Deleted files re-appear in VISTA

  • Thread starter Thread starter will f
  • Start date Start date
W

will f

Hi.

I've encountered some very strange behavior while troubleshooting an app,
and would like some help.

I did a complete uninstall of the program. The uninstall removed the
programs directory structure - as it should have.
It deleted the C:\Program Files\My Company\My App Name folder.

I then manually re-created the directory structure, C:\Program Files\My
Company\My App Name.
Then, I re-installed the program.

When I browsed to the C:\Program Files\My Company\My App Name folder in
Windows Explorer, there were files that I previously deleted from the folder
that were not part of the installation. The files that magically re-appeared
were files that would have been created by the program at run-time - not
during installation. The files were the same as those that were previously
in the folder before the uninstall.

Where did they come from? The uninstall removed the directory and its
contents. I then recreated the folder manually, and could see that the
folder was empty. I did not run the program after installing it, so I did
not perform any operations that would have created the files that were
previously deleted.

Does VISTA cache files that I delete and then restore them? I didn't send
the files to my recycle bin - I permanently (or so I thought) deleted them.
Is there something I can turn off to prevent VISTA from making file
maintenance decisions for me?

Thank you.

- Bill F
 
This gets even more bizzaro. I deleted the MDB file that the app uses for
data. Not recycle bin, but permanently deleted it. The file does not appear
in Windows Explorer. Get this, though. When I open the program, it behaves
as if it is there.
 
Keith,

Many thanks. Deleting the files from the Virtual Store dir was the trick. My
app wasn't actually using the directories layed down by the app's installer.
I've begun reading up on this Virtual Store business, and I'm not sure what
i think of it. If my user account has administrative credentials, then I'd
like to assume that whatever I run will run under the same creds.

This is going to confuse a lot of people, I think. I'll be taking support
calls from people who don't know whether they're running their app as
administrator or not, so I won't know which directories to direct them to,
etc. I also support an app where peer-to-peer users share their local
Program Files\App\Data folder so other users can share data. I can see that
if they do this, the remote users will be accessing a different file than
the one actually used by the local user in her Virtual Store dir.

I'm anticipating a lot of confised users calling our support techs.

Thanks again.

- will f

Keith Miller MVP said:
Have you looked under:

"C:\Users\<UserName>\AppData\Local\VirtualStore"?


--
Good Luck,

Keith
Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]

will f said:
This gets even more bizzaro. I deleted the MDB file that the app uses for
data. Not recycle bin, but permanently deleted it. The file does not
appear
in Windows Explorer. Get this, though. When I open the program, it
behaves
as if it is there.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
One thing that might be useful in handling those calls:

If you type:

shell:local appdata

in either a 'Run...' dialog or the 'Start Search' box on the Start menu, it
will open an Explorer window to that users 'AppData' folder, the parent of
VirtualStore.


--
Good Luck,

Keith
Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]

will f said:
Keith,

Many thanks. Deleting the files from the Virtual Store dir was the trick.
My app wasn't actually using the directories layed down by the app's
installer. I've begun reading up on this Virtual Store business, and I'm
not sure what i think of it. If my user account has administrative
credentials, then I'd like to assume that whatever I run will run under
the same creds.

This is going to confuse a lot of people, I think. I'll be taking support
calls from people who don't know whether they're running their app as
administrator or not, so I won't know which directories to direct them to,
etc. I also support an app where peer-to-peer users share their local
Program Files\App\Data folder so other users can share data. I can see
that if they do this, the remote users will be accessing a different file
than the one actually used by the local user in her Virtual Store dir.

I'm anticipating a lot of confised users calling our support techs.

Thanks again.

- will f

Keith Miller MVP said:
Have you looked under:

"C:\Users\<UserName>\AppData\Local\VirtualStore"?


--
Good Luck,

Keith
Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]

will f said:
This gets even more bizzaro. I deleted the MDB file that the app uses
for
data. Not recycle bin, but permanently deleted it. The file does not
appear
in Windows Explorer. Get this, though. When I open the program, it
behaves
as if it is there.



Hi.

I've encountered some very strange behavior while troubleshooting an
app, and would like some help.

I did a complete uninstall of the program. The uninstall removed the
programs directory structure - as it should have.
It deleted the C:\Program Files\My Company\My App Name folder.

