Delete Temporery Internet files from system in through C# windows application

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1.80/5 (3 votes)

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Hello Friends,
I am developing a c# windows application in which i want to delete all temporary internet files from folder "C:\Documents and Settings\user\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files"
I am able to delete files from "C:\DOCUME~1\user\LOCALS~1\Temp" with the help of following code:

<pre lang="cs">private void Form2_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
}
 void ClearFolder(DirectoryInfo folder)
 {
          foreach (FileInfo file in folder.GetFiles())
          {
                try
               {
                    file.Delete();
                }
                catch{}
          }
        foreach (DirectoryInfo subfolder in folder.GetDirectories())
       {
            ClearFolder(subfolder);
        }
  }

but this code is not working for the files which are stored at "C:\Documents and Settings\user\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files"

this folder is open from IE browser: tools -> Internet option -> general -> Browsing History -> Settings -> view files
then open this folder("C:\Documents and Settings\user\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files")
which contain all type of files which i browse on internet.
Is it possible to delete these files from c# windows application. If yes then please give me any idea.

Thanks for your support.

Nilesh Rathod

Posted 29-Jun-11 23:04pm

NileshKRathod

Updated 29-Jun-11 23:06pm

v2

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Comments

Philippe Mori 9-Jun-15 13:29pm

Why would you do that? Windows already has a powerful cleaning tool and with large hard disk, this is more than enough.

NileshKRathod 10-Jun-15 2:28am

It is a special conditions for my web application. where i want to clear cached files from users "temporary internet files" folder. The reason behind this is: "We have some images and swf files which are paid, so we don't want user to access this secure content directly."

Philippe Mori 10-Jun-15 8:25am

The user just had to use another browser... You should never delete browser cache as it is shared between application and it can be very frustrating for the user... then their browser will become slow and decide to use another one. This is a very stupid idea.

3 solutions

Solution 1

Here[^]

Posted 29-Jun-11 23:10pm

Christian Graus

Comments

[no name] 30-Jun-11 6:40am

Good Call CG. without googling they are simply putting their task to be done by us. My 5 too.

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NileshKRathod · Accepted Answer · 2011-06-30T00:22:00

Thank you very much Christian Graus and Prerak Patel
I have done my task:
Firstly Create a windows console application named "nil_clear_Temp" Then Put code in Program class and run application.

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
namespace nil_clear_Temp
{
    class Program
    {
        // For PInvoke: Contains information about an entry in the Internet cache
        [StructLayout(LayoutKind.Explicit, Size = 80)]
        public struct INTERNET_CACHE_ENTRY_INFOA
        {
            [FieldOffset(0)]
            public uint dwStructSize;
            [FieldOffset(4)]
            public IntPtr lpszSourceUrlName;
            [FieldOffset(8)]
            public IntPtr lpszLocalFileName;
            [FieldOffset(12)]
            public uint CacheEntryType;
            [FieldOffset(16)]
            public uint dwUseCount;
            [FieldOffset(20)]
            public uint dwHitRate;
            [FieldOffset(24)]
            public uint dwSizeLow;
            [FieldOffset(28)]
            public uint dwSizeHigh;
            [FieldOffset(32)]
            public FILETIME LastModifiedTime;
            [FieldOffset(40)]
            public FILETIME ExpireTime;
            [FieldOffset(48)]
            public FILETIME LastAccessTime;
            [FieldOffset(56)]
            public FILETIME LastSyncTime;
            [FieldOffset(64)]
            public IntPtr lpHeaderInfo;
            [FieldOffset(68)]
            public uint dwHeaderInfoSize;
            [FieldOffset(72)]
            public IntPtr lpszFileExtension;
            [FieldOffset(76)]
            public uint dwReserved;
            [FieldOffset(76)]
            public uint dwExemptDelta;
        }

