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#1
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Bizarre Problem - Files Disappearing!
I have a very strange problem with files disappearing or hiding themselves
in Explorer windows. It only happens with files that start with underscore "_" so that if I were to rename "test.txt" to "_test.txt" for example, it would disappear from the explorer screen. However in a DOS prompt window the file would still be there. I have Win XP and just upgraded to SP2 to see if that would help. No luck. Tried scanning for viruses and hijackers using Spybot and Ad-aware, and all clean. No unusual processes in the Task Manager or system Start Up. My folder options are set to display hidden files. I'm at a loss. Just a few days ago these files were working fine. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. Hibes |
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#2
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Bizarre Problem - Files Disappearing!
FP97: Files, Folders Beginning with Underscore Character Disappear
http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;186263 FP98: Files, Folders Beginning with Underscore Character Disappear http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;194244 FP2000: Files, Folders Beginning w/ Underscore Character Disappear http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;205662 -- Hope this helps. Let us know. Wes In , Hibes hunted and pecked: I have a very strange problem with files disappearing or hiding themselves in Explorer windows. It only happens with files that start with underscore "_" so that if I were to rename "test.txt" to "_test.txt" for example, it would disappear from the explorer screen. However in a DOS prompt window the file would still be there. I have Win XP and just upgraded to SP2 to see if that would help. No luck. Tried scanning for viruses and hijackers using Spybot and Ad-aware, and all clean. No unusual processes in the Task Manager or system Start Up. My folder options are set to display hidden files. I'm at a loss. Just a few days ago these files were working fine. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. Hibes |
#3
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Bizarre Problem - Files Disappearing!
These articles pertain to FrontPage which I don't have installed on my
system. So I don't think that will help. Can't seem to find any information about this problem anywhere. Hibes "Wesley Vogel" wrote in message ... FP97: Files, Folders Beginning with Underscore Character Disappear http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;186263 FP98: Files, Folders Beginning with Underscore Character Disappear http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;194244 FP2000: Files, Folders Beginning w/ Underscore Character Disappear http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;205662 -- Hope this helps. Let us know. Wes In , Hibes hunted and pecked: I have a very strange problem with files disappearing or hiding themselves in Explorer windows. It only happens with files that start with underscore "_" so that if I were to rename "test.txt" to "_test.txt" for example, it would disappear from the explorer screen. However in a DOS prompt window the file would still be there. I have Win XP and just upgraded to SP2 to see if that would help. No luck. Tried scanning for viruses and hijackers using Spybot and Ad-aware, and all clean. No unusual processes in the Task Manager or system Start Up. My folder options are set to display hidden files. I'm at a loss. Just a few days ago these files were working fine. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. Hibes |
#4
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Bizarre Problem - Files Disappearing!
On Fri, 10 Dec 2004 18:07:59 -0700, "Wesley Vogel"
FP97: Files, Folders Beginning with Underscore Character Disappear http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;186263 FP98: Files, Folders Beginning with Underscore Character Disappear http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;194244 FP2000: Files, Folders Beginning w/ Underscore Character Disappear http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;205662 All of that applies to Front Page. The poster was referring to files as listed in Windows Explorer. Tell me: Do the file names lose the first character, i.e. is it... ReadMe.txt - _eadMe.txt ....or... ReadMe.txt - _ReadMe.txt ....? If the first, I'd worry about some hware flakiness nulling out the first character (Explorer may show odd characters as _ ) Mind you, any file name starting with the null character is itself ignored as being the end of the directory. So you wouldn't see the file via any method, if that were the case. The true horror of setting the first character of a file name to null, is that when Scandisk or ChkDsk "fixes" the directory, it throws away *all* subsequent files and subdirs after that point !! The real ------------ ----- ---- --- -- - - - - The most accurate diagnostic instrument in medicine is the Retrospectoscope ------------ ----- ---- --- -- - - - - |
#5
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Bizarre Problem - Files Disappearing!
Tell me: Do the file names lose the first character, i.e. is it...
ReadMe.txt - _eadMe.txt ...or... ReadMe.txt - _ReadMe.txt ...? If the first, I'd worry about some hware flakiness nulling out the first character (Explorer may show odd characters as _ ) No, the files don't lose any characters. They just disappear when renamed with an underscore as your 2nd example. And all files/folders on my computer that were already named with an "_" as the first character, have all vanished from Windows Explorer too. And if I search for them using Windows Search it won't find them either. Only in a DOS window I can find them, as I say. It's driving me a bit nuts... Hibes |
#6
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Bizarre Problem - Files Disappearing!
On Sat, 11 Dec 2004 18:10:51 -0600, "Hibes" wrote:
Tell me: Do the file names lose the first character, i.e. is it... ReadMe.txt - _eadMe.txt ...or... ReadMe.txt - _ReadMe.txt ...? If the first, I'd worry about some hware flakiness nulling out the first character (Explorer may show odd characters as _ ) No, the files don't lose any characters. They just disappear when renamed with an underscore as your 2nd example. Interesting, in that a straight data corruption iisn't likely to shift characters in the name without also shifting all the other fields in the dir entry and thus utterly barfing it up. The consistency and pattern suggests it's done programatically, possibly by malware. The same change to the name may also change the attributes - but you say you are already set to "show all". I'd go in with DiskEdit in DOS mode and have a hex look at those dir entries - my hunch is that "_" is not Char(95) as you'd expect. Is this on MTFS or FATxx? Only in a DOS window I can find them, as I say. It's driving me a bit nuts... I can imagine; sounds well spooky :-( --------------- ----- ---- --- -- - - - Tech Support: The guys who follow the 'Parade of New Products' with a shovel. --------------- ----- ---- --- -- - - - |
#7
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Bizarre Problem - Files Disappearing!
