Strange Character Files In Windows.Old

Manigue · Apr 8, 2010

1) Performed a clean install after MoBo replacement.
2) Ran Brink's tutorial "How to Delete the Windows.old Folder in Windows 7".
3) All files/subdirectories removed except two (2) files.

These two file names are using strange characters, that I can't copy, rename, delete, move, etc. The characters are not Latin, Cyrillic, Arabic, Greek, etc. I could not find them in Microsoft's Word insert character tables.

They look more like glyphs from a Stargate SG-1 episode, Fifth Element movie or an off world Sci-Fi movie. They don't bother, just would like to remove them. They are 1 Kb in size and were created the day I ran the tutorial to remove the Windows.Old directory. That was a week after the successfull clean install.

Because of these two files, I can't fully remove the Windows.Old directory. Even the procedure in the tutorial fails.

Any ideas/suggestions?

Thanks.

Saltgrass · Apr 8, 2010

Were there any files from the prior install that were encrypted?

You might try booting into safe mode and try to delete. Or even going into a command prompt.

Manigue · Apr 9, 2010

Hi Saltgrass;

As far as I know, I never encrypted any file. Tried from Command prompt and in Safe mode but no joy.

This is the directory path and file name listed by explorer:

C:\Windows.old\Users\MyName\AppData\Roaming\SecuROM\UserData\ЃϵϳЅЂϿϽϯІχϯπρЂϻϵЉЃϵϳЅ

In the command window the file name is (question marks):
????????"??????????

YakSipper · Apr 9, 2010

Hey there. You can use a software called "Eraser" to delete the files with weird names. Don't try to erase them. Just delete within the software. Good luck!

Saltgrass · Apr 9, 2010

A Google search seems to say the file might be related to Digital Rights Managment. I found this site to analyse the file, but have never made use of it, so I cannot vouch for it.

Have you tried moving the files into the new SecuRom folder?

There were also tutorials about how to get rid of the files in my search, so you might check some of those.

Manigue · Apr 16, 2010

Saltgrass said:
A Google search seems to say the file might be related to Digital Rights Managment. I found this site to analyse the file, but have never made use of it, so I cannot vouch for it.

Have you tried moving the files into the new SecuRom folder?

There were also tutorials about how to get rid of the files in my search, so you might check some of those.

Thanks for this information Saltgrass. I think they came from several games. Had no idea!

Followed Brinks' tutorial and removed Windows.old directory and files using command (RMDIR -S -Q) in CMD window without any problem.

Again Thanks.

Jacee · Apr 16, 2010

Possibly Cobian Backup? [SOLVED] deleting undeletable files - Tech Support Forum

Strange Character Files In Windows.Old

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