        // For PInvoke: Initiates the enumeration of the cache groups in the Internet cache
        [DllImport(@"wininet",
            SetLastError = true,
            CharSet = CharSet.Auto,
            EntryPoint = "FindFirstUrlCacheGroup",
            CallingConvention = CallingConvention.StdCall)]
        public static extern IntPtr FindFirstUrlCacheGroup(
            int dwFlags,
            int dwFilter,
            IntPtr lpSearchCondition,
            int dwSearchCondition,
            ref long lpGroupId,
            IntPtr lpReserved);

        // For PInvoke: Retrieves the next cache group in a cache group enumeration
        [DllImport(@"wininet",
            SetLastError = true,
            CharSet = CharSet.Auto,
            EntryPoint = "FindNextUrlCacheGroup",
            CallingConvention = CallingConvention.StdCall)]
        public static extern bool FindNextUrlCacheGroup(
            IntPtr hFind,
            ref long lpGroupId,
            IntPtr lpReserved);

        // For PInvoke: Releases the specified GROUPID and any associated state in the cache index file
        [DllImport(@"wininet",
            SetLastError = true,
            CharSet = CharSet.Auto,
            EntryPoint = "DeleteUrlCacheGroup",
            CallingConvention = CallingConvention.StdCall)]
        public static extern bool DeleteUrlCacheGroup(
            long GroupId,
            int dwFlags,
            IntPtr lpReserved);

        // For PInvoke: Begins the enumeration of the Internet cache
        [DllImport(@"wininet",
            SetLastError = true,
            CharSet = CharSet.Auto,
            EntryPoint = "FindFirstUrlCacheEntryA",
            CallingConvention = CallingConvention.StdCall)]
        public static extern IntPtr FindFirstUrlCacheEntry(
            [MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPTStr)] string lpszUrlSearchPattern,
            IntPtr lpFirstCacheEntryInfo,
            ref int lpdwFirstCacheEntryInfoBufferSize);

        // For PInvoke: Retrieves the next entry in the Internet cache
        [DllImport(@"wininet",
            SetLastError = true,
            CharSet = CharSet.Auto,
            EntryPoint = "FindNextUrlCacheEntryA",
            CallingConvention = CallingConvention.StdCall)]
        public static extern bool FindNextUrlCacheEntry(
            IntPtr hFind,
            IntPtr lpNextCacheEntryInfo,
            ref int lpdwNextCacheEntryInfoBufferSize);

        // For PInvoke: Removes the file that is associated with the source name from the cache, if the file exists
        [DllImport(@"wininet",
            SetLastError = true,
            CharSet = CharSet.Auto,
            EntryPoint = "DeleteUrlCacheEntryA",
            CallingConvention = CallingConvention.StdCall)]
        public static extern bool DeleteUrlCacheEntry(
            IntPtr lpszUrlName);

        [STAThread]
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            // Indicates that all of the cache groups in the user's system should be enumerated
            const int CACHEGROUP_SEARCH_ALL = 0x0;
            // Indicates that all the cache entries that are associated with the cache group
            // should be deleted, unless the entry belongs to another cache group.
            const int CACHEGROUP_FLAG_FLUSHURL_ONDELETE = 0x2;
            // File not found.
            const int ERROR_FILE_NOT_FOUND = 0x2;
            // No more items have been found.
            const int ERROR_NO_MORE_ITEMS = 259;
            // Pointer to a GROUPID variable
            long groupId = 0;

            // Local variables
            int cacheEntryInfoBufferSizeInitial = 0;
            int cacheEntryInfoBufferSize = 0;
            IntPtr cacheEntryInfoBuffer = IntPtr.Zero;
            INTERNET_CACHE_ENTRY_INFOA internetCacheEntry;
            IntPtr enumHandle = IntPtr.Zero;
            bool returnValue = false;

