Please help ID these files...

[Paul]

I'm revisiting a previous thread I initiated 12/15 re. how to hide "system"
files...or so I thought they were. Anyway, the XP <c:\> directory in the
notebook I setup for my daughter contains about a dozen or so files with
names such as...

c:\6e4aa91d2b4c5c927e815

....and

c:\1765089111b68fe251c88a7334e5467e

(Their actual names) Each of these 2 files (as is the case with the other 10
or so) also have 2 subfolders:

...\sp2\update

....and both are empty in all cases.

These files were installed following an XP re-install I had to do as a
result of a 3rd party hardware installation that went bad and necessitated a
full OS re-install.

BTW, there is no separate <c:\windows> folder. Not being familiar with XP
since I use W98SE, I checked another 2 PCs with XPs and did not find any
such named files under their root directory. Instead, there were similarly
named files under a separate <c:\windows> folder. So...

What are these files for and can I simply transfer (being really naive here)
to a new <:\windows> folder?

If I delete any of them, will they cause problems with XP?

If I can delete them safely, will they re-create themselves in their proper
folder upon re-boot, or will they re-create themselves under <c:\>?

-
Paul R

 

[John Barnett - MVP]

Paul there should be update files in these folders. Well mine contain update
files anyway. If they are moved XP will not be able to locate any files
within them.

 

[Thorsten Matzner]

I'm revisiting a previous thread I initiated 12/15 re. how to hide "system"
files...or so I thought they were. Anyway, the XP <c:\> directory in the
notebook I setup for my daughter contains about a dozen or so files with
names such as...

c:\6e4aa91d2b4c5c927e815

These are leftovers from Windows Updates. You can safely delete the
folders.

 

[Paul]

Taking your caution into account with that of Thorsten, who said the files
are "leftover Windows Updates" and can be safely deleted, can I then delete
those folders that are empty?

 

[John Barnett - MVP]

As the folders are empty then i suppose they could be deleted. However, they
are empty and are therefore not taking up any room. Deleting them is a
purely cosmetic measure. Nothing is lost and nothing is gained.

 

[Paul]

Well, John, the main reason for all of this is, indeed, cosmetic. The
notebook in question belongs to my 20 y/o daughter, who's home from college
for the holidays, and I had been setting it up for her as a Christmas
present.

I was surprised to see all of these empty folders and did not want to have
them in the same <c:\> directory as Program Files (and any others that need
to be in the root dir to operate) in the event she needed to "explore" her
local drive in search of files or some program. Viewing these odd-named
empty folders with Explorer sure makes the <c:\> drive look quite congested,
and it is hard to find folders containing functional apps. I didn't want to
risk her deleting one of these folders by accident in case they were needed
for XP to function properly.

Perhaps there's a way to individually hide just these empty folders, in case
they are needed in the future?

BTW, in those <../sp2/update> folders your PC has that do contain files,
where are they located (path?) and what files do they actually contain?

 

[John Barnett - MVP]

Paul they are located in the root directory of C: The file name is:
4bc29512e1995ec5da8770c6. The sub folder is just called Update.
At the time of writing this email i am a little busy, so please bare with me
and i will list the files i have in these folders for you.
To hide them you can always right click on the folder and select properties
then place a check mark in the Hidd option box.

 

[John Barnett - MVP]

Here are the file details, paul

Update
spmsg.dll
usbccqp
usbhub
usbport
hccoin.dll
spuninst
usbehci
usbohci
usbuhci

The Sub Folder named Update contains the following

kb822603
update
updatever
spcuston.dll
update

 

[Paul]

Well, there is only one file named "update" in each of the update folders
that appear in my <c:\> directory. I decided to simply "hide" the folders
so they won't be there should my daughter decide to fool with the <c:\>
folder.