Can temporary files produce issues besides taking up space?


  1. Posts : 163
    Windows 10
       #1

    Can temporary files produce issues besides taking up space?


    I heard clearing the temp folders (c:\Windows\temp and the appdata temp folder) can fix issues such as a computer running slow, a printer not working properly and other software issues.

    I'd like to hear opinions on this. How can temp files do anything more than take up needed space?
    Can the operating system use temp files from previous sessions?

    Any help much welcome.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 42,992
    Win 10 Pro (22H2) (2nd PC is 22H2)
       #2

    There can be many reasons for the above symptoms.

    Perhaps the only way temporary files being present could slow a system is if the system disk had very little free space left as a result.
      My Computers


  3. Posts : 2,143
    Windows 11 Pro (latest update ... forever anal)
       #3

    antonio3535 said:
    I heard clearing the temp folders (c:\Windows\temp and the appdata temp folder) can fix issues such as a computer running slow, a printer not working properly and other software issues.
    Where from ?
      My Computers


  4. Posts : 163
    Windows 10
    Thread Starter
       #4

    idgat said:
    Where from ?
    well, in my previous job as a tech, the usual troubleshooting for these kind of issues (even if the HDD was nearly empty) was:
    clear the 2 temp folders > CCleaner > Glarys Utilities > Malwarebytes > reboot the computer. And to be honest, this fixed many issues. However, I was never sure which of the steps cleared the issue, as we took these steps before rebooting the computer.
    My doubt now is: why clear the temp folders (which sometimes can take a long time) if the HDD has plenty of free space?
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 14,020
    Win10 Pro and Home, Win11 Pro and Home, Win7, Linux Mint
       #5

    I've found over the years it's not always the amount of space used but the need of the Operating System and installed programs in reading the contents of the drive/s that can cause a slowness. My first computer had a whopping 120MB HDD, drives have gotten higher capacities since but they have also gotten faster. At one time it was necessary to set the BIOS to show on screen for up to 20 seconds or so to allow the drive to get up to full speed before the OS could load, the CPU speed was outstripping the HDD speed.
      My Computers


 

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