shanenin Posted November 22, 2008 Report Share Posted November 22, 2008 When I am cleaning spyware in other peoples computers, I try to do it as fast as possible. I noticed when running MBAM, it spends lots of time scanning temporary internet files. To try and speed the scan up, I run ATF cleaner first, but it does not seem to delete them all. It seems as if Windows is doing its best to hide and protect them. If I navigate to the following locationC:\Documents and Settings\owner\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files, this directory appears empty, even though I have hidden files shown. I know it is not empty, since MBAM spens lots of time scanning files in it. Why are these so hidden? I just want to be able to delete them %100 before scanning. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Honda_Boy Posted November 22, 2008 Report Share Posted November 22, 2008 If you go tot he folder options setting it to show hidden files still loves some hidden. There's another option to hide protected operating system files. Those are probably what are still hidden. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
shanenin Posted November 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2008 Thanks, I did not even think of that, but it is still not showing all the files. edit added later//in particular the content.ie5 folder(it contains lots of temporary internet files) seems to be really hidden. If I type it in the explorer address bar manually, I can get to those files, then delete them Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Honda_Boy Posted November 22, 2008 Report Share Posted November 22, 2008 Glad you got it figured out. I just read my previous post and MAN did I not spell check. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jcl Posted November 22, 2008 Report Share Posted November 22, 2008 It looks like TIF is magical: the folder is a driven by shell extension that displays the contents of the hidden subdirectories (and possibly other things). The magic apparently prevents you from browsing the underlying directory in Explorer. I don't know if there's anything you can do short of disabling the shell extension, and I don't know if that's possible.FWIW, I can see all of the hidden directories with dir /a. (Cygwin and gvim can see them, too, but I don't imagine that's too useful.) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TheTerrorist_75 Posted November 22, 2008 Report Share Posted November 22, 2008 Thanks, I did not even think of that, but it is still not showing all the files. edit added later//in particular the content.ie5 folder(it contains lots of temporary internet files) seems to be really hidden. If I type it in the explorer address bar manually, I can get to those files, then delete themI just run Disk Cleanup. You can highlight Temporary Internet Files then click the View Files button to see Content.IE5. On my own PC I created a shortcut to this folder and placed it on my desktop along with shortcuts to both Temp folders and the TIF folder. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
shanenin Posted November 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2008 Cygwin and gvim can see them, too, but I don't imagine that's too useful.That might be a great idea, I could install it to a flash drive. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
shanenin Posted November 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2008 Will using cygwin allow me to delete files that windows explorer will not, for example, stuff running in memory? I have a hunch this just uses the windows api and can't do this. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jcl Posted November 23, 2008 Report Share Posted November 23, 2008 Will using cygwin allow me to delete files that windows explorer will not, for example, stuff running in memory? I have a hunch this just uses the windows api and can't do this.Your hunch is correct. (As it happens NT does support deleting open files but it requires cooperation from all of the processes that have the files open and apparently the files haunt the system, rattling chains and causing mysterious "Access Denied" errors, until they're really deleted.)Incidentally, I think Cygwin uses a few registry entries to track mount points. I'm not sure if they need to be present when Cygwin starts or if it will create them. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
martymas Posted November 23, 2008 Report Share Posted November 23, 2008 i do all my cleaning in safe mode that gets them allthe reason some files are not deleted is because when you scan in normal mode those files are in usebut in safe mode they not in usaand get deletedmarty Quote Link to post Share on other sites
scissorhands7 Posted December 4, 2008 Report Share Posted December 4, 2008 Why the heck would you manually delete them?Just use CCleaner.Duh. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
