Is "C:\Windows\System32\NUL)" a good file?

I have Googled but cannot find an answer:

Windows 7 Home SP-1 64bit and I see a file named "C:\Windows\System32\NUL)".

Since it has a ")" at the end of its name I am wondering if it is a
"good" file.

--
Zaidy036

Interesting. Try upload it to these sites to scan:
https://www.hybrid-analysis.com/
http://virusscan.jotti.org/
http://www.virscan.org/
https://www.virustotal.com/
https://www.metascan-online.com/

Zaidy036 wrote:
I have Googled but cannot find an answer:

Windows 7 Home SP-1 64bit and I see a file named "C:\Windows\System32\NUL)".

Since it has a ")" at the end of its name I am wondering if it is a
"good" file.
--
Quote of the Week: "I could crush him like an ant. But it would be too
easy. No, revenge is a dish best served cold. I'll bide my time until...
Oh, what the hell, I'll just crush him like an ant." --Mr. Burns, The
Simpsons ("Blood Feud" Episode 7F22)
Note: A fixed width font (Courier, Monospace, etc.) is required to see this signature correctly.
/\___/\ Ant(Dude) @ http://aqfl.net & http://antfarm.home.dhs.org /
/ /\ /\ \ http://antfarm.ma.cx. Please nuke ANT if replying by e-mail.
| |o o| |
\ _ /
( )

On 3/8/2019 3:06 PM, Ant wrote:
Interesting. Try upload it to these sites to scan:
https://www.hybrid-analysis.com/
http://virusscan.jotti.org/
http://www.virscan.org/
https://www.virustotal.com/
https://www.metascan-online.com/

Zaidy036 wrote:
I have Googled but cannot find an answer:

Windows 7 Home SP-1 64bit and I see a file named "C:\Windows\System32\NUL)".

Since it has a ")" at the end of its name I am wondering if it is a
"good" file.

It is NUL file according to all of your references.

I just never saw a file name ending in ")" and am wondering if anybody
else sees the same name on their system.

--
Zaidy036

Zaidy036 wrote:
On 3/8/2019 3:06 PM, Ant wrote:
Interesting. Try upload it to these sites to scan:
https://www.hybrid-analysis.com/
http://virusscan.jotti.org/
http://www.virscan.org/
https://www.virustotal.com/
https://www.metascan-online.com/

Zaidy036 wrote:
I have Googled but cannot find an answer:

Windows 7 Home SP-1 64bit and I see a file named "C:\Windows\System32\NUL)".

Since it has a ")" at the end of its name I am wondering if it is a
"good" file.

It is NUL file according to all of your references.

I just never saw a file name ending in ")" and am wondering if anybody
else sees the same name on their system.

Thanks. I don't see it in mine. Maybe a corrupted file? I guess you
could put it in your recycle bin and see if it breaks your W7.

--
Quote of the Week: "I could crush him like an ant. But it would be too
easy. No, revenge is a dish best served cold. I'll bide my time until...
Oh, what the hell, I'll just crush him like an ant." --Mr. Burns, The
Simpsons ("Blood Feud" Episode 7F22)
Note: A fixed width font (Courier, Monospace, etc.) is required to see this signature correctly.
/\___/\ Ant(Dude) @ http://aqfl.net & http://antfarm.home.dhs.org /
/ /\ /\ \ http://antfarm.ma.cx. Please nuke ANT if replying by e-mail.
| |o o| |
\ _ /
( )

On 3/8/2019 3:17 PM, Ant wrote:
Zaidy036 wrote:
On 3/8/2019 3:06 PM, Ant wrote:
Interesting. Try upload it to these sites to scan:
https://www.hybrid-analysis.com/
http://virusscan.jotti.org/
http://www.virscan.org/
https://www.virustotal.com/
https://www.metascan-online.com/

Zaidy036 wrote:
I have Googled but cannot find an answer:

Windows 7 Home SP-1 64bit and I see a file named "C:\Windows\System32\NUL)".

Since it has a ")" at the end of its name I am wondering if it is a
"good" file.

It is NUL file according to all of your references.

I just never saw a file name ending in ")" and am wondering if anybody
else sees the same name on their system.

Thanks. I don't see it in mine. Maybe a corrupted file? I guess you
could put it in your recycle bin and see if it breaks your W7.

Thanks. Renamed it xxxNUL) and "NUL" still works in a cmd window and batch

--
Zaidy036

In message , Ant
writes:
Zaidy036 wrote:
[]
Zaidy036 wrote:
I have Googled but cannot find an answer:

Windows 7 Home SP-1 64bit and I see a file named
"C:\Windows\System32\NUL)".

Since it has a ")" at the end of its name I am wondering if it is a
"good" file.

