Duplicate "local" folder in "AppData"

[mmcl26554]

After Avast did a full scan it listed some files it could not find. They were in the /appdata/local/opera mail/opera mail folder/ So I went to check and found 2 identical "Local" folders. I have a full backup copy of the hard drive which is only a month old and it has only 1 local folder. The only difference between is the addition of the Opera standalone mail program. Everything seems to work OK and no error messages except for the one from Avast. I did scan the files it could not scan and found no problems. Can anyone explain this to me?
Michael

 

[UsernameIssues]

Please post a screenshot that shows the problem:
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/9733-screenshots-files-upload-post-seven-forums.html

 

[mmcl26554]

Actually I have found a solution but not an understanding. What I did was boot the machine with Ubuntu (I have it installed also) and I was able to get a more objective look at the two local folders. In Ubuntu one of the folders had only one sub-folder in it "Opera Mail". Since the folders were not in use I could make changes to them so I changed the folder with only one sub-folder in it to local.1 just to see what happened. I booted back into win7 and there were no problems and since the name had changed win7 did not access the folder. I have not yet deleted it. So what you see in the attachment is one local folder and one local.1 file. Originally there were 2 local folders and win7 listed both full of sub-folders and files and were identical. After a while I will delete the local.1 file. However, I am curious about where this came from, but haven't gotten any answers yet. Maybe it is just because Windows is strange and not the OS we wish it were. And people complain about the ACA website!
Michael

 

[UsernameIssues]

You could have just left the link there and left it named local.

Hard Links and Junctions (Windows)

 

[mmcl26554]

Yes. What win7 did was write whatever changes occurred into both folders. Win7 also would not you to make any manual changes to either one as they were both listed as being in use by another program. A mirror image from a couple months ago did not show 2 local folders. That was before I installed Opera mail Standalone program. I plan to install it on another computer to see what happens there, if it creates another local or not. If it does I'll post it back here and of course on the Opera forum.
Michael

 

[UsernameIssues]

It was not really two folders. You can think of the second one as a shortcut link (sort of) to the original one.

 

[mmcl26554]

Is the link the one Ubuntu sees with only one folder? Why was it formed in the first place? Now Opera Mail continues to work just fine with it's name changed.
Michael

 

[UsernameIssues]

> Is the link the one Ubuntu sees with only one folder?
Probably, but I cannot say for sure.

> Why was it formed in the first place?
It would be best to ask the software developers that question. I see no reason to create it.

> Now Opera Mail continues to work just fine with it's name changed.
Changing the name broke the link (if indeed that is what it was) and Opera Mail probably reverted to using the real folder.

 

[mmcl26554]

After I try to set it up on another computer and see what it does there I will post back and make it resolved.
Michael