Dirs in c: with long hex filename?

  • Thread starter Thread starter BobG
  • Start date Start date
B

BobG

Couple of dirs in the top level of c: with hex file names... each has
a 1033 dir, one has a setup dir, other has a hotfixexpress dir....
must have been a patch or something once upon a time? Down in
hotfixexpress is sqlexpr.exe that wont delete. No attribute bits on
it.... does delete look to see if a file is in the registry before
deleting it?
 
The directories with a hex name are usually temporary folders which the
installer failed to delete...
No, delete does not look in the registry for files.
It is usually OK to delete the folder. But, you could rename them and wait
for further developments.

I would take ownership of the sqlexpr.exe file, and set permissions to give
myself full control. If you still cannot delete the file, the find out who
has a handle on the file using Process Explorer. You may be able to kill
the handle and then delete the file.

Jim
 
[snip]
I would take ownership of the sqlexpr.exe file, and set permissions to give
myself full control.  If you still cannot delete the file, the find outwho
has a  handle on the file using Process Explorer.  You may be able tokill
the handle and then delete the file.
[snip]
Click to expand...

I have around 25 such folders on drive D:\ from a previous Windows
installation; I'm still not allowed to delete them (tcmd identifies
them with write protection, MyComp just says "Access denied"), and
obviously, I can't take control of sqlexpr, since it no longer
exists :)

I looked for one of them in ProcMon; it doesn't show up on search.

Any ideas how to get rid of these folders?
 
[snip]
I would take ownership of the sqlexpr.exe file, and set permissions to give
myself full control.  If you still cannot delete the file, the find out who
has a  handle on the file using Process Explorer.  You may be able to kill
the handle and then delete the file.
[snip]
Click to expand...

I have around 25 such folders on drive D:\ from a previous Windows
installation; I'm still not allowed to delete them (tcmd identifies
them with write protection, MyComp just says "Access denied"), and
obviously, I can't take control of sqlexpr, since it no longer
exists :)

I looked for one of them in ProcMon; it doesn't show up on search.

Any ideas how to get rid of these folders?
Click to expand...

When Windows installs things, it may create a temporary folder
consisting of 20-25 random letters and numbers
in the root drive of the volume with the most free space. There may
be other folders and files under the main
temporary folder.

These should normally be removed when the installation is complete,
but sometimes they are not. They are harmless
but annoying. You may think something is wrong when there is not. To
avoid confusion, delete the temporary
folders.

You may be able to identify the installation by looking at some of the
folder contents and decide that if
that installation was okay, just delete the files/folders. If the
installation did not work properly for some
reason, running the installation again will just create a new randomly
named temporary folder so the old temporary
folder is really of no use.

Sometimes the folders are stubborn to remove. You may get a "sharing
violation", "access denied" or "being used"
type message when trying to remove the temporary folders.

There are many methods to try to remove the folders and some involve
third party programs to install or changing
certain Windows settings that may compromise your system security if
you don't change them back when you are done.

Booting your system in Safe Mode is a good method to try and remove
the folders. This involves downloading and
installing no third party programs or Windows security changes.

If Safe Mode does not work, try a popular third party tool called
Unlocker.

Unlocker can be download from here:

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

Unlocker can be uninstalled when you are finished using it.

Reboot when you are finished to be sure the annoying folders are
really gone.
 
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