According to one tech-support expert with whom I talked, the installation routine overwrites the old inf file to bring it up to date. If you corrupt the new, updated driver and then need another copy, the updated inf file will tell Windows where it can find the information it needs to come up with the new copy. But Shawn McGuire at Zoom Telephonics Inc., the modem maker, tells me that under some circumstances, the installation of an updated driver can lead to the creation of a completely new inf file. In these cases, he says, it is wise to delete the old inf file from the Windows Inf folder and then move the new inf in. Every file in the Temporary Internet files folder is a graphic representation, a picture, if you will.
Some temporary files are pictures of entire Web pages.
Some are photos of logos or some other element on a Web page. Direct Internet Explorer to take you to a Web site you have visited before, and the browser, helped by the temporary file referring to the site, gets back there faster than it would in the absence of temporary file. There are two downsides to this scheme. These temporary files are usually huge and they pile up by the score every time you are on line. The result is loss of precious hard drive space.