34 replies to this topic

[Ztruker]

Very interesting. I just checked my computer again and I have exactly the same tabs you have for the same folders in normal and safe boot, that is, no Security tab for TIF or History, there for the others, yet I can view the TIF files in IE6 and via Disk Cleanup.

Sorry to say, I'm stumped. I don't know where to go from here.

Do you have a XP CD? I don't remember if your malware thread mentioned this or not. If so, you could try running sfc /scannow via Run box off of the Start button.

[Crimea]

Hi,

I've "slip-streamed" an XP and SP2 disc and run "sfc /scannow", without any change; the Content.IE5 Windows Explorer window is still empty, despite files being present.

I've visited Windows Update, as instructed on Bleeping Computer, and these are the XP updates available:

Service Pack 3 [I haven't had this yet via [i]Automatic Updates[/i]]
Root Certificates Update
Windows Media Player 11 [Tried this about a year ago and didn't like it]
Update for .NET Framework 3.0: x86 (KB932471)
Microsoft Base Smart Card Cryptographic Service Provider Package: x86 (KB909520)
Update for WMDRM-enabled Media Players (KB902344)

Which should I install and will they make any difference to this problem?

These are the various "Users" I have, under the "Security" tab, for C: and D: folders:

D:\CAR INSURANCE folder:
Administrators [POWERC250107\Administrators]
Arjun [POWERC250107\Arjun]
CREATOR OWNER
SYSTEM
Users [POWERC250107\Users]

C:\Document and Settings\
C:\Document and Settings\Default User\
C:\Document and Settings\Default User\Local Settings\
Account Unknown[S-1-5-32-547]
Administrators [POWERC250107\Administrators]
Everyone
SYSTEM
Users [POWERC250107\Users]

C:\Document and Settings\Default User\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files
No Security tab

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Edited by Crimea, 01 July 2008 - 06:29 PM.

[Ztruker]

None of those updates will have any effect on your problem that I can see.

About all I can suggest, now that you have a XP CD with SP2 is to do a Repair Install

Make sure you have all your important data backed up in case something goes wrong but normally a Repair Install will not touch your data and many of your installed programs will still work. Some will have to be reinstalled though, like anti-virus and firewall.

[Crimea]

Is this the only option I have?

I wondered why I had so many users and what the "Account Unknown" was.

Is it significant that, though "Show hidden files and folders" is selected, the pane on the left of the "Contents.IE5" Windows Explorer window says: "Attributes: Hidden"?

[Doug]

Crimea,

Though I've read your entire thread and the excellent assistance you have been receiving so far, I think you may be taking a wrong approach. I may be misunderstanding what you are attempting to accomplish, so please tell me if I'm wrong.

I "think" you want to view the various files in your Temporary Internet Files before cleaning/deleting them.
For instance, you may wish to "view or save" various of the image files of the wild fires in California, flooding along the Mississippi, or pictures of various politicians or other activities in the news that got saved as Temporary Internet Files.
Is that correct?
_________________________

If so, you may not be "addressing" the correct location when using Windows Explorer.

Here's what I get when I navigate to:
C:\Documents and Settings\Luddite\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\
(my administrative username is Luddite, yours will be Arjun or something similar)


As you can see, I haven't run Cleanmgr today, so my TIF folder shows a bunch of temp files from my ZoneAlarm Firewall blocking or verifying various website hashdomains

But I don't think that's what you want to "see".
Windows "protects" us mere owner/users, even when we give ourselves Administrative Privilege
In order to "see" the sub-folders in Temporary Internet Files (8-digit alphmeric file names) you may have to "force" Windows Explorer to show you the content that it is "protecting" you from.

Do this by adding to the the address, by "physically typing into the address bar" --> \content.ie5
So that Windows Explorer is directed to:
C:\Documents and Settings\Luddite\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\
Here's what you will see:


You're getting closer, but still not "seeing" what I "think" you are looking for.
By "clicking" on one of the alphameric named folders, you will see the listing of various Temporary Internet Files that are the scripts and images that your browser downloads in order to display website pages.

C:\Documents and Settings\Luddite\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\P7OWA2KD
Here's what you will see:

_____________

When you look at the time-stamp of this reply, you will notice that it is 4:58am.
If I have totally misunderstood your intent, and given you steps to do something that is irrelevant to your goal, please forgive me as a bumbling helper that should go make some coffee before trying to post a reply.

Please let us know if this is what you are looking for, and if the steps have helped.

Best Regards

[Crimea]

I hope I haven’t ever given the impression I don’t appreciate the help Ztruker has provided; it’s been superb, as has the help I have received in the past on this site.

Perhaps I have become slightly side-tracked by the “Security” tab ‘problem’, but only because I’m a relative novice when it comes to the inner workings, so to speak, of my Bill Gates computer. Maybe there hasn’t ever been a “Security” tab for the “Temp. Int. Folder”, which explains why it didn’t appear when I tried to add it.

