Strange folders in C Drive

[conemitchell]

In my cdrive I have some very strange folders in my C Drive. They are named with random letters and numbers, such as 6b2b07c9353d2facb99b2425. Just wondering what these folders are, in the folders they all have the same thing in them. I have no permissions to view anything in the folders. And another folder popped up not long ago called 'download' it is currently empty?

 

[TanyaC]

Often these folders are created by Microsoft updates.

I typically remove them, and I've never had any adverse affects as far as I know.

However, I have seen comments by others saying that they should not be deleted.

Microsoft update usually removes these folders once the update has been applied. Every now and then one gets left behind.

If you have concerns about deleteing them, back thgem up first, remove them and monitor if you have any problems.

 

[conemitchell]

But how do i delete them? i need permission from system? but after i change the permissions to myself, it says i need permissions from myself to delete the folder?

 

[CB]

Hi Conemitchell

From some reading, that folder or other similar folder using random letters an numbers usually are temporary folder created during the installation of .NET Framework 3 series. It is actually no longer in use. Did you recently install latest NET Framework?


The installers for the .NET Framework 3.0 and later use a self-extracting logic for these versions of the .NET Framework does the following:

1. Find the drive on your system with the largest amount of free disk space
2. Create a randomly named folder on that drive
3. Extract the contents of the EXE to that folder
4. Run the setup EXE from within that folder
5. After the setup EXE returns, attempt to delete that folder

Normally it disappear after rebooting, but there are many cases it doesn't. Every attempt in deleting it mostly fail as it request us to have permission though we are the administrator. Some attempt were done by taking ownership of folders and files but unsuccessful.
Some suggestion I found in the reading were as follows:

• Reinstall .NET Framework and reboot immediately (still, no guarantee)
• Other cleanest option would be running the XPS installer before installing the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1. If that isn't an option, it would be safe to remove those registry keys in addition to removing the temporary files

Some just leave it there

That is the best help I can offer. See if other members have more reliable solution.


Kevin

 

[TanyaC]

But how do i delete them? i need permission from system? but after i change the permissions to myself, it says i need permissions from myself to delete the folder?

Did you grant permissions to your self or take ownership of the folders?

I've had these folders lying around, but never had a problem deleting them. Worst case, I take ownership of the folder, log off/on, and delete the folder.

If your account and administrator account? If not, try logging on with an administrator account.

Take Ownership of a File or Folder

You may be able to remove them using safe mode.

Alternatively, there are several free third party programs out there that will let you do this, such as Hiren's Boot CD, which I find solves lots of problems - Download Hiren

 

[CB]

Tanya.

Sorry I didn't read clearly your first post before posting. was a bit lost I guess
Then leave this to you


Kevin

 

[Alejandro85]

Often those strange folders are leftovers from some faulty installers that drop them there (which is bad on its own) and fail to clean up after themselves (which is even worse). Sometimes, the folders go away by themselves when rebooting, but if they survive a reboot and you've finished with any installers, it's safe to just delete them. You may need to take ownership first, then give yourself full control, then delete.

 

[TanyaC]

Tanya.

Sorry I didn't read clearly your first post before posting. was a bit lost I guess
Then leave this to you

Don't be sorry. All help and suggestions are welcome.

 

[Layback Bear]

Any thing in temps/temporary files can be remove without pain to you or your computer. Windows 7 has a nice little way of doing it.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/76383-disk-cleanup-extended.html
Windows 7 will not remove thing that hurt Windows 7.
Ccleaner is another nice little cleaner. I use it set at default with no problems. I don't recommend using the registry part of the program unless you are sure of what you are doing.