Can these files be safely deleted?

[Pilgrim]

I happened upon this folder: "C:\Users\Jeff\AppData\Local\Temp" and saw it contained over 32 megs of files. Generally, the contents of "temp" folders can be safely deleted. But it seems strange that a utility such as CCleaner doesn't seem to remove files from this particular location. Most are recent but there are some with dates as far back as 2008.

What is the consensus here about removing these files?

[HansV]

It's indeed strange that CCleaner doesn't remove them, but if the files are still there after a reboot, I'd say you can safely delete them (or if you want to be cautious, move them to another folder and wait a day or two; if nothing untowards happens, remove them).

[DaveA]

Yes, those that are not in use can be deleted.
The ones that are in use will not be deleted, and you will receive a error and the deletion will stop. Skip the listed file and continue.

[viking33]

I happened upon this folder: "C:\Users\Jeff\AppData\Local\Temp" and saw it contained over 32 megs of files. Generally, the contents of "temp" folders can be safely deleted. But it seems strange that a utility such as CCleaner doesn't seem to remove files from this particular location. Most are recent but there are some with dates as far back as 2008.

What is the consensus here about removing these files?

Temp means TEMPORARY, so in my mind they can be deleted ( or moved to another folder as peace of mind, then deleted, if still OK ) It may not allow you to delete them all if currently being used.

[StuartR]

...The ones that are in use will not be deleted, and you will receive a error and the deletion will stop. Skip the listed file and continue.

One nice feature of Windows 7 is that it no longer stops when it finds a file it can't delete, it just gets on with deleting all the files that it can.

[Pilgrim]

Thanks guys for the informative responses. I'll give it a go.

@Stuart: that is nice to know! It is a pain to do a "Ctrl+a" and "Delete" only to have the process stop due to a file that can't be deleted and having to start over deleting the files excluding the undeletable ones each time.