You’re entirely correct in what I want to be able to do and why I’ve asked for help. Although I used the wrong term – “Temp” folder, as opposed to “Temp. Int. Folder” – in my first post, I want to know why I can’t, any longer, access the files in this folder.

Though there may be more elegant ways of viewing/recovering files from Content.IE5, than using:
Control Panel > Performance... > Free up space... > Disk Cleanup > Temp Int Files > View Files > C:\Documents and Settings\Arjun\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5 > 8-digit-file-name sub-folders
this is how I’ve done it for years, without a problem. But now I can’t; something, somewhere has changed.

I can still browse the files, via IE7, which displays them in a Windows Explorer window and indicates they can be found in:
C:\Documents and Settings\Arjun\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files folder (not a Content.IE5 sub-folder, confusingly)
but I can’t “see” the files, as they are only represented by the generic “JPEG” or “GIF”, etc., symbols when you select “Thumbnails”. If I want a particular file, I have to guess which it is or double-click each of them, indivually, to open them in a new IE window.

This is what I got when I manually added content.ie5 to the address bar:


I hope I've cleared up any confusion of my making.

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[paws]

Hi Crimea, Like Ztruker and Doug, I have spent some time reviewing your posts on this topic here and also taking a look at the work you did with Silver over in the malware removal forum. This is an unusual situation that has been running on this topic for over a month and you mentioned also on your malware thread that the "problem" presented some months prior to this. Rich (Ztruker) back in post 18 said that having explored all the normal avenues it was perhaps time for you to consider a repair install of Windows......and you asked if there was another option..... Perhaps there is: As I see it your practice of browsing the TIF for useful stuff to save may have been a useful approach for you in the past but as you seem to have tried everything else to get back to "seeing" the files using this method perhaps its time for a change of practice......When browsing the Internet, for example, if you come accross something useful, a picture that you want to save for example (as Doug described) you could consider right clicking on it and saving it to your "My Pictures" folder, or another appropriate location..... You would just then need to run cleanmgr say once a month or so or an alternative such as ATF-Cleaner by Atribune, that would offer you selective deletion of most of your temporary stuff in one free handy tool. I know this is probably not what you wanted to hear......but apart from that , the Repair install as suggested by Rich may be worth considering as your next step Regards paws

Edited by paws, 13 July 2008 - 12:21 PM.

[Crimea]

Hi Paws,

Thanks for the help, but that is the stop-gap solution I've been using up until now.

I don't relish the Repair Install for all the obvious reasons: complication; time; potential for any number of problems (I don't have anyone who could help and only one P.C.); and the fact I don't yet back-up my system and so have to sort out that first - buy a back-up drive (>$100 equivalent, which I'll have to find from somewhere, as I want to do it properly), source a copy of Acronis True Image or a similar program, etc.

It'll take me a few weeks to complete the Repair Install and I'll post whether it solved the problem, but it might be best to close this thread in the mean time.

If no-one else has any other suggestions, I'll just thank everyone for their help: thanks. It really has been appreciated.

Arjun [U.K.].

[Doug]

Arjun,

first comment:

The image that you attached, demonstrating what you see with C:\Documents and Settings\Default User\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\content.ie5 ---- does not show any 8-digit- randomly-named folder.

And I wouldn't expect to see any there, since Default User does not ordinarily browse the internet.
I would expect to see those folder for user-name Arjun
__________________-

Next comment:

There is a solution for getting Windows Explorer to display "Thumbnails", but it is a long time since I researched it.
If that is really what you want, it will be worth repeating the research. Please let us know.
_________________

Next comment:

There is a more elegant solution that I have occasionally used to see images that have been temporarily saved from browsing sessions. Most of what is saved is temp garbage stuff like page headers, direction arrows, brand-name banners, and the like. But there are the occasional interesting pictures of the news item you may have been browsing, like maybe a pic of a tornado, or flood, or volcano erupting, or newsworthy pictures of people and politicians

Here's what I do:

I use an old version (free) of Paint Shop Pro. The latest "free" version is the old 5.0 and is so fully functional that I have never needed to upgrade to a paid version for my needs. 5.0 is the latest "free" version. If you download any of the newer versions, expect to be asked for money after a 30 day trial. (not necessary in my opinion)
http://www.oldversio...ogram.php?n=psp

I would open Paint Shop Pro.
Then use the File - Browse (pull-down menu)
then navigate to C:\Documents and Settings\Arjun\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\content.ie5
Then select one of the eight-digit random-named folders to browse.

Paint Shop Pro will load all of the image files contained in that folder, while ignoring any non-image file.
You can then pick and choose amongst the images that you may be interested in.

Let us know if this is useful to you.

