Copyright: Made with Shalom Help Maker www.danish-shareware.dk/soft/shelpm/


Contents

Introduction
Introduction, requirements and command line options
Quick start

The four tabs
Tab #1 - Temp folders
Tab #2 - Cookies, History, URLs
Tab #3 - Find tmp files
Tab #4 - Clipboard & shortcuts

Viewing text files
Text viewer

Toolbar and menus
Toolbar on tab #1
File menu
Actions menu

Options menu
Options menu - Program options
Options menu - Add predefined folders
Options menu - Temp files search folder exclusions...
Options menu - Zero bytes search file types exclusions...
Options menu - Shortcut search folder exclusions...

Using EmpRunner
EmpRunner - automatically run Emptemp with intervals

Avoiding and solving problems
What not to do
Trouble shooting
Help! I deleted the wrong files!!
Technical Support

General stuff
How to install and uninstall
Home page, mailing list, E-mail etc.
What's new?
Software license and disclaimer


Introduction, requirements and command line options

Empty Temp Folders (emptemp) helps you manage folders that contain temporary files, left over by other applications. These folders may have names like temp, tmp, msdownld.tmp, cookies, temporary internet files or history.

Also emptemp will let you list and delete cookies, history files (Recent) and URLs (Temporary Internet Files). This requires MS Internet Explorer version 5+.

Emptemp also has a search function to let you find temporary files outside the normal temp folders. Any program can leave behind temporary files or backup files anywhere on your harddisk. These files have file types like .tmp, .bak, .$$$, .old and .log. You can add your own file types and let emptemp find these files for you. Then you can delete some or all of them.

Emptemp can display the amount of memory the content of the clipboard takes up, and delete it. And it can find broken shortcuts (.lnk files) on your harddisk, so you can delete or fix them.

Furthermore EmpRunner is included. It can be used to run the emptemp program at certain intervals.

Note that files and subfolders will be permanently deleted! They wont be moved to the recycle bin!

When run for the first time (only the first time) emptemp checks if the previous version's folder exists and offers to copy the ini file. So don't uninstall the old version before the new is installed!

Command line options
/clip makes emptemp run minimized, empty the clipboard and then terminate.
/all makes emptemp run minimized, empty all temp folders and then terminate.
/keepdirs prevents deleting of folders (but not their contents). Also see Options.
The last two can be combined. The order and case of these arguments doesn't matter.
Example: emptemp2.exe /all /keepdirs

Please notice that not all files and subfolders can be deleted, even if their attributes are being changed (which emptemp does routinely). Windows protects some files from deletion - probably with good cause. Files that are in use by other applications (or by Windows) also cannot be deleted.

Emptemp avoids deleting certain files, namely desktop.ini and INFO2 which are found in directories named recycler or recycled (used by recycle bin).

Subfolders with undeletable files in them cannot be deleted of course.

Nobody pays me to make emptemp work perfectly on all systems. So I have to limit the amount of time I spend on this. If emptemp don't suit you or don't seem to work as you would like, you might want to look for some other software. ;)


Quick start

Tab #1 - Temp folders

Start by picking Add predefined folders... from the Options menu. Check the folders you want to add to the folders list in the main window and click the Apply button.

Don't add any folder that might contain important files. This is your responsibility. The fact that a folder is included in the predefined list doesn't mean it's always safe to delete its contents!

If you want to add other folders click this button:  or pick the Add folders item from the Action menu.
Arrange the folders in the list by selecting one at a time and then click the arrow buttons ( [image] [image]) in the toolbar.

Delete the contents of a selected folder by clicking this button: .

You can at any time remove a folder from the list by selecting it and click this button: .

If you find it convenient to empty the recycle bin also, then just click this button: .

Tab #2 - Cookies, History, URLs

Click the Cookies button:  to list the cookies on your system. Click the Delete button:  to delete all the cookies in the list.
Then click the History button:  to list the history files and so on.
Clicking this button:  will list cookies, history files and URLs in the same list.

Those files you don't want to be deleted, you can add to the keep list. Select the file and click the plus button. To remove a file from the keep list, select it and click the minus button.

Tab #3 - Find tmp files

To search a drive click the drive letter in the drive panel. Select those files you want to delete and click the Delete button: .
Add a file type to the list by clicking the plus button and remove a file type by selected it and clicking the minus button.
Selection of all files, no files or files with a certain file type can easily be done by clicking the Selection button: .

Tab #4 - Clipboard & shortcuts

Click the button [image] to start the search of all drives for broken shortcuts.
Click the button [image] to see the standard property page for the selected shortcut.
Click the button [image] to open the folder in which the shortcut is.
Click the button [image] to delete the selected shortcut(s).

