How to reroute Windows temp folder to a different HD

GerryPeters · Sep 28, 2024

I need to reroute a Windows temp folder to a different HD, because the boot drive is too small. This is for a program
C:\Users\Gerry Peters\AppData\Local\Temp\eM Client temporary files

glasskuter · Sep 28, 2024

I believe you can do that through environment variables. See if this helps.

Changing the Windows TEMP and TMP Directory - CivilGEO Knowledge Base

This article describes how to change the Windows TEMP and TMP Directory.

knowledge.civilgeo.com

antspants · Sep 29, 2024

Can't you just change the path in Windows?
I’d probably change (edit) both the “Temp” and “TMP” paths.

antspants · Sep 29, 2024

Whatever you try, backup your OS first.

antspants · Sep 29, 2024

Ahh my bad it’s in the link @glasskuter posted. oh well, same same.

glasskuter · Sep 29, 2024

GerryPeters said:
I need to reroute a Windows temp folder to a different HD, because the boot drive is too small.

You asked this exact same question 2 years ago in tenforum. Can Windows Temp folder location be changed? - Windows 10 Help Forums
You were given the same answer then. The process has not changed.

IMO if you are that close on disk space and thinking that moving the TMP and TMP folders will solve your problem going forward, it won't.. Putting a bandaid on a bullet wound it not a solution.

You need to have at least 30gb (or more depending on your file structure)of free space on your system drive. Without it, you will not be able to do any major upgrade like 24h2. Windows is increasing in size all the time and you need to be prepared for it. Fix your problem permanently and buy a larger system drive rather than thinking a stop-gap solution is a fix.

Berton · Sep 29, 2024

To add, many program installs in the past would look for things in the Windows default locations such as the Temp folder and the Virtual Memory being set.

Kees · Sep 29, 2024

I was searching the internet for a solution of your problem and guess what: on the Em-Client forum I found a quite simular thread, dated 2018, started from someone with the same name Gerry Peters...

mail_data.dat temp file is bloating my C drive

Is the name a coincidence or is it really so that you still did not solve the problem since then?

In my system, where I am using eM-Client 8, I found no folder named "eM Client temporary files".
Found no temp folders at all for eM-Client!

Please specify what version of eM-Client you are using.

Maybe you better post your new (?) problem as well in the eM Client forum, as this seems to be rather app-specific.

GerryPeters · Sep 29, 2024

Yes I did post this same thing in the Win 10 forum a few years ago, but thought that possibly something was different in Win 11, so I posted it here. And yes I posted this around the same time to the EM Client forum and found a solution.

In order to use the backup feature used in EM Client, you have to let it first copy all the email files to the Win temp folder. My database is 66 gigs from about 30 years of emails. So it needs 66 gigs to prepare to make the ZIP file which I can send to another HD.

Years ago my boot drive on my internet computer was 80 gigs with about 20 gigs of extra space, so when I ran into a similar problem I rerouted my temp files to a different HD. It turns out this time it looks like I have to solve this a different way, because of limitations in EM Client with the newer versions, so I'll likely not have to reroute the temp folder, but if I do I know how to do it in Win 11

thanks everyone fro the excellent advise and guidance,

Kees · Sep 30, 2024

GerryPeters said:
In order to use the backup feature used in EM Client...

I am making an automatic backup of eM-Client to a zipped file every day, size will be about 400 Mbyte, but I don't see any cache files staying on my system.

The filesize of my backup is restricted, because I regularly make copies of the older mails to .eml files in an organized folder (in the normal Windows file-system) and delete the mails. And I save attachments to separate files in my (very organized) system and delete them from the (older) mails as soon as I saved them. In that way the backup file (and the database itself0 stays compact and can't be corrupted very soon. Plus that backing up to other devices does not take long.

But why would you keep emails from 30 years old and back them up every day? Unless it were very important mails (that I would save to a .eml file) I don't bother about them and don't have them anymore!

Kees · Sep 30, 2024

Now I did a test during eM-Client backup:
- Opened the folder where Windows system leaves its Temp files, which in my system is a RAM-Disk (will automatically be deleted at system start).
- Did a eM-client backup
- During that backup, I did Alt-Enter on the eM Client temporary files folder (which indeed comes in that Temp folder).
- Total filesize was about 410 MByte
- After finishing the backup, I did another Alt-Enter: total filesize = zero
- So eM-Client should remove the cachefile after the backup by itself.

The way i changed the location of the Temp folder is the same as @glasskuter described in #2, so that should work if you want to move Temp folder for eM-Client backing up to another location. But remember that all other Windows Temp functions will be moved to that location too.

GerryPeters · Oct 2, 2024

Thanks for the EM Client info. I have a recording studio and sometimes clients from 15 or 20 years ago want me to revisit a song. It's helpful to review old emails. My email folder is 66 gigs.

I have 4 networked computers that I use a hot-key to operate a macro that starts Vice Versa and it backs up all the computers, but only the new files, so it doesn't take that long. I then backup my backup HD to the cloud using Backblaze.

I have a lifetime license with EM Client, but it's only good for version 9. I can use version 10, but if I move to another computer, I have to use version 9 to export all the emails, etc. I couldn't use version 10 to backup in EM Client. Here's my forum post

Moving pro version to a new computer

The problem was both my versions of 10 on different computers were giving me the message of the license not permitting this version, if I hit proceed then it alters the database and I can’t export. Here’s how I solved it Uninstall 10, use regedit to delete database location.reinstall 10, error...

forum.emclient.com

GerryPeters · Oct 8, 2024

Kees I'm interested in deleting attachments from my emails, either in EM Client or on exported EML files. How do you do it?

Kees · Oct 8, 2024

Made a testmail for you.
You can delete attachments only if they are really attached to the mail.
Pictures that have been integrated by placing them in the mail cannot be removed.

1. Move your cursor over the name of the attachment (see red arrow) until it changes color:

2. Hit the delete button, a popup appears for confirmation:

(translated: Are you sure you want to change the properties of the e-mail?)
Hit: Yes

If you save a mail as .eml file (just drag it to a Windows folder), you can edit it by a text editor. I have done that for mails that I wanted to save, but wanted to remove some password out of it. Then I searched in the textfile and replaced the password by other characters like ***. It has to be done twice, first is the normal straight (uncoded) mailcontent, after that the HTML coded content (if any).

The attachments are there too, somewhere at the end of the mail, but I never tried to delete them directly from the mail. In the text-editor it looks like this:

You can't say where to start deleting and where to stop, so that would be useless to do.

That's how I do it.

GerryPeters · Oct 8, 2024

Very useful info.

At the EM Client forum, Gary just gave a great way to do this 1 at a time.
sort emails by attachment
in right window right click attachment and choose remove

Many years ago before EM Client when I was using Outlook Express I used Attachment Extractor for OE and it did it automatically for 100’s of emails. I have thousands of emails with attachments, do you know of a program that will extract them from either EM Client or EML files that I exported?

Kees · Oct 8, 2024

That's useful info as well.
But as I don't want to throw away all attachments, I don't want to use that method.
For instance: a family member has sent me mails from his holiday adress with photos attached.
I don't want to throw them away without saving them first to some folder on my system.
But I don't want all attachments saved, so if there would be a routine to sort mails and save all attachments, that would not be useful as well.

I'd like to decide from what mails I save which attachments and delete them afterwards or not.
And to my opinion that only can be done by looking in the mails themselves.
Saving and deleting in about one row.

But the method Gary described is a possiblity too, did not know that.

GerryPeters said:
...do you know of a program that will extract them from either EM Client or EML files that I exported?

No, never had any need for that.

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