What Are TMP Files and How Can I Delete Them?
Files ending with the extension TMP are frequently found on
computers. So what are these TMP files? Well, as the file extension might
suggest, they are temporary files. These files are typically created by applications
to store some form of temporary data, in a permanent form than RAM, on your
hard disk. TMP files are commonly produced either when a program can't allocate
enough memory for its tasks, or as part of inter-process communication.
Modern operating systems usually employ a virtual memory system, where if a program exceeds its allotted memory space usage, it can
provide the application with part of the hard disk space as a substitute for
memory. Programs which use large amounts of data, like video editing software,
may need to create many TMP files. TMP files are usually deleted automatically
by their parent application (the software, game, application) which created
them. However there may be instances where these files aren't removed from your
computer and end up taking unnecessary space. This happens particularly either
because the parent application crashed during runtime, or because the program's
developer forgot to add the necessary code to delete TMP files when finished
using them. TMP files tend to accumulate over time and take up a lot of disk
space.
All this said, I have to add an important note: not all TMP
files are safe to remove. So how do I know when a TMP file can be removed or
not? Usually it is safe to assume that if a TMP file is several weeks or months
old, you can delete. You can check the meta data to know when the file was
created or last modified, by right clicking on the file and choosing Properties. For example when you are using a word processor and have the
auto-save option enabled, the application will most probably create some form
of temporary file to store the content of the document you're working on in
some pre-defined location in your hard disk.
Other temp files as they are usually called, are created by
the Windows and its default applications. One well known default application
which creates hoards of clear temporary files is the Internet browser. Whenever you
access a webpage, buy from an online shopping cart, access your email, your
browser is transparently saving and caching some data pertaining to the action
you've taken for various reasons. One of the reasons is for optimizing your web
experience and loading the web-pages you visit the most frequently faster.
Temp files which are created by default Windows applications
are usually stored in a few pre-defined locations in your hard drive mainly
C:windowstemp folder. For these reasons there may be temp files, unbeknown to
you, scattered in various locations all over your computer. The easiest way to
remove temporary files created by Windows and its applications is to use the
Disk Cleanup service.
For the rest of the files with a TMP file extension,
scattered around your hard drive, there exist various options. Either remove
them manually or download a system utilities suite (with disk or temporary file
cleaner software) which automatically takes care of sweeping your hard drive of
junk files. The latter is suited for both newbies and advanced users alike.
These types of system utilities are almost always in some form of suite or
package offering multiple other system utility applications.
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