Unknown Folder on C Drive

Hello:

I have a folder on my C directory called fd7046fffc7b202e4717a7a1f513

According to the folder properties, it was created in 2006.

I'm interested in figuring out what it is and removing it if appropriate.

It has a sub folder named update

Clicking on "update" causes XP to return an error: "Access is denied."

Anyone know how I can try to find out what this might be?

Running XP Pro.

try right clicking it and click run as administrator and see what that does.

Thanks for your reply. I have solved this problem and it's resolved.

FYI: I have no such option when I right-click. Should I have this option on a folder (it is not a file)? "Run as ..." appears as a right-click menu item on .exe files.

If anyone else has this problem, here is how I found the solutions:

I noticed that I actually had three folders with these names of long alphanumeric strings. See attached. One of them contains the file msxml4-KB927978-enu.log A search on that indicates that it can be safely deleted, and I have done so. See for example, THIS.

Another contains folders AMD64 and i386, each of which contain several files. I have found that these can be safely deleted also, but deleting them can take a few steps. See for example, THIS.

For deleting folders that contain subfolder "update," see THIS.

Thanks again.

Here is my .02:

When Windows installs things, it may create a temporary folder consisting of 20-30 random letters and numbers
in the root drive of the volume with the most free space. This explains why sometimes the folders are on your
C drive or on some other drive - which one has the most free space?

For example you may see a folder called: D:\9470bb12e8a4f3447657236478e41c5

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 or be afraid the files are really needed. To
avoid confusion, delete the temporary folders.

You may be able to identify the installation (for curiosity) by looking at some of the folder contents and decide
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 delete. Even if you are an Administrator on the system you may get a
"sharing violation", "access is 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 since it doesn't involve making
any changes to your system configuration or downloading any other third party programs.

If Safe Mode does not work you can change the security of the folder to give your user Full Control over the folder
by browsing to it in Explorer, click Tools, Folder Options, View and in the Advanced settings window, uncheck (at
the bottom) Use simple file sharing, and click OK. This turns off the recommended simple file sharing on your computer
so if you change it you should change it back when you are done.

Right click the stubborn folder, Properties and click the now visible Security tab. Select your user name and check
the box to allow Full Control, click OK to apply the changes.

Now try to delete the folder.

It is a good idea to go back into Explorer and turn back on (Enable) Simple file sharing (recommended) when you
have finished.

If none of the above 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.

A great, detailed description of this issue and its solution by Jose. I successfully used the disable/re-enable file sharing procedure that he describes.