Safe to delete *.Tmp files?

[ufcrusher]

I was recently asked whether it was safe to delete an *.tmp file from a computer. The file is 11.92gigs in size and to the opertors knowledge doesnt correspond with anything on the actual system.

FYI, \windows\temp\glc40c.tmp is the full string.

To my knowledge there should be no problem with deleting a temp file, but given its size, I have to wonder whether that is safe in all instances.

What do you think? The person wanted a "more certain" response before deleting the file. I guess my hesitating didnt make her feel comfortable. Thanks.

[Pemolis]

11.92 gig file... thats a bit abnormal. 90% of the time.. yes its fine to delete the file. the other 10% it is not because the file is currently in use (meaning there is a program on the computer feeding this Monster File).

If worse comes to worse. Make a Duplicate Copy of the File, then delete the original. Run everything as normal for a week, if nothing happens.. your free to go.

Normally you can wipe out the files in the \temp\ folder (usually used for quick maintenance, or temporary storage for use or installation).

[Jeffbx]

Reboot the system. If Windows doesn't clean up the file itself, delete it.

.tmp files are only used during the current Windows session. If they still exist after a reboot, then whatever app was using it just isn't cleaning up after itself.

[mcs328]

I once had a tmp file that big at work. It turned out that Norton AV was creating a log file and recording the activity in this tmp file. It also created the same log file in some other file in another folder actually named log something. It was huge and I ran out of space quite quickly. We deleted without a problem and then my company switched over to McAffee instead.