The TEMP directory
This directory is usually found in the Windows directory, although it can be anywhere. Its purpose is to serve as a temporary holding area for files that programs only need for a short period, such as an unsaved copy of a letter or other document.

The idea is that files in the TEMP directory are not supposed to be permanent, so each program deletes them when they are no longer needed (when you save your letter to disk, for example). But if you exit a program improperly, or restart your computer while some programs are still running, then these temporary files will never be deleted. Since they are not needed, you should get rid of them. Be sure to exit all programs first, then start Explorer and delete any TEMP files you find.

Your Web browser's cache
A cache is also a temporary holding area for files, this time for your Web browser. You see, before you admire all the nice graphics, animations and so on that make up a typical Web page, your browser has to download all the necessary files to your system.

It stores those files in its cache directory so that they can be quickly retrieved if you leave the page and return to it later on. Although most browsers remove the oldest files from their caches when they get full, none of them typically delete the files in the cache altogether. Since the files can always be recopied to your hard disk should you revisit the associated Web page, removing the files won’t cause any problems with your system and can often get you several megabytes of free disk space.

To clear the cache in Netscape Communicator, open the Edit menu and select Preferences. Then click the plus sign in front of Advanced in the Category list and click on Cache. Click the Clear Disk Cache button and click OK to continue. To clear the cache in Internet Explorer 5.0, open the Tool menu and select Internet Options (in Internet Explorer 4.0, try the View menu instead). Then, on the General *tab, click the Delete Files button.