Command line options

/all makes emptemp run minimized, empty all temp folders and then terminate.
/keepdirs prevents deleting of folders (but not their contents).
These can be combined. The order and case of these arguments doesn't matter.
Example: emptemp2.exe /all /keepdirs

Options

In the Options window you can determine if cookies, history files, URLs and the contents of the Recycle Bin also should be deleted when running emptemp with the /all command line option. And you can select to delete files only when older than x days.
And you can choose to preserve sub folders. If you have EmpRunner running emptemp and don't want any folders to be deleted, you have to check this option.


Tab #1 - Temp folders

Also see: Toolbar on tab #1

As can be seen the window has two lists.

The one on the left (the folders list) is where you add your temp folders. Clicking a temp folder in the left list (the folders list) will cause the contents of that folder to be shown in the file list to the right.

The icons in the folders list shows whether a folder is empty or not:

This icon indicates an empty folder: bmct folderIsEmpty.bmp
This icon indicate a folder that is NOT empty: bmct folderNotEmpty.bmp

The file list on the right lists the files and subfolders contained in the selected temp folder. Select a file or subfolder and press the Delete key on the keyboard (or right-click and select Delete from the popup menu) to ... yes, to eradicate it.
Click a header to sort it. Click it again to sort it in reverse order. Your choice of sorted column and sort order (ascending or descending) is saved.
To view a (text) file select it and press F3 on the keyboard (or right-click and select View from the popup menu).

The file list is browseable. Double-click a row containing a folder icon:

to go down one level:

Click the topmost row to go up one level.

The accumulated file size ( [image]) includes the contents of the sub folders.
To the right of each file you can see its size and creation date.


Tab #2 - Cookies, History, URLs

If this tab isn't visible then emptemp hasn't been able to find wininet.dll on your computer. If you want the functionality of this tab you have to install Microsoft Internet Explorer version 5+. It might work partly with an older version of MSIE, but emptemp is made to work with version 5+ only.

The first time you click a button to list all history files or URLs it might take a long time to complete! There can be thousands of these files. Just give emptemp a minute or five to do its work.

 Click this button to list cookies, history files and URLs.

 Click this button to list cookies only.

 Click this button to list history files (recent) only.

 Click this button to list URLs (Temporary Internet Files) only.

 Click this button to see all files on the keep lists that in fact exist.

 Click this button to delete ALL the items in the list.

To delete only one item at a time just select the item (click it once) and press the Delete key (on your keyboard).

Double-click an item (or press Enter or Space) to view its contents. A new window will open. Hit Esc to close it.

You may want to keep some cookies, and (less likely) some history files and URLs. To keep these from being deleted, you have to add them to what I'll call the don't-delete-list. There is one list for each file type (cookies, history files and URLs). The list is being loaded when you click one of the above mentioned buttons. And the list is being saved automatically.

Click this button to add a selected item from the list on the left to the list on the right (the keep-list). Or hit the plus key on your keyboard.

Cookies, history and URLs in the keep list are not listed in the left hand list!. Click this button to see all files on the keep lists that in fact exist:

Click this button to remove the selected item from the list to the right. Or hit Delete on your keyboard.

Notice: When you click the show-them-all button the list to the right will show all items that should not be deleted. In this state you can't add items to the list or remove items from the list, since the items have to be added to and removed from separate lists (cookies, history files and URLs).

Popup menu
Right-click an item to display the popup menu, where you can select to view the contents of the item, add a selected item to the don't-delete-list, or to copy the URL (web address) or the whole string.


Tab #3 - Find tmp files

On this tab you can search for temporary files and other superfluous files outside the normal temp folders. These files are left behind by programs that forgot to clean up when being closed, or that weren't closed in a normal manner. Or by programs that produce files that serves no useful purpose, like log files or backup files (bak). Of course some backup files and some log files are useful, but many aren't. It's up to you to be the judge of that.

Start the search by clicking a drive button on the drive panel. If you want to search the C-drive, click the C-button and so on. You can only search one drive at a time.

Check Zero bytes to also find files that are empty. It's usually safe to delete such files. Some files are protected by Windows and can't be deleted. Emptemp has an internal exclusion list for zero bytes files. In Options/Zero bytes search exclusions... you can exclude file types from the search.

Emptemp then reads the names of all your folders (directories). While this is done you can't stop the search.
Then emptemp searches the folders to find the temporary files. While this is done you can cancel the search by clicking the red stop button:

When the search is finished you can select the files you want to delete. Either by clicking on them (press the Ctrl key to select non-adjacent files) or by using the Select button: . Click it to get a list of options:

Click Select all to have all the files in the list selected.

Click Select none to make sure no files are selected.

Or click one of the file types to have all files of that type selected.

When you select a file type all other file types will be deselected. So you can't accumulate file type selections. Only one file type can be selected at a time, using this tool.

Delete the selected files by clicking the Delete button:  or by pressing the Delete key on your keyboard or by right-clicking a file and select Delete from the menu.

Click this button:  to delete ALL files in the list.

The list of file types can be edited:

Click the plus (+) button to add a new file type. Don't enter any periods (punctuation marks), just the 3 or 4 letters that make up the file type.

