There is an area on most users' PCs using up sometimes valuable disk space that most don't even realize is there. Behold the mighty Microsoft and their Content.IE5 directory. I don't doubt that many of you have come across this in your day, but for those who haven't, here is what I've gathered and what you need to know:
Located at:
9x: C:\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\
2K/XP: C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5
This folder seems to have several folders beneath it that contain Temporary Internet Files that remain there EVEN AFTER YOU CLEAR TEMPORARY INTERNET FILES with the Internet Options. These folders are often easily visible under Windows 2000/XP, but are usually hidden in Windows 9x/ME. If this is the case, browse to the Temporary Internet Files folder and in the Address bar at the top of the window, add a '\' to the end of the path. This should display a dropdown of the possible folders you can continue on to, much like IE does with websites as you begin typing them. Browsing to each of these folders, you can remove any files within them.
I have come to my own conclusion (still not verified at all) that these files are there from any time where a file is partially downloaded and not completed. I have noticed times where my computer will be downloading a very large file, and when it reaches 99%, whill bring up a "Copying..." dialog box on top of the download window. This seems to be copying the downloaded file from the Content.IE5 directory to the location you chose at the beginning of the download. There is also a file titled "index.dat" at the root of Content.IE5, which seems to be a database-style file where everything is referenced so the computer can determine where it is saving each of these partial files.
I personally have found my Content.IE5 folder taking up as much as 80MB, but have heard reports of nearly 200MB of wasted space in there.
It is something that, if left unchecked can get out of hand. I would recommend everyone check this out, even if they think it does not have much in it.
Why didn't Microsoft put a utility to clean this out like they did for Tempororary Internet Files? Hopefully they will someday.
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