The H-Factor

Thumbs.db files are caches of the thumbnails of the pictures in a folder. They make it faster to display thumbnails when viewing a folder in thumbnail mode. They are near impossible to delete, often getting in the way when you delete the contents of a folder and cannot delete the folder itself due to the continued presence of these files.

Personally, I loath them. I don't use thumbnails to display what I have in folders, and if I did, I would not mind waiting a few extra seconds for the thumbnails to appear. I do however, often check the properties of folders to see if there are any new files in there. I often have to hunt down folder by folder to find out it is merely these wretched things I see.

Here is how to stop them from being created, and make them deletable:

1. Open Windows Explorer
2. Press the ALT key to display the pull down menus (below). Pick Tools, then pick Folder Options.

   3. Pick the View tab, then check the very first check-box, 'Always show icons, never thumbnails'. Now, pick the Apply to Folders button and OK

This will allow you to delete leftover thumbs.db files. To do a mass elimination of the foul remnants, click on your root drive (C:), enter thumbs.db in the search field of Windows Explorer and erase all ones that show up with that name.