Doug

P.S. If you are interested in acquiring an external hard drive for backup, TigerDirect has some good sales on right now.
I just picked up the 1TB (terabyte) external drive manufactured by by Maxtor/Seagate. about $169 US
The customer I bought it for is absolutely thrilled with its size and performance.
It also comes with a 5 year warranty and you can purchase an additional "replacement-cost warranty" that extends an additional year and gives full-replacement-cost, for $24.95

TigerDirect is featuring the 500gb external drive (plenty big enough for most folks) for $59 US.
Shop around other locations and you will find similar prices available. (Maxtor seems to be promoting those drives right now. )

[Crimea]

Hi Doug,

I think, at the very beginning, I made a mistake.

When I initially looked for the Temp. Int. Folder (after having been steered away from the different "Temp" folder), I couldn't find it, but did find what I thought was it, when Rich suggested I also look under "Default User". Because of my confusion (my fault), I've since concentrated on trying to find the TIF files in a "Default User" folder where they wouldn't ever reside, as you say.

If the detritus from my browsing would only ever be in the TIF under my user name, then my problem takes on a different complexion. When I attempt to browse to:
C:\Documents and Settings\Arjun\Local Settings\Temporary Internet files\content.ie5
I can only get as far as:
C:\Documents and Settings\Arjun\Local Settings
The Temporary Internet Files folder is missing. The only folders available are: Application Data; Apps; and Temp

However, when I use Disk Cleanup for (C:) and "View Files", to view the many MBs of files which are available (I'm looking at the "Disk Cleanup" results entry right now), the content.ie5 folder opens, in Windows Explorer, but is empty, which is what prompted me to ask for help.
................
To summarise what the problem appears to be:

\Temporary Internet files\content.ie5 is missing, under C:\Documents and Settings\Arjun, when I manually search for it, but is available when using Disk Cleanup, even though the folder appears empty.

I can view the files, in IE7 itself - so they do exist - but not "see" what they are of, as they are only represented by their file icons, which you've said can be changed.

Why can't I manually find the content.ie5 folder, but when I do, using "Disk Cleanup", it's empty?
................

I'll have a try of the Paint Shop Pro method, but, especially as I now realise where the TIF folder is, I'd like to be able to solve this problem, so I can add a short-cut to this folder and access it easily, without the need for "Disk Cleanup". Once I've found what I want, I usually use CCleaner, which I presume is as good as any other program.

Whilst it would be nice, in IE7 itself, to be able to "see" all the detritus, please don't go out of your way to re-research this. I might come back to this, if this method turns out to be preferable.

I hope I'm finally on the right track and can stop wasting everyone's time. This is a learning curve.

[Doug]

In Windows Explorer - Tools - Folder Options - View(tab)

Be sure you have the selection marked for:
Show Hidden Files and Folders

And the selection "un" marked for:
Hide protected operating system files

After you are finished looking at and/or managing these Temporary Internet Files, don't forget to reverse the above selections to return your operating system file settings to the secure settings.

[Crimea]

Hi,

"Unchecking" Hide protected operating system files and "Checking" Show Hidden Files and Folders (which I've had checked for a long time), seems to have worked, sort of.

I remember trying the Operating System method a while ago, but, as I was looking at the Default User TIF, it didn't work so I discarded it as a solution.

Although I can now view the TIF folders, when I use Disk Cleanup for (C:), I didn't used to have to show the Operating System files.
Has a Windows Update altered the security status of the TIF?
Why has it now become part of the protected Operating System, when it didn't used to be?
Can I return the status of the TIF to what it was?

I can now browse, in Windows Explorer, to C:\Documents and Settings\Arjun\Local Settings\Temporary Internet files\content.ie5, provided I continue to show the protected files, and I've added a shortcut to this folder elsewhere, but the files are only displayed by their file icons. Could you show me how to change this, as you said was possible?

Thanks.

[LDTate]

Bump to top

[paws]

Hi, it may be a good time now, for you to reconsider the suggestions made in post 22 Regards paws

[Crimea]

Hi Paws,

Thanks for the advice. I have been using the "right-click" method as you suggested, together with the following:

- using Disk cleanup for (C:) and "Unchecking" Hide protected operating..., if I need quite a number of files and it's easier to save all the TIF folders, so I can retrieve what I need at a later date; or
- accessing the TIF, via a shortcut I've placed elsewhere, and, because the files are only represented by their file icons, guessing which is/are the file(s) I want.

I'm putting off the Repair Install, until I can find sufficient time to do it.

I realise this thread has been running for a long time, but that is because I initially confused myself as to what the underlying problem was and wasted everyone's time, for which I apologise. As I now know what it is, I would like, if possible, to be able to solve the problem.

The problem remains that the TIF folders have become part of the protected Operating System files and I don't know why. If I want to look through them, via Disk cleanup for (C:), I have to make the Operating System files visible to make the TIF folders visible. I'd like to return them to their unprotected status, the status they must have for everyone else.

Also, I'd like to take up Doug on his offer of showing me how to make Windows Explorer display TIF "Thumbnail" images, if he's still kindly willing to. I found this and wondered if this is what is needed.

Thanks.