Removing TMP File

jek1862 · 09-16-2009, 05:09 AM

I am not positive if this is the best place to post this thread, so if it is not, I apologize, and please re-post it in the proper forum. Thank you.....

This is not a major issue, but has been bugging me of late, so thought I would post it on the forum for some feeback.
One of the utilities I use has an 'unnecessary files' feature to clean up, well, unnecessary files on my system. It does a good job of cleaning up unnecessary files, but it always 'leaves' a few stating 'cannot delete file, may be in use'.
For every one but one, I can understand why it does not delete certain files. Another thing is that this file is using up a considerable amount of space on my disk, over 26mb.
It is related to the anti-virus program I choose to use, Avira. The whole thing, it says, is taking up about 33mb.
Now here is the file in question:
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Avira\AntiVirDesktop\TEMP\avguard.tmp

It says it is a "TMP file", which I am not quite sure exactly what that is.

As I said, it will not delete this 'unnecessary' file, as it 'appears to be in use'. So I disable my Avira anti-virus, to see if it will then delete the file. Nope. Then I UNINSTALL Avira. The file remains, and I STILL cannot get this software to delete it! Even with the Anti Virus deleted it still says 'cannot delete, appears to be in use', which makes no sense to me, since it has been uninstalled.

Then I try to FIND this file. I cannot. I look for it both manually and using the Search function. It does come up during the Search, but I get stopped cold after 'all users'. After 'all users', I do not then see 'application data', so I can go no further in trying to manually delete this file. If anything, I just want to look at this file's properties, even if I can't delete it.
Is there 'another' Documents and Settings folder somewhere on my computer? That is the only thing I can think of why I can't locate this complete file.

I need to know what this all means. Does the TMP file HAVE to remain, and cannot be deleted? I can understand if the AntiVirus is in use, but it still refuses to delete it even after I disable it, and amazingly, even after I uninstall the software.

I am just trying to free up unnecessary space on my disk, as I am always looking to free up some memory and ram as I only have 512 right now. If this is 26mb of 'junk' I can properly delete, then I naturally want to. If it must remain, for some reason, then I need to be told that and why.

Thanks for any help on this problem.

09-16-2009, 05:09 AM	#1 (permalink)
jek1862 Registered User Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 6 OS: Windows XP	Removing TMP File I am not positive if this is the best place to post this thread, so if it is not, I apologize, and please re-post it in the proper forum. Thank you..... This is not a major issue, but has been bugging me of late, so thought I would post it on the forum for some feeback. One of the utilities I use has an 'unnecessary files' feature to clean up, well, unnecessary files on my system. It does a good job of cleaning up unnecessary files, but it always 'leaves' a few stating 'cannot delete file, may be in use'. For every one but one, I can understand why it does not delete certain files. Another thing is that this file is using up a considerable amount of space on my disk, over 26mb. It is related to the anti-virus program I choose to use, Avira. The whole thing, it says, is taking up about 33mb. Now here is the file in question: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Avira\AntiVirDesktop\TEMP\avguard.tmp It says it is a "TMP file", which I am not quite sure exactly what that is. As I said, it will not delete this 'unnecessary' file, as it 'appears to be in use'. So I disable my Avira anti-virus, to see if it will then delete the file. Nope. Then I UNINSTALL Avira. The file remains, and I STILL cannot get this software to delete it! Even with the Anti Virus deleted it still says 'cannot delete, appears to be in use', which makes no sense to me, since it has been uninstalled. Then I try to FIND this file. I cannot. I look for it both manually and using the Search function. It does come up during the Search, but I get stopped cold after 'all users'. After 'all users', I do not then see 'application data', so I can go no further in trying to manually delete this file. If anything, I just want to look at this file's properties, even if I can't delete it. Is there 'another' Documents and Settings folder somewhere on my computer? That is the only thing I can think of why I can't locate this complete file. I need to know what this all means. Does the TMP file HAVE to remain, and cannot be deleted? I can understand if the AntiVirus is in use, but it still refuses to delete it even after I disable it, and amazingly, even after I uninstall the software. I am just trying to free up unnecessary space on my disk, as I am always looking to free up some memory and ram as I only have 512 right now. If this is 26mb of 'junk' I can properly delete, then I naturally want to. If it must remain, for some reason, then I need to be told that and why. Thanks for any help on this problem.