Please help me remove a rogue file

Hi guys

I had a large file that was causing me problems when I tried to delete it using Windows XP.

It came up with can't delete as the file is in use by another program, this was not the case as I had re-booted.

After trying for several days I went into DOS and managed to delete the file using the command del *.*

I then wanted to remove the folder. But when I typed the command RD foldername it would not let me.

So a did a dir /a for attribute and lo and behold there is a hidden file there.

It is called Thumbs.db.

But if I try to unhide it using attrib /h thumbs.db it comes up with an error message i have never seen before

Not resetting file attribute.

Can anyone help me delete all files within a folder with no question and without any problems ?

Or remove a folder with a hidden file in it ?

Regards

Digby
NZ

Have you tried renaming the file or moving then delete ? Ive never had that problem but know there's software to help you .

A quick Google mentions Move On Boot , I remember a program mention on here called " Unlocker " ?



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

Hi Peatmoss

I downloaded that unlocker program and it worked first time !

I have spent quite a bit of time on this damn file lately and about 2 hours this morning. But that Unlocker got rid of it with ease !

What a great program !

Isn't the Internet great

Isn't FileSharing Talk great

Isn't Google great !

And you too

Thanks a million.

If I had Pay Pal I'd send that guy something.

Kind Regards

Digby
NZ

thumbs.db isn't a bad file. It's stored thumbnails.

Yeh eventhough thumbnails isn't a "bad file", you never know when Windows can mess up and lock a folder like that. I don't use thumbnails so I got rid of all the thumbs.db. Anyways a program I use to delete any files is o&o safe erase, it deletes anything, even wipes entire hardrives, with different algorythims so they cant be restored.

Open My Computer and click Folder Options on the Tools menu.
Click the View tab.
Enable Do not cache thumbnails by putting a checkmark in the box.
Click OK to exit.

Any file is easy to delete, that why i have 3 windows. Probably windows is using this file and this file Thumbs.db isn't needed anyway, why have u not disable it ?
I think thats how your spyware in Thumbs.db spreads on your puter. Whenever this file is created, thats when u see files as thumbs, this spreads. But deleteing this one Thumbs.db file won't stop the spyware to create another one when u open the same folder with thumbs. U better not use this Thumbs.db to log your thumbs. Unlocker is good, but its onyl needed when some program is using another one but it won't solve your spyware/trojan problem.

limesqueezer, are you saying thumbs.db is a trojan? What spyware/trojan problem are you referring to?

The thumbs.db file is a database of thumbnail images which is created in every folder by default. You can turn this function off, as Chewie detailed in a previous post, and that eliminates the creation of the thumbs.db files (but you will not be able to see thumbnail images in Windows Explorer then).

Yes im saying that, listen carefully. Every trojan is a file name used by sytem, thats the basic of trojan. Trojan replaces the original or changed it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by truetejas

(but you will not be able to see thumbnail images in Windows Explorer then).

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Errr, yeah you can, it just doesn't cache the images, it creates them on the fly :stars: