Temp Files That Can't Be Deleted?

[pete.goss]

Hello,

What do the following files do and why can't they be deleted?

 Directory of C:\WINDOWS\Temp\_avast_

05/01/2011  11:56 AM                 0 unp200690649.tmp
05/01/2011  11:55 AM                 0 unp68159271.tmp
05/03/2011  09:18 AM                 0 Webshlock.txt

My registry cleaner, CCleaner, hangs when it encounters these files, so I've excluded them from deletion. I would still, however, like to report the problem to Piriform, once I understand what the above files are and how they function in AVAST.
Thanks...

[Lisandro]

Temporary files used by avast to scan.
Can't be deleted as avast is running and it's self defense module is on.

Edited: Igor's correction.

[CraigB]

What version of windows and avast are you running ? the older version's of avast ie(5.1) used to be detected in ccleaner but iv not seen it's return in the later 6 version's.

[pete.goss]

I'm running version 6.0.1091 on Vista Home Premium 64 SP2. Why are zero byte temp files being included in self-defense mode? Wouldn't it make more sense to code exclusions for these files or let users do so in the GUI?

[igor]

The folder is not included in self-defense. So, the fact that they cannot be deleted means they are still open / in use.

[pete.goss]

Hi,

I don't think so because 2 of the 3 files were deleted normally once self-defense mode was turned off. Webslock.txt appears to remain open. Please check the code to ensure your intended result. It's not an urgent issue, as CCleaner can exclude the _avast_ temp folder from deletion. Another suggestion is to create these files in the Avast folder in Program Files rather than in the Windows\Temp folder. Doing so would avoid issues with a variety of cleaning utilities.  Thanks...

[igor]

Sorry, but making the temp files elsewhere doesn't make any sense - that's what the TEMP folder is for.
If every program created its temp files in their program folder, and even better - under random names, then there would be not cleaning tools whatsoever, because there would be nothing recognizable to clean.

[pete.goss]

Ok, but if they are temp files shouldn't they be easily deletable? I'm only trying to suggest some options. Developers can choose the one that works best in some future release. Avast is such a good program that I really don't mind the workaround in Ccleaner. Sorry, I am just one of those guys who is always looking to perfect code.

[DavidR]

Not when they are in use as has been said.

However I don't know what your CCleaner settings are but it shouldn't be removing files less than 24 hours old to prevent trying to remove files that might be in use.

[pete.goss]

Right. Ccleaner is set to delete files older than 24 hours, yet it attempted to delete the 3 temp files mentioned but couldn't -- hanging in the process. Strange.

[Nesivos]

My C:\Windows\Temp\Avast directory has 1 file for zero bytes.

Just ran a scan Quick Scan that finished 7 minutes ago.

[DavidR]

Right. Ccleaner is set to delete files older than 24 hours, yet it attempted to delete the 3 temp files mentioned but couldn't -- hanging in the process. Strange.

What other security software do you have installed ?

The reason I ask, after a successful scan of the unp999999.tmp files placed in the _avast_ folder they should be deleted. The only file that should be there when the web shield and your browser are running is the webshlock.txt file and that would be in use and less than 24 hours old, so I don't know why ccleaner is even looking at that.

[pete.goss]

The only other security software I have installed is Comodo firewall (5.4.189068.1354) without its antivirus module. CCleaner is version 3.06.1433 for 64-bit.

[DavidR]

OK, I'm just wondering why these two unp99999.tmp files were still in there, commonly this is because another security application locked the file/s to scan them, which would block avast from removing them after having scanned the .tmp file it placed in there.