The consistency and pattern suggests it's done programatically,
possibly by malware. That's my gut feeling too. I've tried using Ad-aware, Spybot and Mcafee VirusScan and it found nothing. Is this on MTFS or FATxx? NTFS. Thanks for the suggestions, I'll keep trying or just ignore until I can catch it with Spyware removal. Hibes |
#8
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Bizarre Problem - Files Disappearing!
I'm on Win2K, but have also just recently noticed this problem, as
well. Was not happening a week ago. I routinely name directories with a beginning underscore so that they sort to the top of directory listings, so I detected the problem immediately. I've scanned for viruses and spyware and have turned up nothing. Anyone find out anything more about a possible cause for this? I believe the only thing I've installed on the machine recently is a copy of The Sims 2. Hibes wrote: The consistency and pattern suggests it's done programatically, possibly by malware. That's my gut feeling too. I've tried using Ad-aware, Spybot and Mcafee VirusScan and it found nothing. Is this on MTFS or FATxx? NTFS. Thanks for the suggestions, I'll keep trying or just ignore until I can catch it with Spyware removal. Hibes |
#9
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Bizarre Problem - Files Disappearing!
I too have noticed that my xp sp2 machine is also hiding files beginning with
the underscore character. I have done a full virus scan, ran adaware and spybot, and still not been able to resolve the problem. I have noticed that in my Kazaa shared folder there are five or so small files beginning with an underscore that are invisible as well. These pertain to be cracks for various software such as doom and nero. What intrigues me is that 1) I have never downloaded this software before 2) These files reappear after I delete them and then reboot the machine. This did leave me to believe that a rogue process was running on startup, but I have not been able to pin point it. I have also tried creating a new user account but the problem persists Regards |
#10
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Bizarre Problem - Files Disappearing!
On 29 Dec 2004 06:48:48 -0800, "lazlo"
I'm on Win2K, but have also just recently noticed this problem, as well. Was not happening a week ago. I routinely name directories with a beginning underscore so that they sort to the top of directory listings, so I detected the problem immediately. I use ! for that, as ! is always ! but _ can be anything Windows Explorer doesn't want to display as a valid file name character. But note that ! will usually be botched to _ on CDR file systems. I believe .... that's what av and anti-cm scans will verify ;-) the only thing I've installed on the machine recently is The Sims 2. One nasty thing that I'd like to personally beat the Sims team over the head for, is that it dumps a huge chunk of gunk in the "My Documents" object. No code, so not infectable, but it is VERY ANNOYING to find the backups of your Office files have bloated up from 50M to 400M because of this. Worse; you cannot relocate this data, either at installation time or via Regedit. The dumb app is HARDCODED to look within your data set for its data, and that blows chunks out both ends. Oh; and The Sims 2 requires the player to be running with Administrator rights. Windows XP is HOW many years old, now? Just when are these idiots going to write software that works properly in XP? It's a shame, because as a game, the Sims 2 really rocks! --------------- ----- ---- --- -- - - - Tech Support: The guys who follow the 'Parade of New Products' with a shovel. --------------- ----- ---- --- -- - - - |
#11
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Bizarre Problem - Files Disappearing!
On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 01:15:02 -0800, "Trueblue"
I too have noticed that my xp sp2 machine is also hiding files beginning with the underscore character. I have done a full virus scan, Formal? Or "let's hope the virus writer is too dumb to defend itself against a scan done from within infected Windows"? ran adaware and spybot, and still not been able to resolve the problem. I have noticed that in my Kazaa shared folder there are five or so small files beginning with an underscore that are invisible as well. These pertain to be cracks for various software such as doom and nero. Ahhhh... you most likely have an active malware that's seeding your Kazaa "shared" in the time-honoured passive trojan tradition of PKZIP300 and AOL4FREE . What intrigues me is that 1) I have never downloaded this software before 2) These files reappear after I delete them and then reboot the machine. Yep. Well, you can guess the rest, by now. This did leave me to believe that a rogue process was running on startup, but I have not been able to pin point it. I have also tried creating a new user account but the problem persists Formal virus check, buddy! Now that you mention it, the original poster mentioned installing "a COPY of The Sims 2". If that means what I think it means, then hullo, guess where the virus may have come from, duh. Malware writers often target two types of suckers; those greedy for warez, and those cruising for porn. Not only are these folks likely to click first and think later (if at all... especially if they are "thinking with the wrong head", so to speak) but they are unlikely to own up to clicking such material in an office setting, thus delaying forensics. -------------------- ----- ---- --- -- - - - - Trsut me, I won't make a mistake! -------------------- ----- ---- --- -- - - - - |
#12
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Bizarre Problem - Files Disappearing!
I figured out that the problem on my system was the Fructa trojan:
http://securityresponse.symantec.com...an.frutca.html I deleted it by hand -- no virus scanner could detect it because it was so completely hidden. However, I was able to delete the hidden files when I viewed my WINNT directory via an FTP app. |
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