Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

After searching, I find that I'm not the first person to ask for advice on
this, but I don't want to waste having prepared this speech in advance. :-)

I'm using WinXP Home SP2.

A tech support rep had me click Start->Run->%temp% to show the contents of a
TEMP folder and he wanted me to delete its contents. He also said that the
Disk Cleanup utility would accomplish the same thing. I ran Disk Cleanup and
the contents of this TEMP folder WERE LEFT INTACT. I got curious about TEMP
folders in general.

I found the TEMP folder in question in C:\Documents and
Settings\username\Local Settings\Temp, using 40MB.

I also found C:\Windows\Temp, using 764MB, in spite of the fact that one of
its subfolders, Temporary Internet files, had been reduced to 52KB by Disk
Cleanup.

My personal feelings are that files placed in a folder called Temp deserve
about as much protection as information on a blackboard marked "Save". Would
you advise against deleting the contents of these Temp folders, and if so,
how do I know what should not be deleted? (Okay, this has been answered
elsewhere.)

Finally, these temp files can build up to wasting an awful lot of disk
space. Why is it that the software developers don't clean up after
themselves?