Need Help

  • Thread starter Thread starter Ohan Armoudian
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Ohan Armoudian

Using Win XP Pro, SP2
When cleaning the computer by deleting unwanted files, in C:\Windows\Temp
folder there is a file we can not remove, it's called
perflib_perfdata_a04.dat
Is it a Trojan?
Should we worry about this file?
Lastly, how can we remove it?

Thanks for all your help

Ohan
 
Ohan said:
Using Win XP Pro, SP2
When cleaning the computer by deleting unwanted files, in
C:\Windows\Temp folder there is a file we can not remove, it's
called perflib_perfdata_a04.dat
Is it a Trojan?
Should we worry about this file?
Lastly, how can we remove it?

Thanks for all your help
Click to expand...

Reboot - remove in safe mode.

Cleaning up the drive and figuring out what is using all of your
space isn't too hard. Many tools are built right into Windows XP. Some
others may not be. Some default settings may be messing you up and taking
up some of your valuable space.

Find out what might be using the space..

Do you have hidden and system files visible?
How's your system restore settings?
Used Disk Cleanup?
Is hibernate turned on and do you use that feature?
Uninstalled unnecessary applications lately?
Moved things to external media?


Other ways to free up space..

SequoiaView
http://www.win.tue.nl/sequoiaview/

DX Hog Hunt
http://www.dvxp.com/en/Downloads.aspx

JDiskReport
http://www.jgoodies.com/freeware/jdiskreport/index.html

Those can help you visually discover where all the space is being used.


If you are comfortable with the stability of your system, you can delete the
uninstall files for the patches that Windows XP has installed..

http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/spack.htm


You can use an application that scans your system for log files and
temporary files and use that to get rid of those:

Ccleaner (Free!)
http://www.ccleaner.com/


You can run Disk Cleanup - built into Windows XP - to erase all but yuor
latest restore point and cleanup even more "loose files"..

How to use Disk Cleanup
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310312


You can turn off hibernation if it is on and you don't use it..

When you hibernate your computer, Windows saves the contents of the system's
memory to the hiberfil.sys file. As a result, the size of the hiberfil.sys
file will always equal the amount of physical memory in your system. If you
don't use the hibernate feature and want to recapture the space that Windows
uses for the hiberfil.sys file, perform the following steps:

- Start the Control Panel Power Options applet (go to Start, Settings,
Control Panel, and click Power Options).
- Select the Hibernate tab, clear the "Enable hibernation" check box, then
click OK; although you might think otherwise, selecting Never under the
"System hibernates" option on the Power Schemes tab doesn't delete the
hiberfil.sys file.
- Windows will remove the "System hibernates" option from the Power Schemes
tab and delete the hiberfil.sys file.


You can control how much space your System Restore can use...

1. Click Start, right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
2. Click the System Restore tab.
3. Highlight one of your drives (or C: if you only have one) and click on
the "Settings" button.
4. Change the percentage of disk space you wish to allow.. I suggest 5% or
higher.
5. Click OK.. Then Click OK again.


You can control how much space your Temporary Internet Files can utilize...

Empty your Temporary Internet Files and shrink the size it stores to a
size between 128MB and 512MB..

- Open ONE copy of Internet Explorer.
- Select TOOLS -> Internet Options.
- Under the General tab in the "Temporary Internet Files" section, do the
following:
- Click on "Delete Cookies" (click OK)
- Click on "Settings" and change the "Amount of disk space to use:" to
something between 128MB and 512MB. (Betting it is MUCH larger right
now.)
- Click OK.
- Click on "Delete Files" and select to "Delete all offline contents"
(the checkbox) and click OK. (If you had a LOT, this could take 2-10
minutes or more.)
- Once it is done, click OK, close Internet Explorer, re-open Internet
Explorer.
 
They are a normal system created file. They are not trojan's or virus.

These files are generated by System Monitor and should normally disappear
when you reboot. If an Abnormal Shutdown occurs these files may become
orphaned. They also can become orphaned for no apparent reason. They show up
as a large group of variations of the name above. For instance,
Perflib_Perfdata.d0.dat. They should be left alone unless you have many of
them. In that case all but the most current probably can be deleted without
any problem but all can be deleted by booting into safe mode.
 
