Duplicate files in c:/windows and System32

[robin]

I have hundreds of duplicate files in these two folders where there is the
original fille the the same file with a number in parethises IE:
explorer.exe, explorer.exe (1) explorer.exe (2)....... I am not taling about
files like ....cpl1 or ....cpl2 without the ( ) around the duplicates. My
question is can I delete these items just keeping the main file like
explorer.exe. I am running Windows Xp Home edition with SP2 and Internet
Explorer 8. The DLL folder itself has none of these as the I386 folder.

Thanks for any help

 

[Pegasus [MVP]]

I have hundreds of duplicate files in these two folders where there is the
original fille the the same file with a number in parethises IE:
explorer.exe, explorer.exe (1) explorer.exe (2)....... I am not taling
about
files like ....cpl1 or ....cpl2 without the ( ) around the duplicates. My
question is can I delete these items just keeping the main file like
explorer.exe. I am running Windows Xp Home edition with SP2 and Internet
Explorer 8. The DLL folder itself has none of these as the I386 folder.

Thanks for any help

What are the exact names of these duplicate files? "Explorer.exe(1)"? If so
then they are the result of a virus/malware infection. Time to scan your
system with a good virus scanner.

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I have hundreds of duplicate files in these two folders where there
is the original fille the the same file with a number in parethises
IE: explorer.exe, explorer.exe (1) explorer.exe (2)....... I am not
taling about files like ....cpl1 or ....cpl2 without the ( ) around
the duplicates. My question is can I delete these items just
keeping the main file like explorer.exe. I am running Windows Xp
Home edition with SP2 and Internet Explorer 8. The DLL folder
itself has none of these as the I386 folder.

What are the exact names of these duplicate files?
"Explorer.exe(1)"? If so then they are the result of a
virus/malware infection. Time to scan your system with a good virus
scanner.

Addt'l:
Try these antimalware applications...

SuperAntiSpyware
http://www.superantispyware.com/

MalwareBytes
http://www.malwarebytes.com/

After performing a full scan with one and then the other and removing
whatever they both find completely, you may uninstall these products,
if you wish.

Download and run the MSRT manually:
http://www.microsoft.com/security/malwareremove/default.mspx

 

[robin]

--
Robin J Halpin

What are the exact names of these duplicate files? "Explorer.exe(1)"? If so
then they are the result of a virus/malware infection. Time to scan your
system with a good virus scanner.


Thanks for you help I have 2 spyware/antivirus programs... Spyware doctor with antivirus and SpyNoMore which are very good and even warn me of any registry changes and asks for my approval. I did full scans with both and had no infections. I also scanned with Microsoft malware program and I also strictly have a malware program and it was fine. I believe these are mostly the result of past re-downloading programs that I had trouble with in the past or something simular to that. I created a restore point, deleted all the duplicates and opened all my programs and they all opened fine so everything seems good. thanks for your help and quick response.

Robin

 

[Paul Randall]

I have hundreds of duplicate files in these two folders where there is the
original fille the the same file with a number in parethises IE:
explorer.exe, explorer.exe (1) explorer.exe (2)....... I am not taling
about
files like ....cpl1 or ....cpl2 without the ( ) around the duplicates. My
question is can I delete these items just keeping the main file like
explorer.exe. I am running Windows Xp Home edition with SP2 and Internet
Explorer 8. The DLL folder itself has none of these as the I386 folder.

Thanks for any help

Duplicate files like this can also be due to a faulty mouse or poor mousing
techniques. For example, if you select all files in a folder and then drag
the selection a little and let go of the mouse button, you may well wind up
with a copy of every one of those selected files.

-Paul Randall

 

[robin]

Thanks for the information I'll look out for this