Case of the Phantom Folders

[Guest]

I have XP Pro installed and have 2 folders I can't get rid of. They have
different symptoms as follows:

The first is on my desktop. I can right click on it and click properties,
but they never come up. Also, on right click, there is no delete option. If I
highlight it and press Delete button nothing happens; not even an error
message. I can browse to desktop via My Computer, but the folder doesn't show
up there.

The second folder is on a storage drive. I can delete it, but it keeps
coming back. I have gone so far as to format the drive, but it keeps popping
up at randon times. I can delete it, reboot, and it is still gone. Then come
back later in the day and it is there again. One thing I haven't tried is to
change the drive letter of that drive.

Any advice would be well received.

Thanks,
DVS

 

[Richard Urban]

Any folder names you would care to share with us?

--
Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
(For email, remove the obvious from my address)

Quote from George Ankner:
If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!

 

[Guest]

The one on the desktop has no name. It is just a folder icon sitting there. I
also forgot to mention that if I drag it to the Recycle Bin I get a barred
circle indicating an illegal operation, but again, no error message.

The Other one is labeled HM2K.

 

[Richard Urban]

OK

Neither of these seem to be protected "system" folders. Boot your computer
up into safe mode (without networking) and try to delete them from there.
While in safe mode, run all of you antivirus and antispyware scans also.
They do a more thorough job when run from safe mode.

--
Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
(For email, remove the obvious from my address)

Quote from George Ankner:
If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!

 

[Guest]

I'll try that when I get home and let you know tomorrow.

Thanks for the effort.

DVS

 

[Yves Leclerc]

The Desktop can also come for the "All Users" section in "C:\Documents and
Settings." This is where the programs are set up when your install them for
"All Users."

 

[Guest]

I checked the All Users Desktop and the folder is not there.

Thanks for the suggestion though.
DVS

 

[AJR]

Check view tab under folder options - if show hidden files is checked there
some folders that appear on the desktop.

 

[Guest]

It was not a hidden system folder. I created it originally. But just for
kicks I just tried your advice with no change.

Thanks...

 

[Guest]

Well, I tried deleting from safe mode after scanning with McAfee Virus Scan
Enterprise and Ad-Aware and Spybot S&D and Windows Defender. My machine is
clean of malware (except for some minor internet trackers) and the situation
remains the same witht the desktop folder.

I changed the drive letter on the other one after deleting it. Now I will
wait and see if it comes back.

Thanks for all your suggestions guys. It looks as if I will have to live
with this minor inconvenience until the next time I rebuild my OS 9which I
usually do about every 6 months just to keep everything fresh).

DVS

 

[Richard Urban]

One last thing. You can run chkdsk with the /f option on your system drive.
If the drive is C: use the following:

chkdsk c: /f

Follow the instructions in the screen text and reboot. This sometimes will
clear out locked files caused by logical disk corruption.

--
Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
(For email, remove the obvious from my address)

Quote from George Ankner:
If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!

 

[cquirke (MVP Windows shell/user)]

On Wed, 27 Sep 2006 05:51:03 -0700, DVS

I have XP Pro installed and have 2 folders I can't get rid of. They have
different symptoms as follows:

The first is on my desktop. I can right click on it and click properties,
but they never come up. Also, on right click, there is no delete option. If I
highlight it and press Delete button nothing happens; not even an error
message. I can browse to desktop via My Computer, but the folder doesn't show
up there.

I'm seeing exactly this after cleaning up malware - I suspect it's a
namespace object, hopefully one that's broken and no longer works.

Namespace objects are defined by CLSID. Anything on the desktop,
especially if it shows in Windows Explorer's left panel tree, that is
not a file or folder and doesn't have a shortcut arrow, is one of
these namespace objects.

Normal examples include MyDocs, MyComp, IE, Outlook, etc.

The second folder is on a storage drive. I can delete it, but it keeps
coming back. I have gone so far as to format the drive, but it keeps popping
up at randon times. I can delete it, reboot, and it is still gone. Then come
back later in the day and it is there again. One thing I haven't tried is to
change the drive letter of that drive.

I suspect it's being dropped by something, most likely active malware.
Any drive or disk volume can be booby-trapped by dropping a hostile
\Autorun.inf and related files or it, and any folder can be
booby-trapped by dropping a hostile Desktop.ini and related files on
it, as part of the "View As Web Page" nonsese we've been stuck with
since IE4's infatuation with "web UI everywhere".

Let me test my mileage with the desktop icon...
- Explorer is set to show all files, extensions, etc.
- generic icon
- no name, F2 does not rename it
- rt-click shows Cut, Create Shortcut, and Delete
- none of the above are default action
- appears at desktop level in Explorer's tree
- does not appear in any C:\D&S\...\Desktop

Let's try creating a shortcut to it...
- fails on spurious "disk full" error
Let's try Cut and Paste...
- greys on Cut, OK
- navigate to a directory, Paste
- unable to Paste (greyed out)
- desktop icon still grey
- press Esc; desktop icon not grey anymore
- may use that as a detection hook via registry monitor?
- rt-drag to folder; Shortcut is only action in pop-up on release
- lt-drag to folder; Ctl and/or Shift doesn't [+] or [_] only [>]
Desktop Properties may show it as a selectable icon?
- no
TweakUI XP show it as a desktop icon?
- no
Nirsoft Shell Extension Viewer, disable a few likelies, restart...
- no change
Heh, let's try the Delete action...
- "Do you want to delete these icons?"
- and "This won't uninstall palmOne ..."
- OK; and it's gone!

So it looks like it's a trace of some Palm synchware.

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