Here’s how to do it properly.

Go to a command prompt (Start -> Run -> cmd [enter])

At the command prompt type:

cd %tmp%

and press enter. This will change you into the current user’s temp directory.

Then type:

rd /s .

(that’s rd space slash-S space dot)

then press enter. Don’t forget the . at the end. This means “remove the current directory and all subdirectories, including all files.”

What will happen is that the contents of the temp directory and all subdirectories will be removed, but not the temp directory itself, because you are currently working in that directory (via the CD command) and therefore it can’t be deleted.

You’ll receive access denied messages for all in-use files, plus the temp directory itself. That’s fine. Those access denied messages would have been showstoppers if you were using Windows Explorer.

The above is clearing out the current user’s temp directory, which is located within that user’s profile directory (Documents and Settings\username). To clear out the system temp directory, which is located under the Windows directory, type:

cd %windir%\temp

and press enter. This will change you into the Windows temp directory.

Then just like before, type:

rd /s .

All done! You can type “exit” to close the command prompt.