Wildcards are allowed in file types. Wildcards are asterixes (*) and question marks (?). An asterix replaces zero or more characters and a question mark replaces one character. Exampel: Entering a file type like ~* will make emptemp look for any file type starting with the ~ character. Entering a file type like ba? will make emptemp find file with types like bak, bac, ba1 etc.

To remove a file type from the list, select it and click the minus (-) button.

To add those file types from the original setup, that may have been deleted since, click the Default button. You will be asked for each file type missing if you want to add it.

To view the contents of a file right-click it and select View from the menu (or press F3 on your keyboard). Only text files can be viewed.


Tab #4 - Clipboard & shortcuts

On this tab you can empty the clipbord and search for shortcuts (.lnk files) that doesn't work.

If you copy a lot of stuff to the clipboard it takes up memory (RAM). Since Windows doesn't tell you how much memory your clipboard is using, you risk having some megabites filled up with stuff you don't use.

On this tab you can see how much memory is used by the clipboard and what kind of data it consists of. Click the button [image] to remove the contents of the clipboard and click the button [image] to update the information about the clipboard. The clipboard formats information is only there to satisfy the curiosity of geeks. ;)

Broken shortcuts don't take up much space, but since they can be found and either fixed or deleted we might as well do it once in a while.

Click the button [image] to start the search of all drives for broken shortcuts. First all existing shortcuts are listed and then the file to which the shortcut points (target) is checked for existence. If it exists the shortcut is removed from the list. In the end the list contains those shortcuts that are broken (if any). Shortcuts that don't point to a normal file are also removed from the list. This is because shortcuts to certain items (e.g. control panels) point to a name and not a file. I haven't yet figured out how to check these. But normally they will be OK anyway.

Shortcuts pointing to files on unavailable diskettes or CD-ROMs will be regarded as broken. In Options you can select to have emptemp regard such shortcuts as NOT broken instead. The same goes for shortcuts pointing to files on a network drive or a RAM drive.

Click the button [image] to see the standard property page for the selected shortcut, where you might be able to fix the shortcut.
Click the button [image] to open the folder in which the shortcut is.
Click the button [image] to delete the selected shortcut(s).

Click a shortcut to see the target path and the description contained in the shortcut (only few shortcuts contain descriptions). This is shown in the two text boxes below the shortcut list.

Double-click a shortcut to execute it. This way you might get the change to fix the shortcut by picking a new target file (depends on what Windows can do with the shortcut though).


Text viewer

Select a file in the file list and press F3 on the keyboard (or right-click and select View from the popup menu).

Only text files can be viewed. This includes not only files with the txt-extension of course. It can't hurt to try to open other files, so go ahead.

The text viewer can be configured (font and background color). Close it by hitting the Esc key or selecting Exit in the File menu.


Toolbar on tab #1

Description of each button

Click this button if you want to add a new folder to the folders list. A small window will open to let you browse for a folder.
If you can't find certain folders that ought to be there, check if system files and folders are hidden: In Windows Explorer click the menu Tools | Folder Options and then the View tab. In the Advanced settings box check Show hidden files and folders (if you think this is a wise move).

Emptemp doesn't like it if you try to add a root folder to the list (e.g. C:or D:. Or if you attempt to add C:to the list. Or C:. In such cases Emptemp will refuse to cooperate since you could ruin your system completely if you happened to delete the files in an important system folder.
This doesn't mean that emptemp is fool proof. It isn't!

Deleting history files and temporary internet files should be done from the Cookies, History, URLs tab. Although the history and recent folders can be added to the Files tab, these special files are sometimes impossible to delete in the ordinary delete-a-file way. Microsoft made that certain.

Click this button to remove a folder from the folders list. Don't forget to select a folder first. Clicking this button only removes the folder from the list -- it doesn't delete it from your harddisk.

Click this button to empty the selected folder. This is the main action! Never forget that all files and subfolders will be permanently deleted! They wont be moved to the recycle bin!
Since you can add the cookies folder on this tab, you can also delete cookies here. Emptemp attempts to protect cookies put on the keep list (on tab #2) when deleting files here on tab #1 (even though their names a different here).

Please notice that not all files and subfolders can be deleted, even if their attributes are being changed (which emptemp does routinely). Windows protects some files from deletion - with good cause. Files that are in use by other applications (or by Windows) also cannot be deleted. That's why some folders never will be completely empty.
Emptemp avoids deleting certain files, namely desktop.ini and INFO2 which are found in directories named recycler or recycled (used by recycle bin).
Subfolders with undeletable files in them cannot be deleted.

Click this button to empty all temp folders.
In the Options window you can choose if cookies, history files, URLs and the contents of the Recycle Bin also should be deleted when clicking this button.

Click this button to move the selected folder up.

Click this button to move the selected folder down.

Click this button to open the selected folder in Windows Explorer.

Click this button to empty the recycle bin. You can't see the contents of the recycle bin in any of the lists, so be careful here.

Click this button to open the recycle bin folder in Explorer.

Click this button to open this help file.


File menu

The item Empty recycle bin empties the recycle bin. Since you can't see the contents of the recycle bin in any of the lists, you have to be careful. If you never have to recover anything from the recycle bin, then it should be safe to empty the bin from here.

The item Open recycle bin in Explorer opens the recycle bin folder. You know that files deleted with emptemp don't end up in the recycle bin, don't you?

The item Open folder in Explorer opens the selected folder in Windows Explorer. This can be useful if you want a closer look at the files in a folder, or if you want to move them to a safer place.

The item Start EmpRunner launches the copy of EmpRunner it might find in the emptemp folder.

You can close emptemp by selecting Exit from the File menu or by pressing the Esc key on your keyboard.


Actions menu

The item Empty all folders makes emptemp run through all the folders and delete their contents (if possible). Only use this action after having used emptemp for some time, so you know what the folders might contain.
All files and subfolders will be permanently deleted! They wont be moved to the recycle bin!

The item Add folder enables you to add a new folder to the folders list. A small window will open to let you browse for a folder.

Emptemp doesn't like it if you try to add a root folder to the list (e.g. C:or D:. Or if you attempt to add C:to the list. Or C:. In such cases Emptemp will refuse to cooperate since you could ruin your system completely if you happened to delete the files in an important system folder.
This doesn't mean that emptemp is fool proof. It isn't!

The item Remove folder enables you to remove the selected folder from the folders list. Clicking this menu item only removes the folder from the list -- it doesn't delete it from your harddisk.

The item Empty selected folder removes all files and subfolders from the folder you have selected (from the list on the left).
All files and subfolders will be permanently deleted! They wont be moved to the recycle bin!

The item Move folder up moves the selected folder up.

The item Move folder down moves the selected folder down.


Options menu - Program options

Also see:
Add predefined folders | Temp files search folder exclusions | Zero bytes search file types exclusions | Shortcut search folder exclusions

Program options

Clicking the Program options... item opens this window:

In the frame When clicking the Empty all folders button also delete you can check those items you want to have automatically deleted when you click this button in the main window:

Be careful here! These options also apply when running emptemp with the /all command line option!

In the frame Only delete files older than you can select a number of days. If files are older than that, they wont be deleted.
This also applies when running emptemp with the /all command line option. But it only applies to files listed on tab #1!

In the frame Auto start you can check Shortcut in Startup folder to have emptemp create a shortcut to itself in your Startup folder. This means that emptemp will start when Windows starts. Uncheck the option to have the shortcut removed.

Check Minimize to have emptemp start up minimized.

Check Clean all at startup and then close (/all) to make emptemp clean all the temp folders (and cookies etc. according to the options you've selected) when starting and then close down.

In the frame Max number of History, URLs or cookies in list you can set a limit to the number of History files, URLs and cookies. This may be useful if an extremely large number of these files causes an error on your system when retrieving the list. And the number of files sometimes is extreme the first time you let emptemp list these files. After deleting most or all of the files you can select 'No max'.

Shortcuts pointing to files on an unavailable diskette or CD-ROM will be regarded as broken. in the frame When checking shortcuts always accept targets on you can select to have emptemp regard such shortcuts as NOT broken instead. The same goes for shortcuts pointing to files on a network drive and a RAM drive.

In the fram Tab style you can select how the tabs should look.

Check Never delete folders (tab #1) if you for some reason want the sub folders preserved. This is equivalent to starting emptemp with the /keepdirs command line option. If you have EmpRunner running emptemp and don't want any folders to be deleted, you have to check this option.

Check Hide icons on drive panel (tab #3) if you have more drives than can be displayed on tab #3.

In the frame Show this tab on startup you can select what tab is displayed when emptemp starts.

In the frame Gridlines in file lists you can choose to show or to hide gridlines (all tabs).


Options menu - Add predefined folders

To get you started you can add folders from a predefined list. Click the item Add predefined folders... to get this window:

The contents may vary since not all flavors of Windows have the same system folders.
Check the folders you want to add to the folders list (in the main window) and uncheck those you don't want. Then click the Apply button.

You can add almost any folder to the folders list. The predefined list is only the folders you most likely will want to add.
Every time you open this window the folders that are present on both this (fixed) list and in the folders list in the main window will be checked. That way you know what folders you already have added.
If you uncheck a folder it will be removed from the folders list when you click the Apply button.

Don't add any folder that might contain important files. This is your responsibility. The fact that a folder is included in the predefined list doesn't mean it's always safe to delete its contents!

Hit the Close button to close the window.

The second item in the menu is the Exit item, which exits the program when clicked. If you added new folders they will be saved automatically.


Options menu - Temp files search folder exclusions...

Here you can add those folders you don't want emptemp to look in when searching for temp files on tab #3.
Add a folder by clicking the plus button and browse to the folder - or drag and drop folders from Explorer. Remove a folder from the list by selecting it and click the minus button.


Options menu - Zero bytes search file types exclusions...

