TempFind 1.0   A Temporary File Finder For Windows 3.1

The following was extracted from Microsoft Technical Note Q44880:

  A Windows "temporary" file is created under these circumstances:

  - Windows Desktop (Write, etc.) and MDI (multiple document interface) 
    applications (such as Excel) create temporary files to handle 
    necessary user editing.

    Because a Desktop application cannot have multiple documents open at 
    once, it must immediately create a temporary file that allows you to 
    "undo" any editing, etc. MDI applications create temporary files only 
    when needed (for related editing), rather than for every worksheet 
    that is open.

  - When running an MS-DOS standard application under Windows/286, 
    Windows/286 creates a temporary file (for example, ~PIFCHFA.TMP) so 
    it can swap to disk to make room for other applications to use 
    memory.

  - When printing from Windows or any Windows application with the 
    spooler enabled, Windows creates temporary files on the hard 
    disk. Windows spools the print job to the temporary file and 
    then sends it to the appropriate printer as a background operation.

Normally, these files are created, used, and deleted by Windows and you
will never see them. However, if you leave Windows in an abnormal manner
(power loss, hitting RESET, etc.) these files may be left behind. And
they can add up, depleting your precious hard disk space!

The location of these files is determined by your setting for "SET TEMP="
in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. This will usually be "SET TEMP=C:\WINDOWS\TEMP"
if Windows is on the C drive.

TempFind should be installed in your STARTUP group so it will run as soon
as Windows starts. You should also place the "CMDIALOG.VBX" file in your
Windows\System directory and have VBRUN300.DLL in there (available from
more forums than PKZIP!) 

Once started, TempFind will do a quick check of the temporary file directory.
This will only take about 1-2 seconds. If no files are found you won't see a
thing and Windows will start normally.

If files are found a window will appear listing the temporary files. Many times
these files are basically worthless to you but, sometimes, they might contain
some information you might want that was destroyed in the Windows crash. This
might be text from a document, a database, a spreadsheet, etc. Normally, it won't
be in a directly usable format but might be something you can load into a
text editor like Notepad and at least grab some critical figures, names, or
phone numbers.

For this reason, double-clicking a filename will start the process of looking
for characters. If a string of characters over three letters long is found it
will be displayed in the lower box. Up to 50 of these data chunks will be
displayed. They might be that phone number, name, or PO that you lost!
Unfortunately, temporary files don't have a set structure because you're never
supposed to see them. Therefore, many of the listings will make no sense. But
look them over. See if some of that critical data is still locked into the file.
If so, don't delete it. See if you can look at all of it with a text editor!

If the file appears to be all garbage go ahead and delete it. It would have
been deleted by the application anyway if it had had the chance. But now you
will have also recovered the disk space required to store the file and, in
the event of another crash, you will have made it easier to figure out if
new TMP files have any value.

Microsoft states that TMP files should not be deleted from within Windows
because Windows might be using the TMP file at the time. I think that you
will find this true when up to your eyeballs in applications but not at startup.
However, due to this warning I must also state that all Freeware caveats are
in place. I am not responsible for any side effects from using this program.

Relax, however, and save a little disk space. Give TempFind a try!

Dan Mullin
719-599-7477
CompuServe ID 72644,2423