Undeletable Temporary Internet Files

[Belgique]

The usual <TOOLS><INTERNET OPTIONS><DELETE FILES> to eliminate the IE6 cache just stalls out into a permanent (but moveable) hourglass on my Win XP Pro machine.

Navigating into that folder (Temporary Internet Files) with Windows Explorer I find that:

a. There are five files that cannot be manually deleted

b. One of those files (an .htm) is very lengthy indeed but the others are reasonable length .gif, .jpg, .jpeg etc. The lengthy file appears to be a Google search string URL and it's obviously the one that's stalling it out.

c. None of these files are able to be deleted or renamed (shortened)..... there's no right-click option to do so.

d. The Temporary Internet Files folder can be optionally moved to other drives - but it can neither be deleted or renamed and those five pesky files just keeps tagging along on any move.

e. Double-Clicking on other files will open them but these five are unopenable.

f. I've followed the Microsoft procedure for removing IE6, disabling the IE6 registry key and reinstalling IE6 - but that achieves nought.

Any ideas short of a re-format?

[Icarus]

Have you tried the:
Start>Programs>Accessories>System Tools>Disk Clean Up
Utility?

[Belgique]

Icarus
Yes tried that matey and it's the same end result. It stalls out, but only on the drive to which I've moved the Temporary Internet Files folder. It works OK on the Win XP drive

I'm thinking of creating a Temporary Internet Files folder on a 250mb zip drive disk and after copying the folder to it, removing that zip disk and preparing one with (only) all the cookies on (which I'd rather not lose).

In theory it should just be a matter of assigning the Temporary Internet Files folder to the zip-disk, removing that one and replacing it with the one prepared earlier. The index.dat will still include the pesky files but will be physically minus them hopefully. If it won't work with a zip drive I'll use a gash scsi hard disk to do the trick and massage it on another non-XP machine.. which should grant access.

It would appear to be yet another Microsoft bug (as assisted by Google).
Still open to easier solutions.

[Background Noise]

Can you start up in DOS mode with win xp? I used to do that then delete unwanted files (like index.dat) from DOS with win 98/me.

[Icarus]

Perhaps this (http://netprotected.com/free_internet_eraser.htm) then instead.

[Belgique]

Thanks for all the able assistance but:

I appear to have fixed that problem by attributing (moving) the Temporary Internet Files Folder to a 250MB zip disk and then booting up without the disk in. It just put up an error message and then accepted a new zip disk with a folder of that name ("Temporary Internet Files"). The pesky files have now disappeared. Wonder if they were some sort of Back Orifice feature to give access? The longer one turned out to be a clickable link (but to nowhere of interest - just a Google search return page).

I can now delete the cache files without any hang-up.

But it makes me wonder whether Google are now into embedding a sleeper program or two.



Don't control your paranoia, savour it.

[Blacksheep]

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.

**************************
Through difficulties to the cinema

[Belgique]

Blacksheep
Sounds quite credible because I'd not run into that sort of glitch before - and neither had I heard about it on any of the computer forums I regularly visit.

Whether it's commercial data-gathering spyware or something more sinister is a real poser - but then again I'd guess both the NSA and FBI/CIA have had a kick up the butt post 911. It's also a fact that the post-911 enabling legislation thaty went through Congress a few months back means that it's now no holds barred for snoopers.

I'll be keeping an eye out for reports of other non-deletable files hiding away where you're least likely to go look for them or intentionally delete their folder; i.e. in internet caches.

[A-V-8R]

Besides the internet cache that you can erase, Microsoft Windows keeps a copy of every url that you have visited and every email that has passed thru Outlook and its two bit cousin Outlook Express.

These files are hidden, and can only be viewed from dos.

Check:

http://****microsoft.com/content/ms-hidden-files.shtml

(I think PPrune has some automatic software to remove objectional words, so you may have to do some "Screwing" with an F that link to get to the site.)


For instruction on how to remove them.

I've often thought that most windows problems are because the files got so large that windows did not have enough room for its own swap files....