I had a second hand computer from a friend and well its got these files on it and there do not get picked up by a SPYBOT Search and Destroy program and a virus checker doesnt say anything about them. I cant delete or view them, and they look hidden (but they arent hidden). Could you please tell me what they are?
(Not sure if it is helpful but...)
... My System Info:
click here
Picture:
click here
- Dale
Hi Dale. I don't recognise any of those files, and a search on Google didn't help much either. Does the folder they're is give any clues? If you right click on any of them do you get any clues from their properties? You may find that the only way to delete them is from DOS, but be careful because often when you are not allowed to delete a file, it's because the file is in use.
Just a chance that might clean things up.
The file names look like uk/us transformations of filenames in another language/character set. Can the friend give any information? If you're concerned then boot with a w98 startup disk and <FORMAT C:> should clear them. Of course you'll have to reinstall windows &c
I'm not being funy, but anytime I see anything unusual I do an onboard virus scan, then do an online one at Housecall too click here. just for peace of mind.
Right i'll show you the pictures of what its properties look like and i also tried to rar one of the files up and it denies compressing.
I'll go and scandisk it now :)
They look like corrupted file remnants. Have you tried renaming one to a more usual format e.g. test.doc , to see what happens ?
The files dont allow me to rename them.
Heres more pictures:
Scandisk: click here
Scandisk Results: click here
Deleting: click here
Properties: click here
CTRL + ALT + DEL (Washer was from a PC Advisor disk a while ago): click here
Tried Winrar-ing: click here
- Thats all the shots i can possible think of that will show you everything. If you need more info please ask me and i'll try and get it.
Try deleting them in DOS:
Non-XP via Windows:
1) Open a Command Prompt window and leave it open.
2) Close all open programs.
3) Click Start > Run and enter TASKMGR.EXE
4) Go to the Processes tab and End Process on Explorer.exe.
5) Leave Task Manager open.
6) Go back to the Command Prompt window and change to the directory the undeletable file is located in.
7) At the command prompt type DEL where is the file you wish to delete.
8) Go back to Task Manager, click File, New Task and enter EXPLORER.EXE to restart the GUI shell.
9) Close Task Manager.
In XP use Start / Run / cmd to navigate to the files
or click here
or try here click here
I'll try that out tommorow ;)
Extension: EFD
Program and/or Extension Function: Company
EARS Filter Definition
Specific Notes:
EARS = UK Liberal Democrats Election Agents Record System - The file name starts with the letter E.
MIME Type: File Classification
Associated Links:
None
Identifying Characters:
(None or Unknown)
General Notes :
(None)
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