It's a perfectly valid filename, I think even in 8.3; it's _unusual_ in
having the ")" in it, buy valid. It's also unusual (but still valid) in
having no extension, if that really is the case (you don't have
extensions left turned off, do you? Bad idea if so, and M$ should have
changed the default decades ago).

It is NUL file according to all of your references.

I just never saw a file name ending in ")" and am wondering if anybody
else sees the same name on their system.

Thanks. I don't see it in mine. Maybe a corrupted file? I guess you

Nor mine (7SP1 Home 32-bit). No file with NUL) anywhere in the filename
anywhere on my discs, and nothing between nt... and o... in my system32.

could put it in your recycle bin and see if it breaks your W7.

How big is it? Can you tell us anything else about it? (E. g., can you
see any text strings in it if you try to open it in Notepad or similar
[or try IrfanView which is pretty good at recognising image formats])?

How did you come to discover its presence?
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)[email protected]+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

The death of democracy is not likely to be an assassination from ambush.
It will be a slow extinction from apathy, indifference, and undernourishment.
-Robert Maynard Hutchins, educator (1899-1977)

Zaidy036 wrote:
I have Googled but cannot find an answer:

Windows 7 Home SP-1 64bit and I see a file named
"C:\Windows\System32\NUL)".

Since it has a ")" at the end of its name I am wondering if it is a
"good" file.


So you malformed a command line expression that
was attempting to redirect output to /dev/null, like this.

NUL

In Windows, NUL is the equivalent of Linux /dev/null.
You can redirect stderr or stdout to NUL, to make
an application "quiet".

So the closing parenthesis was likely some sort of attempted
"pipe" and "redirection" which didn't get quoted properly. The
person doing this, was running an administrator command prompt
at the time.

If the attempt had pointed at NUL instead of NUL)
then there would have been no output file generated.
As "NUL" is the bit-bucket.

As far as I can tell, that malformed filename is valid. The ")"
is not reserved. So yes, it's a good file, and likely contains
text from the failed command formulation. Rename the file
and load into Notepad.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/win.../naming-a-file

"The following reserved characters..."

Paul

On 3/8/2019 4:06 PM, J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:
In message , Ant
writes:
Zaidy036 wrote:
[]
Zaidy036 wrote:
I have Googled but cannot find an answer:

Windows 7 Home SP-1 64bit and I see a file named
"C:\Windows\System32\NUL)".

Since it has a ")" at the end of its name I am wondering if it is a
"good" file.

It's a perfectly valid filename, I think even in 8.3; it's _unusual_ in
having the ")" in it, buy valid. It's also unusual (but still valid) in
having no extension, if that really is the case (you don't have
extensions left turned off, do you? Bad idea if so, and M$ should have
changed the default decades ago).

It is NUL file according to all of your references.

I just never saw a file name ending in ")" and am wondering if anybody
else sees the same name on their system.

Thanks. I don't see it in mine. Maybe a corrupted file? I guess you

Nor mine (7SP1 Home 32-bit). No file with NUL) anywhere in the filename
anywhere on my discs, and nothing between nt... and o... in my system32.

could put it in your recycle bin and see if it breaks your W7.

How big is it? Can you tell us anything else about it? (E. g., can you
see any text strings in it if you try to open it in Notepad or similar
[or try IrfanView which is pretty good at recognising image formats])?

How did you come to discover its presence?
I am now guessing it was from a typo/accidental key press of some sort
while a batch was running. Probably a ")" key as Paul suggested. It was
a "flash" in a cmd window that I happened to catch so I went exploring
for it and the ")" at the end looked strange to me.

The file is empty and now renamed xxxNUL).

--
Zaidy036

In message , Zaidy036
writes:
On 3/8/2019 4:06 PM, J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:
[]
How big is it? Can you tell us anything else about it? (E. g., can
you see any text strings in it if you try to open it in Notepad or
similar [or try IrfanView which is pretty good at recognising image
formats])?
How did you come to discover its presence?
I am now guessing it was from a typo/accidental key press of some sort
while a batch was running. Probably a ")" key as Paul suggested. It was
a "flash" in a cmd window that I happened to catch so I went exploring
for it and the ")" at the end looked strange to me.

The file is empty and now renamed xxxNUL).

By empty, do you mean 0 size? If so, I'd delete it. (If it _isn't_ 0
size, it's not empty.)
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)[email protected]+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

The web is a blank slate; you can't design technology that is 'good'. You can't
design paper that you can only write good things on. There are no good or evil
tools. You can put an engine in an ambulance or a tank. - Sir Tim Berners-Lee,
Radio Times 2009-Jan-30 to -Feb-5.