I then manually re-created the directory structure, C:\Program Files\My
Company\My App Name.
Then, I re-installed the program.

When I browsed to the C:\Program Files\My Company\My App Name folder in
Windows Explorer, there were files that I previously deleted from the
folder that were not part of the installation. The files that magically
re-appeared were files that would have been created by the program at
run-time - not during installation. The files were the same as those
that were previously in the folder before the uninstall.

Where did they come from? The uninstall removed the directory and its
contents. I then recreated the folder manually, and could see that the
folder was empty. I did not run the program after installing it, so I
did not perform any operations that would have created the files that
were previously deleted.

Does VISTA cache files that I delete and then restore them? I didn't
send the files to my recycle bin - I permanently (or so I thought)
deleted them. Is there something I can turn off to prevent VISTA from
making file maintenance decisions for me?

Thank you.

- Bill F
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Remember that the main use for the virtual store directories is to avoid
breaking legacy apps that relied on having write access to locations that
only admins have access to. The hope is that in the future the number of
apps that need to do this will diminish ...

will f said:
Keith,

Many thanks. Deleting the files from the Virtual Store dir was the trick.
My app wasn't actually using the directories layed down by the app's
installer. I've begun reading up on this Virtual Store business, and I'm
not sure what i think of it. If my user account has administrative
credentials, then I'd like to assume that whatever I run will run under
the same creds.

This is going to confuse a lot of people, I think. I'll be taking support
calls from people who don't know whether they're running their app as
administrator or not, so I won't know which directories to direct them to,
etc. I also support an app where peer-to-peer users share their local
Program Files\App\Data folder so other users can share data. I can see
that if they do this, the remote users will be accessing a different file
than the one actually used by the local user in her Virtual Store dir.

I'm anticipating a lot of confised users calling our support techs.

Thanks again.

- will f

Keith Miller MVP said:
Have you looked under:

"C:\Users\<UserName>\AppData\Local\VirtualStore"?


--
Good Luck,

Keith
Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]

will f said:
This gets even more bizzaro. I deleted the MDB file that the app uses
for
data. Not recycle bin, but permanently deleted it. The file does not
appear
in Windows Explorer. Get this, though. When I open the program, it
behaves
as if it is there.



Hi.

I've encountered some very strange behavior while troubleshooting an
app, and would like some help.

I did a complete uninstall of the program. The uninstall removed the
programs directory structure - as it should have.
It deleted the C:\Program Files\My Company\My App Name folder.

I then manually re-created the directory structure, C:\Program Files\My
Company\My App Name.
Then, I re-installed the program.

When I browsed to the C:\Program Files\My Company\My App Name folder in
Windows Explorer, there were files that I previously deleted from the
folder that were not part of the installation. The files that magically
re-appeared were files that would have been created by the program at
run-time - not during installation. The files were the same as those
that were previously in the folder before the uninstall.

Where did they come from? The uninstall removed the directory and its
contents. I then recreated the folder manually, and could see that the
folder was empty. I did not run the program after installing it, so I
did not perform any operations that would have created the files that
were previously deleted.

Does VISTA cache files that I delete and then restore them? I didn't
send the files to my recycle bin - I permanently (or so I thought)
deleted them. Is there something I can turn off to prevent VISTA from
making file maintenance decisions for me?

Thank you.

- Bill F
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
On Fri, 23 Feb 2007 17:55:54 -0800, "Dave Wood [MS]"
Remember that the main use for the virtual store directories is to avoid
breaking legacy apps that relied on having write access to locations that
only admins have access to. The hope is that in the future the number of
apps that need to do this will diminish ...
Click to expand...

In particular, no-one should be writing data under "Program Files"
anymore. That's been bad practice for over 5 years now!

Data locations should always be user-redirectable, kept free of
infectable code, and if they have to default somewhere, then either
(My )Documents for general files that are open to arbitrary apps, or
AppData for data that only one app can ever use.

For multi-user access, there's AllUsers (i.e. Shared data), which is
now Public. I guess if you use %Labels% you'd be OK, preferably to
populate an install-time default the user can override.


--------------- ---- --- -- - - - -
Click to expand...
Saws are too hard to use.
Be easier to use!
 
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