How to get ride of a currupt file?

[Pegasus [MVP]]

Why doesn't someone just answer the question straight foward, in plain
somple English without trying to be so damn clever and cute? People don't
come here for answers that are like riddles that need to be solved. They
are usually freaked-out because something isn't working and they want it
working the way it should. They come to you for help, and this is what
they get. Some of you are simply a-holes!

Why didn't the OP take the time and answer my simple question ("where
exactly is this file, in which folder?"). If he/she had then lots of
respondents would have told him/her with absolute certainty if the problem
file is part of his/her registry (which he/she cannot and must not delete)
or if it is some other file that got renamed to ntuser.dat by some malware.

 

[KCav]

Thank you for references.
--
KC

================================
Maybe these links will offer some ideas:

Unlocker
http://ccollomb.free.fr/unlocker/

Delete The Undeletable File
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/tips/xp_undeletable_file.htm

(320081) You Cannot Delete a File or a Folder
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=320081

Can't delete a file in Windows?
http://www.softwarepatch.com/tips/howto-delete-xp.html

--


John Inzer MS-MVP
Digital Media Experience

Notice
This is not tech support
I am a volunteer

Solutions that work for
me may not work for you

Proceed at your own risk

 

[KCav]

Did not Google for NUTUSER.DAT

I right clicked on the file name and selected Properties, and the Properties
Menu for file NTUSER.DAT come up. There was only one tab - General.

It contained the following information:
File Type: Movie CD
Location: C:\Documents and Settings\KEN.AVS1
Date created: 11/17/2008
Read-only is unchecked
Hiddden is not checked
Advanced: Ready for Archiving

 

[Pegasus [MVP]]

Did not Google for NUTUSER.DAT

I right clicked on the file name and selected Properties, and the
Properties
Menu for file NTUSER.DAT come up. There was only one tab - General.

It contained the following information:
File Type: Movie CD
Location: C:\Documents and Settings\KEN.AVS1
Date created: 11/17/2008
Read-only is unchecked
Hiddden is not checked
Advanced: Ready for Archiving

Your report confirms conclusively that this file is part of your registry,
not a Movie CD file. Leave it where it is!

 

[KCav]

Getting ready to use the F8 Key

1) made an image file of drive C: on external USB hard drive
2) validated the image file
2) have tested bootable CD

 

[KCav]

I changed Open With to Notepad and File Type remained Video Movie.

KC

 

[KCav]

Disk 0, the primary drive
Partition C: (Sys)
Format: NTFS
Folder C:\Documents &Settings\Ken.AVS1

 

[db]

yeah, I was just
pulling your leg,
everyone that has
windows has that
file because it is
a system file.


here is more info on it:

http://tinyurl.com/dxj9yb

additionally, you can
look up lots on info on
windows at the link above.

------------

as a suggestion:

you might want to
double check your
file types to ensure
that .dat extension
is not set to movie.

also:

you may want to
install "user profile
hive cleanup service"

it is free and can be
found at microsoft.com.


--

db·´¯`·...¸><)))º>
DatabaseBen, Retired Professional
- Systems Analyst
- Database Developer
- Accountancy
- Veteran of the Armed Forces
- @hotmail.com
"share the nirvana" - dbZen

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[TiredofYou]

The straight forward answer is:
The file ntuser.dat is a system file, don't delete it.

Alister

YOU just gave the answer. That's what the poster needed to be told. YOU and
a few others here actually helped! But many other knuckleheads were just
trying to be funny, was 'not' helpful, and basically acted like a-holes!

 

[TiredofYou]

Which one is NOT straight forward and in plain English?

Can YOU read simpleton? You don't know???

 

[KCav]

Hi Thip,

In your reply you said, “Each user creates an NTUSER.DAT file located in the
profile directory.†This notebook has one user Ken. I have made a search for
NTUSER.DAT and found the file in two directories:
C:\Documents a Settings/ken.avs1
C:\Windows\system32\config\systemprofile

NTUSER.DAT was not found in: Administrator, All Users, Default User, Local
Service, NetworkService.

 

[FredW]

Hi Brian,

Yes I rebooted then retried the delete command. It said the file could not
be deleted because it was in use.

NTuser.dat is a system file and NOT a video file.
You should leave that file alone.
Do not mess with system files, you may damage your Windows.

 

[Unknown]

Like I said, you are the one freaked out. Why does the responses bother you?
Yes, I can read and yes I can read and ignore.

 

[FredW]

Hi Thip,

In your reply you said, “Each user creates an NTUSER.DAT file located in the
profile directory.†This notebook has one user Ken. I have made a search for
NTUSER.DAT and found the file in two directories:
C:\Documents a Settings/ken.avs1
C:\Windows\system32\config\systemprofile

NTUSER.DAT was not found in: Administrator, All Users, Default User, Local
Service, NetworkService.

NTuser.dat is a system file and NOT a video file.
You should leave that file alone.
Do not mess with system files, you may damage your Windows.

(NTuser.dat was found in user KEN.AVS1)

 

[John John (MVP)]

At a Command Prompt issue the following commands, pressing enter after each:

cd\
dir /a /s ntuser.dat

How many ntuser.dat files are you now finding?

John

 

[Twayne]

At a Command Prompt issue the following commands, pressing enter
after each:
cd\
dir /a /s ntuser.dat

That will only display a file if it has a system attribute set; fine.
Here it still shows the same set of files as previously described since
they all lead to a system file. What were you trying to accomplish?

Regards,

Twayne

 

[Twayne]

NTuser.dat is a system file and NOT a video file.
You should leave that file alone.
Do not mess with system files, you may damage your Windows.

Absolutely correct. s r & h attributes should never be removed from it
either.

 

[John John (MVP)]

That will only display a file if it has a system attribute set; fine.
Here it still shows the same set of files as previously described since
they all lead to a system file. What were you trying to accomplish?

No, the command will display *all* the ntuser.dat files on the drive,
including hidden and system files, without the /a switch the hidden and
system files are not displayed. You can consult your Help files for
more information on the DIR command, where amongst other things you will
find:

/a [[:] attributes]
Displays only the names of those directories and files with the
attributes you specify. If you omit /a, dir displays the names of all
files except hidden and system files. If you use /a without specifying
attributes, dir displays the names of all files, including hidden and
system files.

You can easily test this with any file in any folder, just use the CD
command to navigate to your test folder and test files and then use the
ATTRIB command to toggle the hidden and/or system attributes on your
test file and then use the dir command with and without the /a switch
and see what the command returns.

John

 

[KCav]

Hi TiredofYou,

I have no compliants. Life is good.

 

[KCav]

Searched drive C for NTUSER.DAT. Found NTUSER.DAT in:
c:/Documents and Settings/ken.avs1
c:/Documents and Settings/KCAV.AVS1
c:/Documents and Settings/LocalService
c:/Documents and Settings/NetworkService

Next I used Windows Explorer and looked in Windows/system32/config/system
profile. There I found NTUSER.DAT. Why didn't Search facility tell me it was
in the Windows folder?