            // Delete the groups first.
            // Groups may not always exist on the system.
            // For more information, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
            // http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/?url=/workshop/networking/wininet/overview/cache.asp			
            // By default, a URL does not belong to any group. Therefore, that cache may become
            // empty even when the CacheGroup APIs are not used because the existing URL does not belong to any group.			
            enumHandle = FindFirstUrlCacheGroup(0, CACHEGROUP_SEARCH_ALL, IntPtr.Zero, 0, ref groupId, IntPtr.Zero);
            // If there are no items in the Cache, you are finished.
            if (enumHandle != IntPtr.Zero && ERROR_NO_MORE_ITEMS == Marshal.GetLastWin32Error())
                return;

            // Loop through Cache Group, and then delete entries.
            while (true)
            {
                // Delete a particular Cache Group.
                returnValue = DeleteUrlCacheGroup(groupId, CACHEGROUP_FLAG_FLUSHURL_ONDELETE, IntPtr.Zero);
                if (!returnValue && ERROR_FILE_NOT_FOUND == Marshal.GetLastWin32Error())
                {
                    returnValue = FindNextUrlCacheGroup(enumHandle, ref groupId, IntPtr.Zero);
                }

                if (!returnValue && (ERROR_NO_MORE_ITEMS == Marshal.GetLastWin32Error() || ERROR_FILE_NOT_FOUND == Marshal.GetLastWin32Error()))
                    break;
            }

            // Start to delete URLs that do not belong to any group.
            enumHandle = FindFirstUrlCacheEntry(null, IntPtr.Zero, ref cacheEntryInfoBufferSizeInitial);
            if (enumHandle == IntPtr.Zero && ERROR_NO_MORE_ITEMS == Marshal.GetLastWin32Error())
                return;

            cacheEntryInfoBufferSize = cacheEntryInfoBufferSizeInitial;
            cacheEntryInfoBuffer = Marshal.AllocHGlobal(cacheEntryInfoBufferSize);
            enumHandle = FindFirstUrlCacheEntry(null, cacheEntryInfoBuffer, ref cacheEntryInfoBufferSizeInitial);

            while (true)
            {
                internetCacheEntry = (INTERNET_CACHE_ENTRY_INFOA)Marshal.PtrToStructure(cacheEntryInfoBuffer, typeof(INTERNET_CACHE_ENTRY_INFOA));

                cacheEntryInfoBufferSizeInitial = cacheEntryInfoBufferSize;
                returnValue = DeleteUrlCacheEntry(internetCacheEntry.lpszSourceUrlName);
                if (!returnValue)
                {
                    returnValue = FindNextUrlCacheEntry(enumHandle, cacheEntryInfoBuffer, ref cacheEntryInfoBufferSizeInitial);
                }
                if (!returnValue && ERROR_NO_MORE_ITEMS == Marshal.GetLastWin32Error())
                {
                    break;
                }
                if (!returnValue && cacheEntryInfoBufferSizeInitial > cacheEntryInfoBufferSize)
                {
                    cacheEntryInfoBufferSize = cacheEntryInfoBufferSizeInitial;
                    cacheEntryInfoBuffer = Marshal.ReAllocHGlobal(cacheEntryInfoBuffer, (IntPtr)cacheEntryInfoBufferSize);
                    returnValue = FindNextUrlCacheEntry(enumHandle, cacheEntryInfoBuffer, ref cacheEntryInfoBufferSizeInitial);
                }
            }
            Marshal.FreeHGlobal(cacheEntryInfoBuffer);
        }
    }
}

Prerak Patel · Accepted Answer · 2011-06-29T23:12:00

Solution 2

You need to consider access permission and locked files.

Bad work around is to kill the explorer.exe, delete files, and restart the explorer.exe

Posted 29-Jun-11 23:12pm

Prerak Patel

Comments

[no name] 30-Jun-11 6:41am

Nice Answer. My 5 too.

Philippe Mori 10-Jun-15 8:29am

Very stupid suggestion. The user might have dozen of open browsers and he really don't want that a stupid application close them.

Delete Temporery Internet files from system in through C# windows application

3 solutions

Solution 1

Solution 3

Solution 2

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