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I would like to know what the purpose of the directory C:\Users\TEMP in Windows 7 is. I am installing Aptana from the Admin account and it is trying to place files there, specifically, in C:\Users\TEMP\AppData\Local\Aptana

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I have Win7 and I don't have a C:\Users\TEMP directory. I don't think it's put there by windows. Perhaps it was Aptana that put it there. – MacAnthony Jul 23 '12 at 21:17
did you mean c:\users\USERNAME\Temp? – uSlackr Jul 23 '12 at 21:26
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There is no C:\Users\Temp folder, or at least there shouldn’t be unless you create a user named Temp. Unfortunately some programs are poorly written and put files in the wrong place (maybe a missing variable name or superfluous .., etc.) so it may have ended up in teh wrong place (though permissions should prevent that). – Synetech Jul 23 '12 at 21:27
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@uSlackr, even that would be an incorrect; it should have been put in AppData\Local (by default). – Synetech Jul 23 '12 at 21:28
What else is in the directory? – Synetech Jul 24 '12 at 1:41

2 Answers

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C:\Users\Temp means that a user has been logged on with a temporary profile. Generally, this means the user's real profile is missing or corrupted.

You can determine whether the folder contains a profile by examining its contents. If you see directories named Desktop, Documents (or My Documents), Pictures, etc., then it is a profile directory.

Given that Aptana wants to put files there while you are logged in as the Administrator, and the fact that C:\Users\Temp is usually deleted when the affected user logs off, my hunch is that the current user, Administrator, is logged on with the temporary profile. You can check this by opening a command prompt and typing set userprof. You should get a list of environment variables that includes USERPROFILE. If this value is set to C:\Users\Temp, it is indeed the current user who is afflicted.

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If a user’s profile is corrupt or there is not enough disk space, a “temporary” profile may indeed be created by copying the default-user profile. It may vary, but I have never seen it be created as C:\Users\Temp, but rather as something like C:\Users\<computername>.<username>, or something with the username in it. – Synetech Jul 24 '12 at 1:40
I created a new user, logged in an out, and moved the profile folder. When I logged back in, the temporary profile folder was indeed C:\Users\Temp. – Patrick S. Jul 24 '12 at 9:31
Really? That’s odd, XP’s method of using the username in the folder makes much more sense. Then again, a lot of Vista+’s changes have been poor. – Synetech Jul 24 '12 at 15:23
I think if you have a user named Temp, and they get a temporary profile, the computer explodes. – Patrick S. Jul 24 '12 at 17:20
up vote 3 down vote

Look at what's in the directory. If you aren't familiar with it, compress the directory using 7zip and rename the whole thing (to back it up). Then delete the original directory. If nothing happens, run with it for a while. When YOU are convinced that the directory had no value, delete the backup you made with 7zip.

If you compress and rename the backup you create, and all heck breaks loose, reboot Windows in safe mode, and put everything back like it was.

This will help you determine if it is needed, and if not, helps you safely get rid of it.

ANY program could have made that TEMP directory.

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