Mystery files installed on my computer!

[kestrelx]

Hi, anyone else had this? Last week I found folder on my C drive and it won't let me access any of the files. Folder has a number


C:\8336d725f863741d7f26d309\

Nor will it let me delete it - it seems to have no function anyone know what it is?

Thanks!

[jaysay]

Originally Posted by kestrelx

Hi, anyone else had this? Last week I found folder on my C drive and it won't let me access any of the files. Folder has a number


C:\8336d725f863741d7f26d309\

Nor will it let me delete it - it seems to have no function anyone know what it is?

Thanks!

Obviously there's a reason why you can't remove it kestrelx, if you running Windows there are files that you can delete, but I'm no computer whiz

[Retlaw]

Originally Posted by kestrelx

Hi, anyone else had this? Last week I found folder on my C drive and it won't let me access any of the files. Folder has a number


C:\8336d725f863741d7f26d309\

Nor will it let me delete it - it seems to have no function anyone know what it is?

Thanks!

You've been looking in hidden files and folders, there are dozens of obscure files like that in comnputers, they may appear to be of no use to you but they are there for a purpose, delete it, and next time you switch on you may get the blue screen of death. The most important button on any thing you see on your computer is cancel, especially when you don't know what it is.
Retlaw

[Mick]

Have you had any updates from Microsoft lately?
it could be an update and if it is being used will not let you delete it
what operating system are you using ?

[entwisi]

could also be a hibernate file or a chkdisc log

@retlaw, there are thousands of temprorary files that get left about eating up space that are of no use to anything. Whilst I'd agree that if you dont know what you are doing its better to ask it doesn;t mean you can't delete them

[Retlaw]

Originally Posted by entwisi

could also be a hibernate file or a chkdisc log

@retlaw, there are thousands of temprorary files that get left about eating up space that are of no use to anything. Whilst I'd agree that if you dont know what you are doing its better to ask it doesn;t mean you can't delete them

Yep I know about tempory files that clutter up registry etc, I have a program that clears all that rubbish out, I run it every couple of days, and its surprising the amount of crap it gets rid of, it also checks for virus's, and internet clutter at the same time, yesterday it got rid of 25meg of internet clutter.

Retlaw

[entwisi]

theres a lot more than any program will remove........

technically the registry is not capable of holding a file, its just a name value pair repository

cookies can also be very useful so you dont want to just arbitrarily remove all cookies, ditto temp internet files.... your browser often uses this as a cache speeding up your browsing and saving your download bandwidth. its not all evil you know!

[kestrelx]

Originally Posted by Retlaw

You've been looking in hidden files and folders, there are dozens of obscure files like that in comnputers, they may appear to be of no use to you but they are there for a purpose, delete it, and next time you switch on you may get the blue screen of death. The most important button on any thing you see on your computer is cancel, especially when you don't know what it is.
Retlaw

It's not one of those hidden files - this has appeared in my C drive at the top of the list - now I've had the computer just over 1 year and this file has appeared in the last several weeks - it wan't there all year - so it can't be anything crucial to the operation of the machine - I don't think? Problem is none of the files indicate what the contents of this mystery file do!?

[kestrelx]

Originally Posted by mick

Have you had any updates from Microsoft lately?
it could be an update and if it is being used will not let you delete it
what operating system are you using ?

I've got Windows 7 Mick - yes i do get downloads...but I don't check them all!

[skuta]

I would just rename the file with a .bak extension, then see what happens. If no problems, delete. If you have issues, restore filename. Before doing any of this, right click on file in question to get it's properties, then hit Ctrl+Shift+Esc to check if there is any corresponding process running in windows task manager. I deleted a similar entry today which turned out to be an orphaned executable connected to some other installation.

[banjoman]

Its a temporary folder used by windows updates, where it expands the downloaded files then runs them. It should delete all the files when installation is completed. Otherwise its nothing to worry about.You can run Task manager and kill any process called "msiexec" and then try deleting the folder