About 6 months ago I retired Internet Explorer and transitioned to Firefox.  I haven't used IE in months.

When I think about it I run CCleaner to get rid of clutter.

Earlier in the week I noticed that there were 400+ IE files to delete.  Keep in mind I haven't launched IE in months.

So I went to the Control Panel and "turned off" IE in the Programs and Features tab.  I thought that would eliminate IE, but not delete it.

Today I ran CCleaner and there were 500+ IE files to delete.

So where are these temp files and cookies coming from when IE isn't running?

What problem is this causing, exactly?

I think it's slowing my system down, but I can't be sure.

Did you know that some of your Windows File Explorer activity (opening files for example) may be recorded in the same files as your IE history?

It's no big deal, just let CCleaner do it's thing.

No I wasn't aware of that

ETA:  I realize that there is a lot of interaction between Windows elements

Unlikely.

I'm grasping at straws

Win + R, type "resmon", see what's chewing up your CPU, Memory, and Disk usage.

What version of Windows?  BTW,  IE is way too embedded in the Windows operating system to get rid of it 100%.

NSA is probably watching you

Temp files do not slow down your computer.  However, they do clog up the file table that stores all of your other files and take up space on your drive.

Simple tips to speed up your computer:

Windows 10 or 8.1:
1.  Right click start button, click task manager.  Click the startup tab.  Click and disable extra programs that you don't need, or even things you do use but do not need immediately on startup.  If your computer is loading unnecessary programs when Windows boots, then it will slow things down until everything is loaded.  The extra programs also use CPU processes that will slow your computer down the entire time you are using it.  I bet you there are at least 5-10 things in there you can turn off.
2.  Hit windows button, type (without quotes) "clean" and click on disk cleanup.  Let that run to remove junk/temp files.  This won't speed anything up, but it can remove thousands of files in preparation for the next step.
3.  Hit windows button, type "defrag" and click on defragment and optimize drives.  Let that run to piece together file fragments.  If you on an SSD, this will issue a trim command which will make your drive more efficient for future writes.  If you are on a mechanical hard disk drive, this will be a noticeable improvement to go along with numbers 1 and 2.  Some files can have literally thousands of fragments / pieces.  To load one of those files, your mechanical drive has to seek out each of the thousands of parts and stitch them together every time that file is accessed.  This should be run often in my personal opinion.

Reboot after doing 1 - 3 and your computer will be about as fast as it can be.  There is one more thing you could possibly do.  If that still doesn't help, try making a new user account.  User accounts get clogged up with crap too that even CCleaner or Windows built in junk cleaner won't get rid of.  Making a new account is one way of starting fresh without totally wiping the computer.

Legacy Ancient Windows 7:
1.  Check this link: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10  Do a CLEAN install and not the stupid upgrade.  Even if you didn't reserve your copy of W10, you can still download and use it for free without a valid CD key (just have a watermark in the lower right corner every other boot).

Windows 7 lost mainstream support in January 2015.  Seriously, just update your computer or you will have nothing but problems in the future.

Oh I do hope so

Windows 7 Professional

Unless you know why you're doing cc cleaner can do more harm than good

I've used it for years and never had a problem

Step by step instructions to clean up your comp and fix BS issues permanently.

1. Open Firefox.
2. Click on the address bar.
3. Type cragislist.org, press enter.
4. Post pictures of your Windows comp on there.
5. Buy a Mac.
6. Download Chrome.
7. Bookmark ar15.com

You're fine. If the cleaner wants to get rid of the files, let it. If not, no big deal. Those are just temporary files that won't cause you any real problems. If your computer is slow it's probably just old or you have a virus. Run MalwareBytes and see if that finds anything.

There's really no reason for it anymore. I haven't used it since the XP days.

Been there done that, weekly

Can anyone explain how I have 519 IE temp files and 27 cookies and IE hasn't been launched in months?

http://ask-leo.com/why_do_i_have_internet_explorer_temporary_files_if_i_never_use_it.html

Because other programs probably embed IE.

Here's what you can do while you wait on your new Mac to ship. Open Task Manager and sort by CPU%. See if anything is taking up more than 5% CPU.  Any process that you don't know what it is then google it.

If you have some weird stuff running in there that won't go away, then your machine is probably infected. Standard procedure on Windows is to backup your data and do a fresh install of Windows. Plan on doing this every three to six months.

On your new Mac, you won't ever have to re-install, but I do recommend rebooting at least once per year, as opposed to 3 times per day for Windows.

A lot of other apps call i.e. APIs to display help, and other desktop elements.

Anything from Intuit (Quickbooks, TurboTax) will do it.   I think a lot of the tax software is highly i.e. intergrated as a matter of fact.

If you want the answer, there are software packages for forensic guys who can pull up and create tiled displays of the images and text tidbits from your browser cache so you can see just what they are.

Attached File

Looks like great info and I am going to do this later

I disabled a couple task manager things real quick as 1st step

Will do the clean and defrag steps later

thank you sir