Thanks for speedy reply but we did go safe mode but we could not see the
"perflib_perfdata_a04.dat"
file, we went as individual and administer to safe mode but every time we
could not find the file, we tried even Tools/Folder Option/View/Show Hidden
Files and Folders, but the file was not in Window/Temp folder.
We started widow normal way all over again, and sure enough the
"perflib_perfdata_a04.dat" file is sitting there and we can not delete it.
HELP....
Thanks for the reply in advance

Ohan
 
Thanks for the reply, but as we posted before, we reboot the system few
times and the file "Perflib_Perfdata.d0.dat" is always sitting in the temp
folder, and every time we try to delete it, dialog says "cannot
delete-----it is being used by another person or program", we booted safe
mode but the file was not there, we are trying everything but something is
making to show on regular boot and vanish in safe mode.
Any ideas?
Thanks again for all the help.

Ohan
 
Ohan said:
Thanks for speedy reply but we did go safe mode but we could not
see the "perflib_perfdata_a04.dat"
file, we went as individual and administer to safe mode but every
time we could not find the file, we tried even Tools/Folder
Option/View/Show Hidden Files and Folders, but the file was not in
Window/Temp folder. We started widow normal way all over again, and sure
enough the
"perflib_perfdata_a04.dat" file is sitting there and we can not
delete it. HELP....
Thanks for the reply in advance
Click to expand...

Did you go through the rest first?
 
Thanks for the reply.....

Yes, last night we did most of your subjections, and again we tried to
delete it in safe mode but we do not see the file
"Perflib_Perfdata_850.dat", and as you see today the numbers are different
and we can not delete it for some reason.
This matter is driving us crazy.
Any other ideas?????
Thanks for the reply in advance.
Ohan
 
Ohan said:
Thanks for the reply.....

Yes, last night we did most of your subjections, and again we tried
to delete it in safe mode but we do not see the file
"Perflib_Perfdata_850.dat", and as you see today the numbers are
different and we can not delete it for some reason.
This matter is driving us crazy.
Any other ideas?????
Click to expand...

The file is not dangerous.
Unless you just need that little bit of space for some reason (buy a bigger
drive) - I'd just leave it be.

'perflib_perfdataXXX.dat' files seem to be orphaned files. They are created
by some program on your computer which is why you cannot delete them since
it is in use by some program. They are usually removed by 'whatever' program
upon shutdown. However, they reappear as soon as you reboot if the program
that made them starts at boot. If you knew what application was doing it, it
would be simple just to not start the application until you need it.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/285798

In short - they are okay. Ignore them.
 
Thanks for the reply and we are going to forget about that file, we
installed the new Norton System Works 2006 Premier (Norton 2005 had
expired), could be that's doing it.

If you could help us with some other unusual problems...

We are having two (2) problems.
first problem:
When we delete a file it goes into the Recycle Bin, and when we empty the
Recycle Bin by right clicking we get a dialog:
"Error deleting file or folder" "Cannot delete desktop. The file or
directory is corrupted and unreadable"
and it gets emptied. (this never happened before)

Second problem:
When we reboot the computer, before the desktop opens the Scan Disk runs
(Light Blue Screen) and checks my drives, that never happened before, and
when we are trying to Defrag E:/ Drive, dialog says it is schedule to
scan......
Can you help us?
Thanks again,
Ohan
 
first problem:
possibly happening because of some corruption in recycle bin or folder
structure.

Your second problem of blue screen coming up and checking your drive could
be an indicator of that. WHat are you doing at that moment are you skipping
it? or letting it run. I recommend letting it run once.

I would also recommend doing a chkdsk c: /r from command prompt to see if
there is any physical problem with the drive.When asked if you want to do it
when system restarts say a yes to it by pressing Y.

If in the above you clearly get an error in drive structure then that is the
cause of the issue. You possibly have a very complex issue which is better
handled by an expert.

If the above test comes out clean then follow these steps:
set all the files to show including system and hidden files(uncheck the box
that says Hide protected operating system files). Look for a recycler folder
in the root of all drives and delete the folder.
Caution: you will lose ALL recycle bin files for ALL users.

try deleting the files again. The recycle bin would essentially be recreated
in this instance.