Here you can add file types that should be excluded when searching for files with file size = 0 bytes. I.e. if you have checked the Zero bytes checkbox on tab #3.

Add a file type by clicking the plus button and enter the file type (no period, please). Remove a file type from the list by selecting it and click the minus button.

You might find that some types of file have a size of 0 bytes, but shouldn't be deleted. These file types are those you enter in this list. Then they wont be displayed in the list and wont be deleted by accident.


Options menu - Shortcut search folder exclusions...

Here you can add those folders you don't want emptemp to look in when searching for broken shortcuts on tab #4.
Add a folder by clicking the plus button and browse to the folder - or drag and drop folders from Explorer. Remove a folder from the list by selecting it and click the minus button.


EmpRunner - automatically run Emptemp with intervals

Included with emptemp is a program called EmpRunner (emprun.exe). This can be used to automatically run emptemp at certain intervals. EmpRunner uses the copy of emptemp that it finds in its own folder and uses the data in the emptemp2.ini file. If you don't want emptemp to empty the usual folders when run by EmpRunner, make a new folder and put copies of emptemp2.exe and emprun.exe in it. Run emptemp2.exe and select the folders. Then use the copy of emprun.exe to run emptemp at your selected interval.

Select an interval in the frame on the left.
Click the Start button to start the timer and the Stop button to pause it.
Click the Empty now to run Empty Temp Folders immediately.
Click the Hide button to minimize EmpRunner to the traybar.
Click the Exit button to close EmpRunner.

EmpRunner puts an icon in the traybar to let you know if the timer is turned on or off.
This icon:  shows that the timer is on.
This icon:  shows that the timer is off.

Right-click the icon in the traybar to get at the popup menu.

Click the System menu to open the extended menu:

From either of these menus you can access the Options window:

The default behaviour is to show the EmpRunner window if the timer was off when the program was closed. Otherwise it's minimized to the traybar when starting. To have EmpRunner always minimize click the Minimize even if timer is not running checkbox.

If you want EmpRunner to run emptemp right away when starting check the Run Empty Temp Folders immediately checkbox. If not checked EmpRunner will wait the selected interval before running emptemp.

To have EmpRunner starting with Windows you need to put a shortcut in the Startup folder. Let EmpRunner do this for you by checking the Shortcut in Startup folder checkbox. Uncheck it to remove the shortcut.

If you want to preserve subfolders you have to check Never delete folders in the Options windows of the copy of emptemp that is run by EmpRunner.


What not to do

Don't forget that deleted files and subfolders are gone for good! They don't go to the recycle bin! You wont ever get them back!

Don't add any folders to the folders list, if you've got no clue about what they might contain.

Don't empty the recycle bin from this application if you regularly has to restore stuff from the bin. Better open the recycle bin on your desktop and check it out before you empty it.

Don't expect emptemp to be able to delete all files. Files like INFO2 and desktop.ini wont be deleted (Windows needs them) and index.dat can't be deleted (at least not without special tricks not supported by emptemp at the moment).

Don't be careless when adding new file types on tab #3. Think! And think again before deleting files from the list.


Trouble shooting

Before reporting problems go to my home page and check for a newer version of emptemp. If there is one, download it and see if the problem has been solved.

'Invalid argument to time encode' error

This is fixed now. Go to my home page and download the newest version.

Some folders don't show up in the Browse for folder window

If you can't find certain folders that ought to be there, check if system files and folders are hidden: In Windows Explorer click the menu Tools | Folder Options and then the View tab. In the Advanced settings box check Show hidden files and folders (if you think this is a wise move).
Don't attempt to add sub folders of the History folder to emptemp's folder list. These sub folders aren't normal folders.

I can't delete certain files

Deleting history files and temporary internet files should be done from the Cookies, History, URLs tab. Although the history and recent folders can be added to the list on the Files tab, these special files are sometimes impossible to delete in the ordinary delete-a-file way. Microsoft made that certain. The tricks built into Windows Explorer to enable display and deletion of these files, are to some extent built into the stuff on the Cookies, History, URLs tab.
Files like INFO2 and desktop.ini wont be deleted (Windows needs them) and index.dat can't be deleted (at least not without special tricks not supported by emptemp at the moment).

The Cookies, History, URLs tab isn't there/doesn't work!

The functions on this tab depend on version 5+ of wininet.dll (found in the System or Windows folder) that comes with Internet Explorer version 5+. If you don't want to upgrade your Internet Explorer you're out of luck. In my opinion it's not a big move to upgrade to version 5+. It's not much different from version 4.
To check what version of wininet.dll you have, find the file, right-click it and select Properties. Click the Version tab and find the file version right there. There's at least ten different versions of this file out there, but only version 5+ does a good job of displaying and deleting history and internet files.

