Strang Folders - Cant Delete Them?

[franksoprano]

I was searching the other logical partitions on my hard drive and I have come across a bunch of folder with long names like:

G:\83ad5e3225aab7948dac2ea517ed5eaa

are these related to the downloaded updates? I have tried to go into the folder but I can only do in one level, there is another folder in there labeled /sp2 and I cannot access that folder says "access denied"..

I have deleted the uninstall folders for all the updates and removed the updates from the control panel list vi add/remove programs..

What is actually contained in these annoying folders? Do I really need them, or is there a way to get rid of them?

Thanks!!

F.Soprano

 

[Lucifudge]

if you want to delete them boot using ERD Commander

 

[PronetSolutions]

Many times you will have to delete these files in DOS. You may need to delete the file/ folder short name as the long name may be invalid. To check for short (8.2) name, at a DOS prompt, CD to the directory containing the folder you wish to delete.
Type dir /x to display 8.2 names
If a short name is listed, then try deleting the folder's short name. If you still cannot delete, you may have to drill down into the directory and look for other invalid file / folder names and delete them first.
E.G.
dir /x

<DIR> F6B36F~1 f6b36ffb238318a586f06d3ec

This example shows the 8.2 name which can be deleted
DEL F6B36F~1
This will delete this folder.

Good luck!

Scott

 

[bcastner]

I vote leave them alone.

In all likeliehood they are indexes for the XP indexing service and no benefit is obtained from deleting them.

 

[PronetSolutions]

FYI

On my PC, these folders are created while running Microsoft Security Rollup Packages. Administrator is the owner of the folder has no permissions. This may also be why you cannot delete these folders.

However, when in doubt... don't fix what is not broken!

Scott

 

[franksoprano]

Yea this is all true what you guys have mentioned, ive thought about it all and was confused on what to do.. But I guess I could leave them, they really wouldnt be bothering me as they dont take up any physical space other then a visual space when I view the directory.


I think its just strange thought that they are getting created on my last two drives..

 

[mmv]

They sound like temporary folders left by Service Pack installations. Have you installed Service packs lately and have you had any problems with it ?

You should be able to safely delete them.

Martin

 

[bcastner]

mmv,

The scratch files for Hotfixes are in \wutemp or in c:\windows, not at the root.

 

[franksoprano]

yes I have installed fixes and havent had any problems, It is just odd to me that it would put them out on other partitions aside from the root partition. I have never had it do this before. on on of the other partitions it even created a \wutemp and all..

 

[linney]

By default Windows Update creates a folder called WUTemp on the root of a partition with the most available Free disk space.

http://groups.google.com/groups?sou...ition+with+the+most+available+Free+disk+space

 

[manarth]

I think PronetSolutions is right - you can't access the folders because of permissions.

Right click the folder, Select properties, click the Security tab.
(NB, you may need to disable &quot;Simple Folder View&quot; which is found by selecting &quot;Folder Options&quot; from the menu bar at the top of Windows Explorer).

In the security tab, click the &quot;Advanced&quot; button.
In the new window, click the &quot;Owner&quot; tab, and change the owner to &quot;Administrator&quot;.

You should now be able to browse the contents of the folder; repeat the procedure for subfolders - this may give you a better idea of what these folders are all about!


<marc> i wonder what will happen if i press this...[ul][li]please give feedback on what works / what doesn't[/li][li]need some help? how to get a better answer: faq581-3339[/li][/ul]

 

[mmv]

bcastner

Im not talking about hotfixes, Im talking about Service Packs.
Try and run a Service Pack. When it comes to the first dialog box, look in your explorer for a directory like this - probably on the drive with most free space.

Martin