For your third problem please tell us which defragmentation utility are
using to help you better?

Mathu

Ohan Armoudian said:
Thanks for the reply and we are going to forget about that file, we
installed the new Norton System Works 2006 Premier (Norton 2005 had
expired), could be that's doing it.

If you could help us with some other unusual problems...

We are having two (2) problems.
first problem:
When we delete a file it goes into the Recycle Bin, and when we empty the
Recycle Bin by right clicking we get a dialog:
"Error deleting file or folder" "Cannot delete desktop. The file or
directory is corrupted and unreadable"
and it gets emptied. (this never happened before)

Second problem:
When we reboot the computer, before the desktop opens the Scan Disk runs
(Light Blue Screen) and checks my drives, that never happened before, and
when we are trying to Defrag E:/ Drive, dialog says it is schedule to
scan......
Can you help us?
Thanks again,
Ohan
Click to expand...
 
OK, we chkdsk c: /r and after long waiting hours everything is OK.
BTW, should we also do the same for all drives, D:/, E:/, F:/ ???

Then, we tried to delete Recycle Bin folder, but we could not do that,
Norton had all protection on the Recycle Bin folder, we unchecked all the
protections but still we could not delete it, we keep getting the dialog,
"Error deleting file or folder" "Cannot delete RECYCLER: Access is denied.
Make sure the disk is not full or write protected and that the file is not
currently in use" Any ideas?
We emailed Norton if they have any ideas.

For defragmentation we use the Start/Program/Accessories/System Tools/Disk
Defragmenter, and sometimes we use the Norton/Optimize Performance.

Again, We like you to thank you for all your help and also for your reply in
advance.

Ohan



mathu said:
first problem:
possibly happening because of some corruption in recycle bin or folder
structure.

Your second problem of blue screen coming up and checking your drive could
be an indicator of that. WHat are you doing at that moment are you
skipping
it? or letting it run. I recommend letting it run once.

I would also recommend doing a chkdsk c: /r from command prompt to see if
there is any physical problem with the drive.When asked if you want to do
it
when system restarts say a yes to it by pressing Y.

If in the above you clearly get an error in drive structure then that is
the
cause of the issue. You possibly have a very complex issue which is better
handled by an expert.

If the above test comes out clean then follow these steps:
set all the files to show including system and hidden files(uncheck the
box
that says Hide protected operating system files). Look for a recycler
folder
in the root of all drives and delete the folder.
Caution: you will lose ALL recycle bin files for ALL users.

try deleting the files again. The recycle bin would essentially be
recreated
in this instance.

For your third problem please tell us which defragmentation utility are
using to help you better?

Mathu
Click to expand...
 
Some basic questions I have to ask you.

Are you logged in as default Administrator/Owner?
Did you reinstall Windows or did some restore through any third party tool
after installation of Windows?

There is a possibility of an ownership conflict on folders. You will have to
take ownership of the entire recycler folder while replacing permissions on
child objects.

For this look for and disable "use simple file sharing" in the same box you
asked the OS to show hidden files and folders.

Right click on the recycler folder and look for a security tab in the window
that opens
click on advanced which will bring you to a new window, in the permissions
tab ensure that adminisrtators have full control by chosing Adminsitrators
and clicking on edit, you should have a green check in check box of "Full
COntrol"

Try doing it now. If it still fails please try the next step at your own risk:
In the same step as above click on owner tab and get the ownership of the
folder by typing your user name as it appears in control panel-> users. Check
the box which says replace permissions.....Ok out of all the boxes.

Boot your computer in "Safe Mode" as done in the beginning of this thread
and try deleting the Recycler folder. The error should go away.



If you have the time to do chkdsk for all drives, i would recommend a yes
for all drives.

For defragmentation i would recommend using the defrag of NSW as it has
better logic (IMHO) than the default defrag of XP which is essentially a
stripped down version of Diskeeper from Executive Software.

If you still want to use the default diskeeper go into command prompt and
type following:

"defrag c: /f"

you could substitute C: for all the drives you have.

You could also look for any scheduled taks in scheduled tasks utility to see
if you have created any defrag related tasks which could be causing these.
 
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