Error when clicking the Show History or Show URLs button

In Program options you can set a limit to the number of History files, URLs and cookies. This may be useful if an extremely large number of these files causes an error on your system when retrieving the list. And the number of files sometimes is extreme the first time you let emptemp list these files. After deleting most or all of the files you can select 'No max'.
Alternatively you can use Internet Explorer to remove the files: Click the Tools menu. Select Internet Options. On the General tab click the button Delete Files... and delete all internet files. Then click the Clear History button too.


Help! I deleted the wrong files!!

Since I warn you repeatedly in this help file:

   Don't forget that all files and subfolders will be
   permanently deleted! They wont be moved to the recycle bin!

and since I can't decide what you do with Emptemp it's your responsibility what you delete and how you recover wrongly deleted files.

But here's a few suggestions:

Windows help:
Search for 'undelete' in Windows' help file and follow the instructions there.

Read this article:
'Recovering deleted files/III. The file is on a machine running Windows 95'
http://www.mindspring.com/~woodhead/attitude.htm
I don't know if this works on a win98 machine.

Find an undelete program here:
http://www.softseek.com/Utilities/File_Management/File_Deleting_and_Undeleting/

Good luck!


Technical Support

Since this is freeware (you got it for free) there's no big support staff at my end.

Since all my programs are free, I can't afford buying various versions of Windows on which to test them, so I have to depend on users (you) to give me feedback on how a program works on computers other than my own.

First read the Trouble shooting page.

I need this information in order to help you:
 What version of emptemp you have.
 The exact version of the wininet.dll file (see the Trouble shooting page how to find this).
 The exact version of Windows (find it on the System control panel).

If you find any errors please contact the author (Finn@Ekberg.com).

I can't promise to respond to all E-mails though.
Nobody pays me to make emptemp work perfectly on all systems. So I have to limit the amount of time I spend on this. If emptemp doesn't suit you or doesn't seem to work as you would like, you might want to look for some other software. ;)

New version can be found on emptemp's home page: http://www.danish-shareware.dk/soft/emptemp/
You might want to join the mailing list found there.


How to install and uninstall

Install
Run the install file (emptemp2Setup.exe) and pick a folder. Or accept the default folder

Uninstall
Should you wish to remove Empty Temp Folders from your computer then follow these steps:

 Click the Start button and select Programs | Empty Temp Folders | Uninstall.

or

 Open the control panel Add/Remove programs.
 Select Empty Temp Folders and click the Change/Remove button.
 Accept to delete all.


Home page, mailing list, E-mail etc.

This program's home page
http://www.danish-shareware.dk/soft/emptemp/
I have a mailing list to inform users of new versions. Go to the home page (above) to join the list.

Find more of my freeware here
http://home.get2net.dk/fec/software/software.html

Danish shareware
I'm maintaining an index of Danish shareware, which you can find at:
http://www.danish-shareware.dk/

E-mail
Finn@Ekberg.com

I am
Finn Ekberg Christiansen, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Programming
I'm using Borland Delphi 4 and Windows 2000 (English-US version).

Third party components
PBSystemPath by Poul Bak.
IE CACHE Component by Per L. Larsen and Christian Lovis.
TWildMatch component by Elliott Shevin.
TPBShellink by Patrick Brisacier and Jean-Fabien Connault.
TTrayIcon by Colin Wilson.

This help file
has been made with Shalom Help Maker, another of my freeware applications. Find it here:
http://www.danish-shareware.dk/soft/shelpm/index.html
It's a simplified help file maker that enables you to make help files in no time.


What's new?

Version 2.8.3 (August 2001)
- Fixed bug in Emptemp preventing it from deleting cookies, history files and URLs when run with command line option /all. Reported by René Dumoulin, Mark Klein and MadDad.
- Fixed wrong file bitmap on tab #3 when searching for temp files and zero bytes were unchecked.
- Fixed bug causing file type to be missing from intern list after readding it by clicking the Default button on tab #3. Worked OK after reload  though.
- Added menu item What's new? to the Help menu. Requested by Volker Wiens.
- Fixed: On tab #4 after deleting single items the selection moved 2 items down. Reported by Nick Salvatico.
- Added gid, syd and dir to file types (tab #3). Click the Default button to add them! Requested by Volker Wiens.
- Fixed bug in EmpRunner causing it to always show on startup. Reported by several.
- Added 10 minutes interval to EmpRunner. Requested by rivica.

