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Old 16th Oct 2002, 12:37
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Blacksheep
Cunning Artificer
 
Join Date: Jun 2001
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Belgique,

I don't think its Google, more likely your Google search dredged up a site with some key word in it that triggered a security service or law enforcement intrusion. These undeletable files are designed to look like innocent cookies, but they are much more sinister. While you were moving the folder to your Zip drive you might have been intrigued by the time it takes to transfer. When I tried this, there were six "cookie" files in each of the two folders, each supposedly 1K in size. Checking on the properties I found that some 15Megs of disk space were used up - rather odd eh? There were 14.5 Megs contained in 2,126 invisible files! Further investigating, I deleted the files from the Zip disk and performed the transfer again, watching the transfer window - it seemed to be copying over files that represented every website that I'd visited over the previous thirty days or so. Spy tracking software suggests that the spy files were reporting back to a FBI site in Virginia - it seems the Feds aren't shy to commit illegal acts in their enforcement of the law!

With Windows XP, you were able to move the Temporary Internet Files folder to another drive but that won't work on earlier versions of Windows/IE Explorer. I use W98/IE5 and got rid of them this way: Rename the Temporary Internet Files folder to some other name and create a new folder complete with a sub-folder named Content.IE5. The Windows system will still recognize the renamed folder as its own system file and prevent deletion so this doesn't fix the problem. Now install file locking software such as Folder Guard and use it to prevent all access to the renamed original Temporary Internet Files folder. When you next log onto the internet the system will adopt the newly created Temporary Internet Files folder as its own system file. After you log off, unlock the renamed original folder and delete it - it will no longer be a system folder and Windows will allow it to be deleted along with the spy files it contains.

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