Clearing out old folders and files in C:\ProgramData\Bitdefender\Desktop\EnginesTemp

W10 Pro-Bitdefender Total Security 2022

I have a number of empty folders in C:\ProgramData\Bitdefender\Desktop\EnginesTemp, but also a couple with contents over 1.5gb.

These are months and years old, and have names like "tmp000ba6b2".

When trying to delete these, as Administrator, I am denied access.

How do I get rid of this old bloat, preferably without having to reinstall BD (for example)?

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Alexandru_BD

Hello @Foxfan100,

I remember seeing something similar in the past. Whenever access is denied, it's quite possible that the program related to those temp files is still open and using the files. You can try to delete them in safe mode.

Regards

Foxfan100

@Alexandru_BD

Thanks for your reply. I've checked which files are open, either by the creator Bitdefender, or anything else, and these "temp" files are not.

Despite being Administrator, and apparently having almost all rights over these files, I still can't take ownsership and delete them. It's not clear whether this is lock is inherited from \ProgramData privileges, but there is remarkably little that I can do in the Properties to change anything.

I've also tried to delete them at Cmd level, but that doesn't work either.

Alexandru_BD

@Foxfan100 I think it might be necessary to reach out to our Support engineers for assistance in this case. I can't seem to figure out a better way to tackle this.

You can get in touch with our engineers by choosing one of the contact methods available here:

https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/help/

Let us know how it goes.

Regards and fingers crossed!

Foxfan100

@Alexandru_BD

Thank you for your reply.

I have looked again at the folder in question, and BD produces folders in there, all empty bar the two I want to delete (1.6gb in 2 files), from time to time i.e. it has today. I'm not sure which process does this, but it may be to do with scans.

Meanwhile, I'll contact the engineers at the url you have kindly given.