directory disappeared without trace

[Wolfgang]

I'm running XP with SP1 and all patches up-to-date. There is only one
harddrive, C:. The computer is used by one person only, me, and is
behind a router and firewall.

A few weeks ago, I noticed that a rather large directory had
disappeard from my C: drive. The directory, C:\miscell\books\, about
1.1 GByte and hundreds of files, is not required for system operation
and has no software (mostly e-book, letters, etc). So I didn't notice
the disappearance until I attempted to read some material from the
directory.

I searched the entire C: drive for names of files or directories that
I'm positive existed in C:\miscell\books\, just to make sure I hadn't
accidentally moved (dragged and dropped) C:\miscell\books\ somewhere
else. No luck, C:\miscell\books\ is gone without a trace.

Now the same thing happened with another directory, and I'm getting
spooked.

Any hints on what may have happened?

Thanks for any help and advice,

Wolfgang,
Santa Barbara, CA

 

[Thorsten Matzner]

I searched the entire C: drive for names of files or directories that
I'm positive existed in C:\miscell\books\, just to make sure I hadn't
accidentally moved (dragged and dropped) C:\miscell\books\ somewhere
else. No luck, C:\miscell\books\ is gone without a trace.

Now the same thing happened with another directory, and I'm getting
spooked.

Check the computer for malware with a virus scanner and Ad-aware
(http://www.lavasoft.de). Also check the HDD for errors.
"List of Antivirus Software Vendors"
(http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=49500)
"How to Perform Disk Error Checking in Windows XP"
(http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=315265)