Explorer folder lists files which do not exist?

[Guest]

Here's an odd problem.
[Windows XP Home, SP1 plus updates]

I have one folder which list files which do not seem to exist. Here is what
I have found:
a) the Explorer window shows over 700 files occupying 1.3GB,
b) many of the files listed do not have any extension,
c) when I right-click the files and selects Properties, the window shows a
file size of 0 bytes and a size on disk of 0 bytes,
d) I tried to copy some of these files to my Desktop (right-click, Copy . .
), but got the Windows error message "Cannot copy file: Cannot read from the
source file or disk".

So it seems to me that the problem lies in the file system (NTFS). There are
entries in the folder for files but their size on disk is 0 bytes.

I ran CHKDSK (in read-only mode) but it did not find any errors.

My problems are:
a) Will I actually be able to delete these files (as they do not seem to
exist on disk)?

b) If I am able to delete the files, will other files on the disk be
corrupted? That is, pointers in these "missing" files may be pointing to
sectors/segments which are used by other files. So when I delete the
"missing" files these sector/segments are marked as free, corrupting the
other files.

Can anyone help me with a safe way of sorting this out?
Many thanks for your help with this.

 

[Gerry Cornell]

Simon

All files should have an extension.

Go to Start, Control Panel, Folder Options, View, Advanced
Settings and verify that the box before "Show hidden files and
folders" is checked and "Hide protected operating system files
" is unchecked. You may need to scroll down to see the second
item. You should also make certain that the box before "Hide
extensions for known file types" is not checked.

What is the name of the folder?


--

Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England

Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Guest]

Hi there,
My Explorer settings were all OK.
The files do not have any extension, one example file name is 00182354.
The file names are just serial numbers, I think.

And the folder is C:\RECYCLER\NPROTECT, it is part of the Norton Protected
Recycle Bin.

 

[Gerry Cornell]

Simon

A junk folder to be emptied periodically.

--

Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England

Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[GTS]

Right click on the Recycle bin and select to empty / delete Norton protected
files. (I forget the exact wording but it should be apparent.)

 

[Guest]

Sorry guys, I should have said.
"Empty Norton Protected Files" does not delete these files, it does delete
recent ones qquite happily and correctly. It looks as though Norton has lost
track of these older files.

So, I would like to delete them separately.
- But how can I do that ?
[after all, Explorer reports an error if i try to copy any of them]
- and how can I do it safely?
[as the file references exist in the NPROTECT folder, but the file size on
disk is reported as 0 bytes).

Weird one, huh!.

 

[Gerry Cornell]

Simon

What version of Norton?


--

Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England

Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Guest]

I am using Norton System Works 2005.
But the problem now lies outside that app - as NSW does not see these files
at all.
It's a question of how NTFS will handle them and how do I tidy things up?

And, I wonder, why did CHKDSK not see the apparent problems - files listed
in a folder but not actually soted on the disk?

regards

 

[Gerry Cornell]

Simon

Please read the advice here:
http://snipurl.com/lzd4

--

Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England

Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Guest]

Gerry,
first of all, thanks for your help with this.

That link to Symanctec info looks good.

But i still have a concern - what will happen when I delete my NPROTECT
folder and Explorer tries to delete the files listed in that folder (which
seem to have a "size on disk" of 0 bytes)?

Maybe I am being paranoid, butyou can understand that I really do not want
to trash any other files whne I am trying to delete these werid ones.

-
Simon 1972

 

[Gerry Cornell]

Simon

Create a System Restore point before you try. Delete in Safe Mode.
Nothing in a Recycle Bin should be ever needed again.

--

Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England

Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Guest]

Gerry,
thanks for your help.
I'll give that a go.