Unusual Folder names

[Brian Elkins]

I have a user that whenever he logs onto his workstation
an additional directory gets created. The directories
appear to have names limited to the hexadecimal character
set (i.e. 7307245ea99a69bb1c314802,
b559e687c3a711d8d183259dce66 and
e7471c47a964445e6033c5e2d19707f4).

When I try to delete the folders I get an error message
that says the eula.txt file is in use.

The only thing I can guess is that these are some type of
temporary storage locations when files are unpacked but
they are not being deleted when the installation is
completed.

I tried booting in safe mode and I can't delete them there
either.

Any ideas?

Thanks.

[Sharon F]

Brian Elkins wrote:
> I have a user that whenever he logs onto his workstation
> an additional directory gets created. The directories
> appear to have names limited to the hexadecimal character
> set (i.e. 7307245ea99a69bb1c314802,
> b559e687c3a711d8d183259dce66 and
> e7471c47a964445e6033c5e2d19707f4).
>
> When I try to delete the folders I get an error message
> that says the eula.txt file is in use.
>
> The only thing I can guess is that these are some type of
> temporary storage locations when files are unpacked but
> they are not being deleted when the installation is
> completed.
>
> I tried booting in safe mode and I can't delete them there
> either.
>
> Any ideas?
>
> Thanks.

Where are the folders being created? Off the cuff, I agree that it sounds
like the folders are for some program's installer. Have you tried disabling
startup programs to see if it's one of those that are doing this? Could be
any program that didn't install quite right I guess but checking startup
programs may be a way to start eliminating some of the software. Does Event
Viewer mention anything? Most programs with an MSI installer will be noted
there. May want to look for log files too.


--
Sharon F
Microsoft MVP, Windows - Shell/User