I decided I wanted to get rid of all the stuff that gets downloaded when I get email stuff and watch wmv files etc, but I' ve forgotten what the folder is called that saves all the temporary files for that stuff. I've hunted around but can't seem to find the files, although I've run across them before...anyone have a clue where to find these files?

Start/Program Files/accessories/system tools/disk cleanup.
You can also run Disk Defragment from this menu, which is highly recommended. =)

You SHOULD defrag it every month at least. Anytime mines gets above 4 or 5% I do it.

I have clean-up and de-frag set up as a scheduled task... I just want to find all those temporary files/files downloaded via email so I can delete the ones I've seen ,forwarded, and don't want to save. My computer is running slower and slower, and I already downsized start up and I ran malwarebytes.

Disk cleanup should take care of all those old compressed files for you.There is an option in the menu when it starts as to which files to cleanup, click the old compressed files option and try that.



That's all i can think of.

Thanks guys, I'll try! It's driving me crazy and I'm getting worried that my computer is gonna die!

Run CCleaner. It cleans up more then just Internet Explorer. Like the temporary files from Firefox or Chrome.

http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner

Don't do the registry thing unless you know what you're doing. Also don't do the advanced things.

I don't have firefox or chrome on my computer...it's an old computer and I just never bothered to add them. I am not sure my disk cleanup is working right, the progress bar only goes up to two green marks, never seems to go further. Besides, it's not like my hard drive is at all full, there is plenty of space left on it. The computer just runs seems to run slower and slower. The tower also emits a bit of noise, sometimes it sounds like it is speeding up, sometimes it sounds like it is slowing down. It's not loud, but I can hear it humming.

Sounds like mine ... lol
Right now it needs a good fan cleaning.
I take it outside (the hard drive) and blow it out with an air compressor every year.It gets real dusty in my area due to the clay that abounds everywhere. =)

About your Disc Cleaner:
It takes a while to run if you haven't ran it in a while.(just like defrag)
Run defrag first start/program files/accessories/system tools/defrag...count on doing it at night when your asleep...leave it running.
Then try this - click one area at a time to clean when that dialog pops up tick just one square.
See if that speeds it up a bit.

After that do it about every 2-3 months or so.defrag and clean disk.
Just running defrag speeds you up nicely a lot of times its all you need.

Hope that helps. =)

You were also asking about wmv video files. I think the directory you are looking for is the internet temporary directory. It commonly is at
"C:\Documents and Settings\Greg\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files" where you would replace my name "Greg", with your own username. This is where I can find audio, video and picture files!

Greg

Or in Internet Explorer go to tools - Internet options

In the first tab of the window that pops up it says Browsing history in the middle somewhere. Click on the delete button. From there you can tick what you want to delete. Temporary internet files is one of the things you can delete there.

p.s. if the menu isn't showing in Internet Explorer, right click next to your tabs, to the right of your tabs and tick menu bar.

If your computer is still slow you might want to run a virus scan. And a malware scan, and a adware scan. But unfortunately I can't help you with the last two.

I found the fix on this support page, lo and behold i downloaded it and installed as mine needed the same fix.
http://support.microsoft.com/default.as ... -us;812248
click this link
http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9648760
your computer will download a quick fix installer.
run the installer, when another window opens to tell you the process is finished, run disc clean. mine cleaned in 35 seconds. =)

you might be able to find other help with your slow machine issues at the same Microsoft support site.
Just go here http://fixitcenter.support.microsoft.com/Portal?gssnb=1

I recommend downloading the Fix It Center program and installing it. I did!

good luck =)

OK, lots of great ideas here!!! I haven't had time to do much, but I did reboot both the computer and the modem, and it's a bit better. Still not like it used to be, but at least it's not as bad as yesterday. I should have some weekend time to try out some of the suggestions...thanks everyone!

I'll check out the fix-it program.

I installed it and it downloaded all the trouble shooter programs i need for my system setup.
It scans your computer and downloads relevant program troubleshooters for you.Then you
can run them as you need them.I ran all of them just to see what would happen.They fixed errors
i didn't even know i had.It even trashes the dead plug-ins and add-ons on Internet Explorer that
are no longer usable. I liked that! (i don't use IE very often though), but i did notice it kept trying
to open up ads and pages like pop ups.NO MORE! ... i liked that too. =)
After the fix i ran Disc Clean , and it got rid of 3+ gigs of trash files on my system...nice!

All in all id say its worth the download which is small.And after that quick fix with Disc Clean WOW!
I'll be using this program for now on.

Hi 2T , I found that over time little bits of of program are added that need more and more processes to be open, (just in case you might need them). So when you had a new system , you might have had 25 -35 processes running. You may find that you now have 50-60 processes running. CTL Alt DEl will bring up the windows task manager. Have a look at this (processes tab) and see if anything is "eating "your cpu cycles. If your system is idle. (you are not doing anything on the computer) then there should be no cpu usage!
There are many ways to cull processes that do not need to run all the time . One good program that analyses the start up procedure and is free is Soluto. It analyses the start up and tells you which processes are not normally required and gives you the choice of changing how it loads , etc.
Together with the other suggestions you should be able to speed up your system somewhat more. Good luck

Wbool63

You will have to have at least 512 mb of ram to run this program (Soluto) too so check before you download it. =)

Looks like a nice piece of freeware though.

Soluto isn't currently available. I put my email on the Soluto site, to try to get it.

I downloaded the Soluto freeware and it is pretty decent.After the initial install you reboot and it will give you a timer down on the left hand corner of your screen, how much time it takes for your machine to boot up.
After your boot-up another screen pops up telling you what loaded how long it took and if you can safely make it pause or delay during boot to boot faster.It also shows you which files you cannot delay or pause during boot because they are necessary.

I thought it was a freeware to watch your RAM and help to control your running programs...ah well.
It will be handy to watch how long it takes new programs to start up.Normally though i make sure none of my programs boot unless i manually start them.

I like some of the menu items it has
On going frustration research
My machine just frustrated me...wonder what that does...lol

I usually go to start - run and then type in msconfig

then in the startup tab you can tick and untick what programs you want to start up (in the background usually) while starting up windows.

What I do is leave everything that I don't know what it is ticked. And untick stuff like CD burning software, software for printer and scanner that you can start from the start menu, and any other programs that you can just start from the start menu when you need them.

Obviously, leave virus scanner software and such ticked as you want that to always run.

If something doesn't work any more you can always come back and tick them again.