G
GrapeCrusher
I hope someone has the patience to read this. Please.
First a little background on my problem:
My modem transmission speed suddenly reduced by more than half about
two weeks ago. And my middle mouse button has stopped functioning in
some programs.
After every kind of troubleshooting I could think of, I finally
decided to give in to Dell's advice to re-install. (They insist that
the only cause is that WindowsXP somehow got corrupted. But they say
that about most everything you write to them about.)
I have decided to first do a "Repair Reinstall", and should that not
fix it, do the whole thing, re-format and start over.
I also decided it would be unwise to use back-up files, since whatever
might be causing the problem would likely still be there.
So, I have been copying my DATA files only to CDs: Important WORD
documents, and such, as well as a HUGE collection of MP3's. Not
burning them to CD, just copying files. And while doing that I got a
big surprise.
Some files were listed in the Burning Application (ROxio EZ CD
Creator) which were not visible anywhere else. When I added the
folder, withing the application, the were there. They have very
strange names, as follows.
AlbumArt_{2C4EF74C-4B7D-4FE5-A727-896AFCBBAF1E}_Small.jpg
AlbumArt_{F8BF63BA-B5C4-428B-B6F3-9ECB98A7D89D}_Small.jpg
AlbumArt_{2C4EF74C-4B7D-4FE5-A727-896AFCBBAF1E}_Large.jpg
AlbumArt_{F8BF63BA-B5C4-428B-B6F3-9ECB98A7D89D}_Large.jpg
There was also a desktop.ini file!
That long string between the { } brackets makes me suspicious! But I
am no programmer, and perhaps am just paranoid.
They were not in any system folder. (I know there are files with
strings like these in some of the system files, like the Prefetch
Folder, so I figure the { } MEANS something.
I could not see these files in Windows Explorer. I have options set to
show hidden files. I tried to reset properties so they could not be
hidden. But they still did not show. I did a search for them. No
results. Made me very nervous.
I copied the other files in the folder, the MP3's I wanted to keep, to
a new folder and deleted the original folders. When I went to burn the
CD the files did not appear.
But now I find them once again in a different folder! Including the
desktop.ini file.
The contents of the ini file is one very long unbroken line In Notepad
at full screen it is six lines of unbroken what I assume is some kind
of code. I was gonna paste it here, but it wont wrap. And I really
don't know what it is. It might be something executable for all I
know!
They are now in a folder I use to store newly downloaded files, not a
system folder. But I have not downloaded anything since I started
burning CDs. And I sure a hell did not MOVE or paste these there!
(I have deleted them again, but am afraid they are gonna reappear
again.)
For all I know there are tons of files with these strings, hidden all
over the place!
Does anyone have a clue what these files MIGHT mean? (or am i just
being paranoid)
If I can figure out a way to fix this mess without re-installing it
would be wonderful. I've still got about a day's worth of file copying
ahead, before I attempt the repair reinstall. Any one have a clue
what's going on here?
Am I just being paranoid, or have I stumbled onto something here?
Thanks (for at least taking the time to read all this!)
Grape Crusher
First a little background on my problem:
My modem transmission speed suddenly reduced by more than half about
two weeks ago. And my middle mouse button has stopped functioning in
some programs.
After every kind of troubleshooting I could think of, I finally
decided to give in to Dell's advice to re-install. (They insist that
the only cause is that WindowsXP somehow got corrupted. But they say
that about most everything you write to them about.)
I have decided to first do a "Repair Reinstall", and should that not
fix it, do the whole thing, re-format and start over.
I also decided it would be unwise to use back-up files, since whatever
might be causing the problem would likely still be there.
So, I have been copying my DATA files only to CDs: Important WORD
documents, and such, as well as a HUGE collection of MP3's. Not
burning them to CD, just copying files. And while doing that I got a
big surprise.
Some files were listed in the Burning Application (ROxio EZ CD
Creator) which were not visible anywhere else. When I added the
folder, withing the application, the were there. They have very
strange names, as follows.
AlbumArt_{2C4EF74C-4B7D-4FE5-A727-896AFCBBAF1E}_Small.jpg
AlbumArt_{F8BF63BA-B5C4-428B-B6F3-9ECB98A7D89D}_Small.jpg
AlbumArt_{2C4EF74C-4B7D-4FE5-A727-896AFCBBAF1E}_Large.jpg
AlbumArt_{F8BF63BA-B5C4-428B-B6F3-9ECB98A7D89D}_Large.jpg
There was also a desktop.ini file!
That long string between the { } brackets makes me suspicious! But I
am no programmer, and perhaps am just paranoid.
They were not in any system folder. (I know there are files with
strings like these in some of the system files, like the Prefetch
Folder, so I figure the { } MEANS something.
I could not see these files in Windows Explorer. I have options set to
show hidden files. I tried to reset properties so they could not be
hidden. But they still did not show. I did a search for them. No
results. Made me very nervous.
I copied the other files in the folder, the MP3's I wanted to keep, to
a new folder and deleted the original folders. When I went to burn the
CD the files did not appear.
But now I find them once again in a different folder! Including the
desktop.ini file.
The contents of the ini file is one very long unbroken line In Notepad
at full screen it is six lines of unbroken what I assume is some kind
of code. I was gonna paste it here, but it wont wrap. And I really
don't know what it is. It might be something executable for all I
know!
They are now in a folder I use to store newly downloaded files, not a
system folder. But I have not downloaded anything since I started
burning CDs. And I sure a hell did not MOVE or paste these there!
(I have deleted them again, but am afraid they are gonna reappear
again.)
For all I know there are tons of files with these strings, hidden all
over the place!
Does anyone have a clue what these files MIGHT mean? (or am i just
being paranoid)
If I can figure out a way to fix this mess without re-installing it
would be wonderful. I've still got about a day's worth of file copying
ahead, before I attempt the repair reinstall. Any one have a clue
what's going on here?
Am I just being paranoid, or have I stumbled onto something here?
Thanks (for at least taking the time to read all this!)
Grape Crusher