Version 2.8.2 (August 2001)
- Added more folders to the Add predefined folders window. These new folders show up only if they exist on your computer!
- Added: Now the progressbar on tab #3 shows progress while loading directories (after they have been loaded once - has to count them first).
- Changed sizing of various components (emptemp and EmpRunner) to adapt them to screens with big fonts. Reported by Ulrik Løvehjerte.
- Added option to exclude certain file types when searching for zero bytes files on tab #3. (Options menu). Requested by John Hsu.
- Added command line option /clip to let you empty the clipboard. This one can't be combined with other command line option!
- Added: When a new version is run for the first time (only the first time!) it checks if the previous version's folder exists and offers to copy the ini file. So don't uninstall the old version before the new is installed! Requested by Orf Bartrop.
- Added internal exclusion list in order to keep some zero bytes files from being listed on tab #3. Read more here. Problem reported by Errol squires.
- Changed: Now suppresses errors messages while checking shortcuts. Reported by Ulrik Løvehjerte.
- Changed: Now the file list on tab #1 can be sorted by clicking the headers. Requested by several.
- Changed: Cookies, history and URLs in the keep list are no longer listed in the left hand list on tab #2 (among the other files). Requested by Gabe Sanders.
- Added a Show all saved items button. Click it to view files that has been preserved because they are on the keep list. Requested by Gabe Sanders.
- Added option to exclude certain folders when searching for temp files on tab #3. (Options menu). Requested by Volker Wiens.
- Added option to exclude certain folders when searching for broken shortcuts on tab #4. (Options menu). Requested by Volker Wiens.
- Fixed bug that prevented hiding of gridlines in file list (tab #1). Reported by Mike Minutoli.
- Added small yellow bitmaps to the file list on tab #3.
- Added option to change the tab style (normal/buttons/flat buttons) and increased the tab height.
- Changed the sort arrows' orientation (file list on tab #1). Now then point down when sorted ascending.
- Added office\data\data.bak to the internal exclusion list (tmp file search). MS Office XP doesn't seem to be able to live without it. Reported by Glen Martin Sr. Also added these files: folders.nch, user.dmp, bg050409.bkc, bg040409.bkc and 2141.chk.
- Changed: Improved the way emptemp handles manual deletion of subfolders (tab #1).
- Changed: When clicking Show all saved items on tab #2 only items that in fact exist are shown. Requested by Errol squires.
- Added mscreate to file types (tab #3). Requested by Bob Haroche. Also added da0, ilk, ncb, pch, rws and sbr.
- Added Netscape cache folder and Opera cache folder to the Add predefined folders window. These new folders show up only if they exist on your computer and if emptemp can find them! Requested by Bob Haroche.
- Changed: Shortened the load time of emptemp by tweaking the code.
- Added Default button on tab #3 to add those file types from the original setup, that may have been deleted since.
- Added protection of cookies on the keep list when deleting files on tab #1. Requested by Errol squires.

Version 2.8.1 (July 2001)
- Fixed bug causing an error if file size was >= 1000 kb (tab #3). Reported by Errol.
- Added option to include all files with size = 0 bytes when searching for tmp files (tab #3). Suggested by koko.
- Added option to disregard shortcuts with targets on network drives/removable drives/CD-ROM drives/RAM drives. Suggested by Ulrik Løvehjerte.
- Added menu item Start EmpRunner to the File menu. Suggested by Volker Wiens.
- Added menu item Start Emptemp to the menus of EmpRunner. Suggested by Volker Wiens.
- Changed: Rearranged delete clipboard and update clipboard buttons on tab #4.
- Fixed bug in EmpRunner that made the Empty now button not work.

Version 2.8 (July 2001)
- Added tab #4 to let you empty the clipboard and search for broken shortcuts (.lnk files).
- Added option to never delete folders (same effect as using the /all command line option,
  which can still be used). Selecting this option you can preserve folders when using EmpRunner.
- Changed file dates (tab #1) from creation time to last write time.
- Added status bar (tab #1) to show accumulated size of files deleted and files not deleted. Suggested by Neville Denetto.
- Added option to let you select what tab to show on startup.
- Added option to hide icons on the drive panel on tab #3. Suggested by ultimateDJ.
- Changed: Now the file list (tab #1) is updated before it's emptied.
- Changed: The file list (tab #2) is updated for every 100 files.
- Fixed bug causing an error when clicking the stop button on tab #3 while loading directories. Reported by Volker Wiens.

Version 2.7.1 (July 2001)
- Added program named EmpRunner to the package. This program sits in the traybar and runs emptemp at the interval you select.
- Changed: Totally rewritten file deletion code (tab #1), making the file list less flimsy.
- Added: Accumulated file size now includes sub folders. Suggested by several.
- Added option to put a shortcut to emptemp in the Startup folder. Suggested by Ulrik Løvehjerte.
- Added the path Application Data\Microsoft\Office\Recent to list of predefined folders. Suggested by D@nny.
- Added $db, db$ and dmp to file types (tab #3) and changed '...' file type to '---'.

Version 2.7 (July 2001)
- Added tab #3 with functions to search for and delete temporary files outside temp folders.
- Changed: Menu item Open folder in Explorer moved from Actions menu to File menu.
- Added menu item Open recycle bin to File menu (Ctrl+E).
- Added Open recycle bin button to tool bar.
- Changed the icon.
- Changed name of 'Files' tab to 'Temp folders'.

Version 2.6.2 (July 2001)
- Changed: The component used to access cookies, history and URLs upgraded to a newer (still unpublished) version. This seems
  to fix the 'Invalid argument to time encode' error. Let me know if it is so.
- Changed: The txt file wininet_dll_version.txt is no longer written during startup. Errors are still written to error.log though.

