Cannot view nor edit mp3 files in explorer.

Thanks for the feedback.

I would uninstall Advanced Systemcare - Windows 7 doesn't really need 3rd party tuneup / cleanup tools. Many times they do more damage than good. There was a time that extra utilties were handy, but that was before Vista.

If you have a paid version of Advanced Systemcare - make sure you have the license key before you uninstall it.

Piriform has a couple of good lightweight utilities that do no harm. All of the utilities are free.

• cCleaner does a nice job and is very conservative in what it fixes.
• Defragger has a few options (free space, individual file, folder defrag, etc) that Windows defrag lacks.
• Speccy is a nice graphical System Information utility.

Since you're in the investigation stage, you should run a few quick malware scans:

Click here to download AdwCleaner (author: Xplode) from Bleepingcomputer
save the application to your Desktop.

• Right-click AdwCleaner.exe on your Desktop and select Run As Administrator to run the scanner with full privilege rights.
  : AdwCleaner is a standalone executable, there is no install.
  
• Click on the Scan button.
  : AdwCleaner begins scanning your system. It might take some time to complete, be patient
  
• Look through the tabs for any recognizable entries - if you know something is ok (you installed it or configured your system that way) remove the tick mark for that item. I use Textpad on my system and AdwCleaner flags it as a possible threat because I configured Textpad to replace Notepad. AdwCleaner says "Hey, that's not quite right - you should take a look a this - did you make this change"
  
• Click the Clean button.
  
• If prompted, answer OK to the "close all programs", then follow the onscreen prompts.
  
• If prompted, answer OK to the "restart the computer" prompt to complete the removal process.
  : The AdwCleaner[S#].txt log is opened in your default Text editor when the machine has restarted.
  : AdwCleaner logs are located in the C:\AdwCleaner folder if you need to reference them.

If AdwCleaner doesn't find anything, launch AdwCleaner a final time and click the Uninstall button.
If malware is detected, please attach the AdwCleaner logs to a new post on your thread.
See: Screenshots and Files - Upload and Post in Seven Forums

Thanks, I'll look at the logs

Please elaborate on "Index Rebuild didn't work"
Any error msgs / codes?
Check the Event viewer, both for Index Rebuild and for entries related to the issue you're trying to solve (mp3 properties in Windows Explorer)

Do you know when this started? You could see if System Protection Restore Points (RP) can get you back to where you want to be.
See: System Restore
Lots of people miss Step 7 and report that they only have one RP - look for more RPs as described in the tutorial.

Bill
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AdwCleaner found and removed a number of malware. Mostly toolbars and Bowser hijacks. I'm looking a few that are not familiar to me.
Have you restarted the machine?

Next, run Old timer Temp file Cleaner
TFC Download
Usage Instructions:
1. Download TFC from the download link above and save the file on your desktop.
2. Close ALL running applications as TFC will terminate them before attempting to clean up the temporary files.
3. Double-click on the TFC icon.
4. When the program starts, click on the Start button. TFC will terminate the Explorer process and all running applications and then begin the process of cleaning out all of your temp folders.
5. When done, press OK to reboot your computer and finish the cleanup.

Note 1: Depending on how much data is currently stored in the Temp folders, this process can take quite a while to remove all of the files, so please be patient.

Note 2: This program will not delete your Cookies or Browser History.

Restart the machine after Old Timer TFC finishes


There is no log that I know of.

Let's collect some data first:

Download DDS from here
Select Save on the download action bar - default location is Downloads

Select open folder on the download complete Action bar
Lauch DDS (dbl click)
Answer Yes (or Run) to any security prompts

on the dds options window
Tick attach.txt
Press Start

A command Prompt widow shows th DDS progress

When dds is done, two text files will open (dds and attach) - save these to your desktop if they are not already there.

Please attach both files to a new post on this thread.

Bill
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41023 said:

I ran the delete and rebuild process then I went to sleep. The next morning it was completed, I restarted and check on the mp3 files, nothing changed.

So far I have not try system restore yet, hoping that I could find a solution without having to do so.

Ok, thanks - that's different... I thought the rebuild didn't work. The index was successfully rebuilt, but it did not change the issue.

AdwCleaner picked up and cleaned up some malware.
TFC cleaned out the temp files just in case something was lurking.
System protection Restore Points, not run.
Issue still exists.

I'm not sure if you uninstalled Advanced Care as I recommended - please advise.

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The naming MS chose for some options throws a lot of people off. System Protection Restore Points only affect system stuff (registry and files). User data is not affected if you choose to do a Restore Point.

It is the fastest and safest way to resole issues. The only caveats are that if you installed something between then (RP chosen) and now, Windows doesn't know it was installed and you have to reinstall that app. Windows updates also need to be reinstalled (only the ones between then and now). The pgm files are still on the disk, windows just doesn't' know it.

Say that you know the problem started on April 5th and you have Restore Points from March 15th, March 28th, April 5th, and April 14th.

You should determine what pgms were installed between the set of possible RP dates (March 15, 28, and April 5th) and now by looking in control Panel Preograms and Features, sorted by install date. Make a note of any install between the RP you're going to try and when you actually try it. There shouldn't be too many, people normally don't do a whole bunch of installs at one time, more of an as needed basis. You can ignore any installs I asked you to do as part of this exercise.

As an example, on March 29th, Dinosours (a game) was installed and on April 6th you installed Muxik (a media player)

You could try the April 5th RP, if that solves the issue, great! In this case, only Muxik would have to be reinstalled.

If that RP doesn't solve the issue, go back one to March 28th, if that solves the issue, great! In this case, both Muxik and Dinosours would have to be reinstalled.

You would have to run Windows Update to pick up what is needed.

---

Your choice, but.... the other route is longer and might eventually end up back at system Protection Restore points. Keep in mind, this is NOT the same as restoring from backup, it's built in system protection that makes recovery much easier.

If you want to continue without running RP (it's your machine), the next step is another scanner

Follwo the instructions to run the ESET online scanner on this page:
Help: Free ESET Antivirus Online Scanner

ESET FAQ page: FAQ: Free ESET Antivirus Online Scanner

Please attach the ESET log to a new post
C:\Program Files\EsetOnlineScanner\log.txt

ESET online scanner takes a long time, it's very thorough.

After I see the ESET logs, there might be more scanners. There will be a system utility to check the system files and then either the issue is resolved or your back to trying a restore point.

Bill
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