Deleting files not possible

[Hank]

OS : W2k

Hi Folks,

it sounds stupid but I cannot delete one folder and the subfolders.
Some months ago I created these folders but they are empty now
and I don't need them.

If I delete them there is no problem at first . No "access denied" or something else.
But with the next system-start the folders are back.

I have all admin-rights .

Next step was to format the partition (D:\).
Re-start but : "Hello - here we are again "

Any idea , how to solve this problem ?
Any windows-function I have to de-activate ? Where and how ?
I could not find anything concerning this case.

Thanks,

Hank

[root]

Never heard of this before. The only thing I can think of is some program on C:\ drive that is using these folders for file storage or access and that program is re-creating the folders on boot.
Can you provide any more information on the nature of these folders? What they were used for? How they got created?
Since you formatted the Drive and they came back, the problem is either a program on the C:\ drive or the registry.

[Kulsar]

You are using any system restore programs like go-back?

[Hank]

@root :

These had been personal folders like:

003 own documents \2003 \ January\ Letters etc.
Imagine a tree with every single month and subfolders

After the 31th december I put the whole folder "2003" into another
folder called " old years ".

And there is now only one folder with subfolders which turns back after
deleting ; f.e. 003 own documents\march\ letters etc.

But all these folders are empty (! )

@ Kulsar:

I am using two programs for backups :

the first only copies new files from the the original partition to the
the backup-partition.
Example:

E:\003 own documents\January\...... to
H:\Backups\003 own documents etc.
But only in one direction and not automatically - I have to start these
backups manually.

The second program is Drive Image 7.01.
But with Drive Image I only take images of my system partition.
Also manually.

There must be any windows service restoring this folder ; I don't know why because there is no use for it.

Normally - deleting a folder in use - you got any warning like " another
process is using this file ".
Here : nothing.Deleting is no problem.
But after every boot the folder is back. Very strange

[Kulsar]

Probably a really dumb question but have you checked for viruses in system restore?
If you don't use it have you tried switching it off. :-\

[LowWaterMark]

I'd say that it's probably some program that was last pointed at that specific folder (it is that same one recreated each time, right?) as the place it should output to, and now every time the system boots that program must be run and it finds the folder missing so it recreates it - just so it'll be there. Perhaps it is even set up as a temporary file work-space for some application. It may even write a file there during boot, but the file is deleted before you can sign on and look for it.

You'll need to go through all your startups in detail. Disabling different ones from starting, delete the folder again, reboot... Try to isolate just which one is doing it, even if you have to start by booting in Safe Mode just to ensure it doesn't get recreated booting that way.

Perhaps if you post a HijackThis Log here, people could help speculate which program listed among your startups might possibly be involved. (Also, if malware is a possibility, a HJT log might help, too.)

-{ Quote: "Go to http://www.tomcoyote.org/hjt (http://www.tomcoyote.org/hjt) and download "HijackThis!" (via button in the left section with flashing green light next to it). Unzip it. Run the HijackThis.exe file and press the [Scan] button... When the scan is finished, the [Scan] button will change into a [Save Log] button. Press that, save the log somewhere and paste the contents into a post here for us to look at.

Note that much of what will be listed there is correct and should not be fixed. So, just post the output here and let's see if the people here can help identify the problem." }-

[Hank]

@ Kulsar:

there is no dumb question possible in this case ;D ; if someone would
have told me before,that deleting a file is a problem for him my face
would have been dumb..
To your question: Yes,I did...

@LowWaterMark:

Thanks for the link.If it is no problem for you,I would like to send you the logfile via mail.
Generally it's no good idea to expose in the web what's exactly
on my system - some freaks could take it as a challenge.

But - from my simple point of view - I could not detect a program
being responsible for that nonsense.

Except Drive Image perhaps.

May be that you will detect more.....

So you will get a mail from Hank with the logfile in the attachment -
if you don't want it simple delete the mail.

Thanks to all of you trying to help me.

Hank

[LowWaterMark]

I did receive the log and don't think I can detect much of anything in it myself. It'll be up to you whether you want to post it for others to review or not. (Just an FYI, there's no way for people to associate your log with just exactly where your system is on the Internet, or who you are, so it is highly unlikely that anyone can use this information against you. We probably have over 1000 such logs posted on this forum between all the sections here. But again, your choice.)

The point I was trying to make is that you need to test - disabling different things one by one to isolate the cause. Start by booting in Safe mode (so none of the startups run) and see if that causes that location to be recreated. If not, then you'll need to use a normal boot, but use msconfig to temporarily disable different apps until you isolate the cause. It is likely that one application is doing this because it needs that area to exist for some reason. It's just a matter of finding it by trial and error.

[Hank]

Hm - I will think about the logfile.....

Some days ago I had the same ideas like you :

Starting in safe mode has no effect which means,the folders are recreated
,too.
There was no shortcut from any application to these folders and there had been only documents stored in (pdf,txt.)
The recreated folders have 0-bytes - what should be needed ?

I will try out disabling the autostart-applications,but I guess this will not have a positive result.

[Hank]

Problem solved !

Well - it has been complicated but I have found it.

Some months ago I installed a program for creating pdf-files.
During the installation you could chose a folder to store the files in
(general options).

But with every new print you could always choose a new folder to save the file in ; the program remembered only the last choosen folder.
So I forgot the general options in the beginning ::)

Because the folder choosen in the beginning has been deleted and could not be found the program re-createted it each time.

Damn.
There was nothing to be found in the regestry concerning this.

Hank