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| Spyware, Adware and Virus Removal
First Steps: Get Rid of Temporary Files |
| Posted: 02-05-2006 | Views: 8 |
| Author: Frank Wrobel |
There are many software programs
available designed to remove Viruses, Spyware, Adware
and other nasties from your computer. Uneducated users
simply run these programs in the mistaken belief that
once they do, all is well.
For the best results, and to optimise computer performance
and efficiency, it's best to eliminate the many temporary
files and temporary Internet files that build up on one's
hard disk over time.
Temporary Internet Files result simply from visiting web
sites. Each web page usually consists of a number of individual
elements, including one or more images. A typical business
page is made from a large number of individual images,
even if only a single image is visible when the page is
fully loaded. Each of these images is stored on your hard
disk in the Temporary Internet Files folder, also known
as the Internet Cache”. Other elements such as cookies
and multimedia files are also stored here. Particularly
useful in the early days of the Internet when only dial-up
accounts were available, the use of this cache idea helped
speed up access to web pages on the second and subsequent
visit. Because images and multimedia objects take a lot
longer to download than text, once they were stored in
a local cache, they would be displayed directly from the
hard disk, and didn't need to be downloaded again. Web
access was therefore a lot faster. There appears no way
of automatically deleting these files, and so the number
increases constantly.
Temporary Files appear for other reasons. In the course
of normal operation by some programs, they require “working
space” and will create one or more temporary files. When
programs are installed, particularly from zipped or compressed
files, they usually need a temporary storage area in which
to store files during the installation process. It would
make sense in both these cases, for the programs to delete
the temporary files when finished. However, it seems that
in a lot of cases, the obvious doesn't happen.
Why should we care that we have all these unwanted files
on our hard disks?
Firstly, they do take up disk space unnecessarily, and
secondly they reduce the performance of our computers.
But in the context of viruses, spyware, adware, malware
and other nasties, there are two reasons why all these
temporary files are unwanted.
Most of the “nasties” mentioned above, apart from viruses,
infiltrate our computers whilst visiting websites. Objects
downloaded from web sites sit on our hard disk in the
Temporary Internet Files folder. Deleting these files,
therefore, is the first step to eliminating nasties. Some
viruses and nasties will install themselves, or a copy
of themselves in the Temporary folder where no-one can
find them. Have you ever run a virus or spyware scan only
to find that the culprit comes right back afterwards?
The other reason to delete these files ... and there could
be a great many of them over time ... is to minimise the
time the scanning software has to run by reducing the
number of files it has to scan.
Fortunately, Windows gives us a simple method to delete
these files.
Click on “Start” and “My Computer”. With the right mouse
button, click on your primary hard disk, usually the C:
drive, known in Windows XP as Local Disk (C:). In the
menu that opens, click on the “Properties” selection at
the bottom. The window that opens will display a graphically
representation of your hard disk showing the total space,
and the amount used and free. On the left is a button
called “Disk Cleanup”. Press that button.
Windows will now check your hard disk and open another
window showing how many temporary and temporary Internet
files there are. If you click on “ok”, Windows will proceed
to delete those files. It's safe to do so. The recycle
bin is also listed, and if you haven't emptied it for
a while, now is a good time to do so. Leave the other
options unchecked.
Your virus scanning software and “anti-nasties” programs
will now run more quickly, and in fact, you might find
your whole computer seems faster and more responsive.
There is one limitation of the Windows built-in file cleaner
though: it often doesn't delete all files, and the only
way of doing it is to manually delete them. That'll be
covered in a future article.
Frank Wrobel is a computer consultant with many years
experience in supporting everything from home computers
to corporate networks. He has written a book explaining
how to find and eradicate viruses, spyware, malware and
other nasties: http://www.fixcomputernasties.com/
This
article is free for republishing
Article Source: http://www.articlealley.com/ |
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