New installation deleting files

W

wb2k2

New member
I've just downloaded and installed Spybot, and on running for the first time it claimed there were a lot of temporary files and asked if they should be deleted and started a ten second count down.
I was still reading through it when it reached 3 seconds, the prompt disappeared, and it started processing files. It then said that 10 were in use and hadn't been deleted, and I've checked my temp folder and there are only 8 files within it.

I have two questions:
1. How do I recover the deleted files?
2. Why is destructive behaviour this program's default?

Thank you.
 
wb2k2,

The temporary files referred to are frankly just crud left over from old installs, or orphaned by various programs over time. Because when they build up they so adversely affect the performance of the computer in general, and AS and AV scan programs in particular (and they have to be scanned because they are an ideal place for infections to hide) many users have strict housekeeping policies which include manually cleaning these out regularly. Unfortunately many do not, and so Spybot sought to overcome this problem by invoking this routine when the rubbish had build up to a level that was becoming excessive. If there were less than this number, it didn't occur. Obviously yours had been left build up to this point. OK, it didn't clean them all out because some (10) were temporary files currently in use by running routines, and as you have already noted, 2 of these were subsequently removed, presumably because the program using them had finished with them. Some of the remaining ones are probably in use by presently running software and so they were not deleted.

So now to answer your 2 questions

1. How do I recover the deleted files?
You can't, but then why on earth would you want to - they are just left over rubbish (with perhaps some nasties thrown in).

2. Why is destructive behaviour this program's default?
Whether it is destructive behavior or not is a personal view. I personally think that one positive thing about it has been that it has made many users aware of the problem of temporary files building up, and in some cases provided a pleasant surprise with the improved performance and reduced scan times, however not all were happy about the way the feature was implemented, and the latest beta version of the program has moved the point at which these temporary files are looked at to the start of the scan process itself, and has also added a item in the settings which allows the user to disable the feature if they so wish.

see http://forums.spybot.info/showthread.php?t=36807
 
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The problem is I expected the Temporary File Scanner to clean ONLY files with extensions .tmp or .temp

It is cleaning files in subfolders used by the game Sacred 2. It deletes EVERYTHING :mad:

1) The Scanner should NOT do that

2) There needs to be a SpyBot Setting to turn Temporary File Scanner OFF

Is there a Registry setting to turn Temporary File Scanner OFF?
 
drragostea said:
tecknomage:

DisableTempFolderCleaning

Use this tweak to completely skip the new function that tries to clear the systems temp folder to speed up scans.

DisableTempFolderCleaning : REG_DWORD = 00000000 (default if not set)
DisableTempFolderCleaning : REG_DWORD = 00000001 (does not offer temp folder cleaning on app start)

(Source from Spybot Wiki)

And also:
http://forums.spybot.info/project.php?issueid=265-
-
Click to expand...

First, your source is Spybot Wiki? How did you find the entry? You should have given the Wiki link.

Second, the "and also" is NOT formatted correctly. Says

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Safer Networking Limited\Tweaks\DisableTempFolderCleaning

For non-techies, should be full text:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Safer Networking Limited\Tweaks\DisableTempFolderCleaning

Problem: the Sub-Key Tweaks does NOT exist but...

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Safer Networking Limited\SpybotSnD

...does exist and has a Value TeaTimerHide, REG_DWORD = 0

I am going to try makeing the new Value = DisableTempFolderCleaning = 0 in the Sub-Key SpybotSnD.
 
tecknomage,

The latest Beta version 1.6.1.38 has the offer to clean out temporary files moved to the start of the scan instead of when the program is opened and a setting to disable this. Although it is a beta version it is quite stable.

see http://forums.spybot.info/downloads.php?id=44

Incidentally it not about cleaning out .tmp and .temp files, that would be of little purpose. It is about cleaning out crud left over from installs or orphaned for various reasons from several specific locations set aside for temporary storage.

Well behaved programs that use these areas for temporary storage do not place important items, or items that need to be retained there, only files that are regenerated when the program is next run. The exception perhaps is a very few files used by Firewall or AV software, and these are locked so Spybot doesn't remove them.

If you have software that does otherwise and you elect to turn off the cleanup feature, then it is up to you to keep these locations cleaned manually, because a build up significantly and adversely affects scan times for not only Spybot, but also any other AS and AV systems.

It is perhaps worth noting that the offer to clean does not appear unless there is at least something like 100 files found, so most of us who regularly house keep these areas never see it.
 
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tecknomage said:
First, your source is Spybot Wiki? How did you find the entry? You should have given the Wiki link.

Second, the "and also" is NOT formatted correctly. Says

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Safer Networking Limited\Tweaks\DisableTempFolderCleaning

For non-techies, should be full text:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Safer Networking Limited\Tweaks\DisableTempFolderCleaning

Problem: the Sub-Key Tweaks does NOT exist but...

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Safer Networking Limited\SpybotSnD

...does exist and has a Value TeaTimerHide, REG_DWORD = 0

I am going to try makeing the new Value = DisableTempFolderCleaning = 0 in the Sub-Key SpybotSnD.
Click to expand...

Adding the the new Value = DisableTempFolderCleaning = 0 in the Sub-Key SpybotSnD DOES work :yes: (after you reboot)

SIDE-NOTE: I don't do beta.
 
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