VC_Red folder, files within

[river]

did a search here and on web about vc_red, and info is rather limited. read where microsoft has list of those files that are safe to delete within "vc_red" but the 79 files i have inside vc red are none that microsoft say are safe to delete.

my files are almost all RTM files, (manifest, dll's, policy, catalog, and mfc's and mfcloc's)

anyone know if these or any file that shows up in vc_red is safe to delete?

thanks
river

 

[Bill2]

Look to be Visual C++ temp files left over after install. How exactly did you acquire these files, whats their size? Have you rebooted since you found those files? Often installation files self-delete on reboot. However, to be certain, just cut paste them to a temp folder, reboot and then make sure everything works fine. If it does, go ahead and permanently delete the files.

Edit: found this support page, are your files the same?

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/950683

 

[river]

computer is only about 4 weeks old, only software on computer is what came with it, have only done ms updates. just lately have been exploring windows explorer and seeing what's what and that's when i noticed "vc_red" and all the files inside.

will do the cut & paste, move to temp folder and see what happens on a reboot. and yes, have rebooted numerous times since acquiring laptop and since noticing the files.

thanks

 

[river]

ok, this raises my concerns, as i selected all files within the folder, then tried to cut, but the cut is grayed out, and selecting one or all, the "delete" option is also grayed out. so not sure now?
river

 

[Bill2]

Do it in safe mode.

 

[river]

ok, back in a bit

 

[river]

Noper! "cut" and "delete" grayed out in safe mode as well.

 

[Bill2]

Well, deleting these files is not critical but if you want to pursue it, try the following.

1) Boot to safe mode with command prompt, navigate to the directory, delete the files.

2) Boot to command prompt under system recovery options, then try deleting.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/682-command-prompt-startup.html

3) Try the unlocker tool.

Download Unlocker 1.9.0 - FileHippo.com

 

[fseal]

WHat is the path to the vc_red files?

If they are under temp or something then they should be deleteable.

If they are under the windows folder or under a visual stdio folder then no. Does the computer have visual studio installed by any chance?

 

[river]

no, no visual studio installed. the vc_red is below (not within) the windows folder, and the vc_red is not a folder but a cabinet icon. the total size of files is only 1.8mb, so not a big deal, just one of those things that i became curious about.

 

[fseal]

Oh ok, then yeah it's something left over from the install of somehting on the machine (May have been done "at the factory").


Unfortuately the file may have been placed there by the installer and has permissions set for hte installer only. You can try to "Take Ownership" of the file and delete it that way. You can do it by hand from the properties dialog from right clicking the file if you know how or you can DL and install the "Take Ownership" shortcut (Search this forum for "take ownership".

Definately do not use that command willy nilly though

 

[river]

right click menu only has "copy" and "extract"

 

[Dwarf]

Do you have access to a live bootable version of Linux, such as Ubuntu? If so, boot up into that and then delete the file(s). This method can often work when others fail.

 

[river]

have used ubuntu in the past, but really don't want to install just to get rid of some files that this system, for some reason(?) doesn't want me to get rid. of would rather like to understand the "whys" and "whatfors" first.

thanxz anyway
river

 

[Dwarf]

You don't actually install Ubuntu, rather you run it live. It resides solely in RAM, and makes no changes to your HDD/SDD. However, you can access your drives and can create/delete/modify files on them if you so wish.

 

[river]

understand, and thanxz, might end up doing that, but want to find out about these files first.

 

[fseal]

Did you try "taking ownership"?

 

[river]

just took ownership, and cut and pasted to temp folder, ready for reboot, keeping fingers crossed, and ready for one to shoot up in the air if it screws something up !

 

[river]

i'm back, no smoke, no grinding noises, no explosions, so all is right with the world(?)

question: the take ownership that i just did is for the "vc_red" cab only, correct? and is there any reason to go back in to permissions and change that back?

thanxz for pointing me in that direction. guess i'll leave them in temp for a few days and then delete them.

river

 

[fseal]

Yeah basically you changed the permisions for that one file to give you full control. And no you shouldn't have to put the permissions back. 99% sure that it was just a temp file left over by some installer.

It is something you can do "manually" by navigating through the security menus under the properties for the file, but it's WAY quicker to just use the Take Ownership short cut.

More than likely the file "belonged" to the windows installer process so as-is you were not able to delete it.
It should never really be needed by 99% of all users but then there are issues like this where an installer crashed during install or someone turned of the machine and the installer left it's "personal" temp files lying around and you have to whip out a little admin tool to take control of the situation