Version 2.6.1a (July 2001)
- Added: When starting up a txt file (wininet_dll_version.txt) is written to the folder where
  emptemp is installed. This txt file contains information about wininet.dll that seems to
  cause an error ('Invalid argument to time encode'). E-mail this txt file (and the file error.log) to
  me (Finn@Ekberg.com) if you get this error. Read more.
- Added: An error.log file is written when an error occurs. It's deleted when it's size exceeds 100 kb.

Version 2.6.1 (July 2001)
- Fixed bug: The list of files to keep wasn't saved after removing items from it.
- Changed: File menu item Add predefined folders moved to the Options menu.
- Changed: Actions menu item Empty recycle bin moved to the File menu.
- Added Information window to show the contents of the files listed on the Cookies, History, URLs tab.
  Double-click a file (list item) to view contents or right-click for the popup menu and select View contents.

Version 2.6 (July 2001)
- Changed code to make the icon NOT show up on the taskbar and to avoid the
  desktop.ini file in the recycle folder to be deleted (this should never happen anyway
  though some people hate these files) when emptemp is run with the /all command line
  option. Hope this helped. Let me know!
- Changed the way cookies, history and urls are deleted: When clicking the red lightning
  button, only the listed items are deleted, which might be only the first 500 of
  several thousands. Then the next 500 are listed (or 1000, depending on what options
  you've selected).
- Added ability to exempt cookies, history files or urls from deletion by adding them
  to a list, one list for each type.
- Added option to only delete files older than x days.

Version 2.5 (April 2001)
- Tweaked reading of URLs (on tab 2) in order to get all URLs listed.
- Added max number of History/URLs/Cookies (Program Options) to avoid errors in extreme cases.

Version 2.4 (April 2001)
- Added Option window.
- Now you can choose to also delete cookies, history files, URLs and the contents of the
  Recycle Bin when clicking the Empty All button. These options also apply when running
  emptemp with the /all command line option!
- Fixed: A bug in show/hide gridlines.

Version 2.3 (April 2001)
- Added a page 2 where you can delete cookies, history and URLs (requires MSIE 5+).
- New menu items in the Help menu: Go to home page + E-mail author.
- Hit F1 to open the help file (not popup window).
- Changed shortcut to 'Empty all folders' from Ctrl+A to Ctrl+R.
- Fixed: When the text viewer was open and you pressed the Esc key to close it, the whole program was closed.
- Option: Hide gridlines (in the file lists - tab 1 and 2).
- Added popup menu to the list on the 'Cookies, History, URLs' tab. The menu lets you copy an item (URL) in the list.
- Remade and updated the help file in my own help file creator (Shalom Help Maker).

Version 2.23 (February 2001)
- Fixed: 'Invalid argument to date encode'.
- Added: Command line option /keepdirs which prevents deleting of folders (but not their contents).

Version 2.22 (February 2001)
- Fixed: 'List index out of bounds' bug during startup.

Version 2.1 (January 2001)
- Added: Ability to delete single files and subfolders.

Version 2.0
- Everything rewritten from scratch. New interface, new everything. Proper help file added.


Software license and disclaimer

Empty Temp Folders (emptemp) is copyright 2000-2001 Finn Ekberg Christiansen, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Disclaimer
THIS SOFTWARE AND THE ACCOMPANYING FILES ARE PRESENTED 'AS IS' AND WITHOUT WARRANTIES WHETHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED.
IN NO EVENT WILL LICENSOR BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF THE PRODUCT.

Since the user decides what folders and files to delete, the responsibility of using this software (emptemp) lies solely on the user.

Emptemp has been tested on Windows 2000 only.

Emptemp is freeware (you don't have to pay for it).

What you may and may not
You may give away copies of emptemp, but you may not charge money for it.
You may put emptemp on a cd-rom/DVD, provided you don't charge money for the cd-rom/DVD (except for shipping and handling).
You may put emptemp on a cd-rom/DVD on a computer magazine cover, if the magazine and the cd-rom/DVD are sold as one unit.
You may place emptemp on your website and make it available for download.


Browser or E-mail application not found
Browser or E-mail application not found.


Internal exclusion list for zero bytes files

These files are never listed when searching for zero bytes files on tab #3:

?  (Windows; yes, the filename is '?')
desktop.ini  (used by Windows)
info2  (used by Windows)
iereadme.dat  (used by MSIE-uninstall)
io.sys  (used by Windows/DOS)
msdos.sys  (used by Windows/DOS)
oem.bmp  (used by AddSubtract; can start without this file though)
office\data\data.bak (used by MS Office XP)
root\index.htm  (used by AddSubtract; wont start without this file)
folders.nch (needed)
user.dmp (needed)
bg050409.bkc (needed)
bg040409.bkc (needed)
2141.chk (needed)

Please send me other filenames you discover mustn't be deleted. If the
filename is widely used (like index.htm and data.bak) then tell me the path also.