Clear temporary Windows files
Overview
This category contains privacy scripts for Windows.
These changes use Windows system commands to update your settings.
This category covers removal of temporary Windows files.
It is recommended to clean these files as they can be used for unauthorized analysis of user behavior and system usage 1. They may also potentially host malicious software 2 3. Eliminating these files significantly enhances the security and privacy of the system.
Microsoft advises this cleanup for enhanced security 2. Besides enhancing security, removing these files also frees up disk space. However, removing temporary files might lead to a slight delay in initial application/system load times.
By regularly clearing these files, users reduce the chance of malware residing 2 3 in these folders and prevent the unauthorized use of their information for forensic analysis 1, serving as a simple and effective strategy for maintaining a secure and private system environment.
This category is recommended for all users. It helps to improve privacy without affecting stability.
Apply now
These scripts are written using Batch (batchfile) scripting language.
Choose one of two ways to apply:
- Automatically via privacy.sexy: The easiest and safest option.
- Manually by downloading: Requires downloading a file.
Alternative 1. Apply with Privacy.sexy
privacy.sexy is free and open-source application that lets securely apply this action easily.
It allows selectively choose parts of this action to conduct. You can fully restore this action (revert back to the original behavior) using the application.
privacy.sexy instructions
- Open or download the desktop application
- Search for the category name:
Clear temporary Windows files. - Check the category by clicking on the checkbox of the category.
- Click on Run button at the bottom of the page.
Alternative 2. Download
Consider restarting your computer for all changes to take affect.
This action is completely reversible, you can restore your changes to the initial/default state. The restore/revert methods provided here can help you fix issues.
If something goes wrong, use the Revert script provided above.
Standard
This script includes only Standard recommendation level.
Standard scripts in this category is recommended for all users. They help to improve privacy without affecting stability.
Download only standard scripts by clicking on the button:
Restore these changes if you decide to revert them by downloading the restore script:
Explore further
This category includes total of 3 scripts but no subcategories.
Explore its 3 scripts:
Clear temporary system folder
This script eliminates the contents of the "%SYSTEMROOT%\\Temp\\" directory, also known as the Windows Temp directory. This directory is located within the Windows system folder "%SystemDrive%\\Windows\\Temp\\". It is used by the system and system-level processes to store temporary files, including those generated by the operating system and other system-level software. This folder, protected by specific access control lists (ACL), is accessible only to system-level accounts. Known for being utilized...
Clear temporary user folder
This script deletes the contents of the "%TEMP%\\" (or "%LOCALAPPDATA%\\Temp\\", "%TMP%\\") directory, used by applications and processes to store temporary files. This directory is situated within the user profile "%SystemDrive%\\Users\\\\AppData\\Local\\Temp". Only the respective profile user can read and write to this folder. This folder's usage for understanding user behavior in forensics raises privacy concerns. Its content deletion, a regular operation performed by Windows system tools li...
Clear prefetch folder
This script deletes the contents of "%SYSTEMROOT%\\Prefetch\\*", typically pointing to "C:\\Windows\\Prefetch\\". What is Prefetch? Introduced in Windows XP, Prefetch was developed by Windows to expedite application startup and the boot process. It works by preemptively loading data and code pages into memory from the disk before requests, monitoring application's startup page faults, and storing the gathered data in the Prefetch directory. Why Clear the Prefetch Directory? Over time, many fi...
Explore Categories
This action belongs to Privacy cleanup category. This category configures Windows using 86 scripts. These scripts are organized in 18 categories. The category includes 9 subscripts and 5 subcategories that include more scripts and categories. Read more on category page ▶
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