exception -- good stuff. Good stuff.

Wisewiz · Nov 4, 2021

The Pool Man said:
Dear Ontario CA. Invite you to a town that's 30 minutes East of me -- (Ontario, California link here)

They have better weather! (And otherwise it's a cultureless hellhole.) Please visit and ask WTF IS THIS PLACE.

Yeah, the CA thing for my huge nation and your huge state has always been a source of confusion.

They have better weather??? Every-effing-body has better weather than Southern Ontario!

But we do have Summer, and we enjoy both days of it thoroughly.

Ghot · Nov 4, 2021

Wisewiz said:
But we do have Summer, and we enjoy both days of it thoroughly.

Cracked me up. Almost fell out of my chair.

Winuser · Nov 4, 2021

This is a very interesting thread. I just used NirSoft TaskSchedulerView to disable cellular. I'll wait awhile before I delete any empty folders. The downloaded version of NirSoft that I used tonight is a portable version and nothing else was included.

Wisewiz · Nov 4, 2021

@Winuser. That's standard for Nir Sofer's programs. Good coder. Good guy. Useful stuff.

AddRAM · Nov 4, 2021

I killed all the files and turned off the Task on both PC`s, if anything funny happens I`ll post it.

Singleton · Nov 5, 2021

Ghot said:
Correct... they don't occupy much space. But... my OCD doesn't like them. :)

LOL, well then if your OCD can tolerate the occasional Blue Screen or CTD, then by all means start deleting things in the Operating System directory if they annoy you.

On a serious note, stash this link on another computer so you can find it when needed:

How to refresh, reset, or restore your Windows 8.1 PC - Microsoft Support

Learn how to refresh your Windows 8.1 PC without deleting any of your personal files, reset it to its original condition, or restore it to an earlier point in time.

support.microsoft.com

Or as an alternative, there is a radio button for Explorer Options->View Tab to "Hide protected operating system files. (Reccomended)" if you are able to ignore things you can't see.

And while I am poking a bit of fun, I'm a bit OCD myself, these are actually serious alternatives.

Stigg · Nov 5, 2021

Just disabling the Provisioning Logon task worked for me.
I am not sure why some others are saying that they had to disable other tasks to stop the empty folders.
I am sure someone will enlighten me. :wink:

Ghot · Nov 5, 2021

Singleton said:
LOL, well then if your OCD can tolerate the occasional Blue Screen or CTD, then by all means start deleting things in the Operating System directory if they annoy you.

On a serious note, stash this link on another computer so you can find it when needed:

Uh... I don't GET blue screens. :)

/edit Well, I did have one in 2012, when I was overclocking a lot.

The-Hive · Nov 5, 2021

Wisewiz said:
Hey, Hive, we love ya, but you're wrong, but only because your long-term memory is failing. Years? I have trouble remembering what I had for breakfast. Nirsoft's software is almost without exception free of the need to install anything.

And it's -- without exception -- good stuff. Good stuff.

Thanks @Wisewiz I think your'e right, I get Nirsoft, NCH mixed up along with others who offer free software. I removed the post as is was incorrect Thanks for the heads up.

The-Hive · Nov 5, 2021

On this machine I deleted all the empty folders, didn't touch task scheduler and nothing has reappeared for 2 days now. I wonder if it is to do with machine being idle after startup. on the other machine I deleted all the empty folders, stopped the cellular task and they reappeared after a restart and waiting 10 mins. I re-enabled cellular and disabled local and that machine is fine now.

The-Hive · Nov 5, 2021

A little update, It looks like the logon task ran but didn't create any .tmp folders

Winuser · Nov 5, 2021

Wisewiz said:
@Winuser. That's standard for Nir Sofer's programs. Good coder. Good guy. Useful stuff.

I was referring to the earlier post from The-Hive.

Singleton · Nov 6, 2021

Ghot said:
Uh... I don't GET blue screens. :)

Ok, well keep deleting random stuff in the OS folder and let us know how that record stands in a few weeks.

Ghot · Nov 6, 2021

Singleton said:
Ok, well keep deleting random stuff in the OS folder and let us know how that record stands in a few weeks.

1. It's not random stuff.
2. I have full OS image backups.
3. Even with my tweaking, I don't get blue screens.
4. If I was just running around deleting random stuff you might have a point.

Feuer · Nov 7, 2021

Singleton said:
Ok, well keep deleting random stuff in the OS folder and let us know how that record stands in a few weeks.

But they are temporary folders, they are not necessary for the system anymore.

Also I erase tons of language folders from OS after clean installs.

The-Hive · Nov 7, 2021

@Feuer exactly what I said earlier about a .tmp file being just that temporary, if it was needed it would have a different extension. Good idea on all the language folders