shanenin Posted December 4, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 4, 2008 I will try it in the future. I just assumed it did the same job as ATF cleaner. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Besttechie Posted December 4, 2008 Report Share Posted December 4, 2008 Why the heck would you manually delete them?Just use CCleaner.Duh.No, use ATF Cleaner - it's much safer and does the same job.I will try it in the future. I just assumed it did the same job as ATF cleaner.It does. Use ATF Cleaner. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
scissorhands7 Posted December 4, 2008 Report Share Posted December 4, 2008 CCleaner gets much larger rankings on CNEThttp://www.download.com/CCleaner/3000-2144....html?tag=mncol Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Besttechie Posted December 4, 2008 Report Share Posted December 4, 2008 CCleaner gets much larger rankings on CNEThttp://www.download.com/CCleaner/3000-2144....html?tag=mncolOk? I have seen CCleaner do some pretty bad damage to machine's by removing system files/necessary files. I do not recommend it, period. Just because it's a more "well-known" application doesn't make it better.B Quote Link to post Share on other sites
scissorhands7 Posted December 4, 2008 Report Share Posted December 4, 2008 Usually Applications are "Well Known" because they work better.I've seen much better reviews for CCleaner than ATF Cleaner.Really it comes down to personal preference. I've used CCleaner on a wide variety of machines. Never have had any problems.Any negative reviews I have read is because they used the registry cleaner and not the temporary cleaner. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Besttechie Posted December 4, 2008 Report Share Posted December 4, 2008 Personal preference or not, you will find that in the anti-malware communities that ATF-Cleaner is the preferred temp file cleaner of choice. Not only does it work, but it's very simple and easy to use. It does what it should, nothing more, nothing less. When you're working on a machine remotely, you don't have the potential option for something to go wrong as you're not there to fix it.B Quote Link to post Share on other sites
scissorhands7 Posted December 4, 2008 Report Share Posted December 4, 2008 A temporary files cleaner has very little to do with anti malware. Yes wares lurk in the temp directories occasionally.Personally one of the best sites for freeware and reviews is CNET, next to that is FileHippo. CCleaner (crap cleaner) has excellent reviews on both sites. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Besttechie Posted December 4, 2008 Report Share Posted December 4, 2008 A temporary files cleaner has very little to do with anti malware. Yes wares lurk in the temp directories occasionally.Actually, you're wrong. It has a lot to do with it. There are a number of trojans, viruses, malware files, and tracking cookies that reside in temp folders. Therefore it is a necessary tool (ATF Cleaner) to use during the removal process.B Quote Link to post Share on other sites
scissorhands7 Posted December 4, 2008 Report Share Posted December 4, 2008 Protip: Tracking cookies =/= badAdditionally viruses don't waste much time in the temp directory.The only subject your touching here that lurks in the temp direct. is trojan horses and about 90% of the time they install other appls to use those files so they can't be deleted.Additionally in my last post I acknowledged what you said. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Besttechie Posted December 4, 2008 Report Share Posted December 4, 2008 Protip: Tracking cookies =/= badAdditionally viruses don't waste much time in the temp directory.The only subject your touching here that lurks in the temp direct. is trojan horses and about 90% of the time they install other appls to use those files so they can't be deleted.First off, a tracking cookie is not necessarily bad as you mention, nonetheless, not everyone wants them. I personally do not mind them, but we cannot speak in absolutes as everyone has different privacy expectations. Lastly, if you read my post you would see I said "during the removal process" - it's a step taken during the process, not the only step.B Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Besttechie Posted December 4, 2008 Report Share Posted December 4, 2008 Additionally, I'm not going to waste my time bickering with you over technicalities. It's not worth either of our time. However, I suggest you read over our Terms of Use before you make another post and familiarize yourself with it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
scissorhands7 Posted December 4, 2008 Report Share Posted December 4, 2008 Again it comes down to personal preference. However CCleaner is not a "bad" suggestion.Few care about tracking cookies if they actually know what they were. Antivirus software just likes to make it look by a bad guy so their software can look like its doing more to protect you than it actually is. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
baker7 Posted December 6, 2008 Report Share Posted December 6, 2008 Even in my Training, my instructors DO NOT recommend CCleaner: We are to use ATF - I agree with Jeff Here - I'd rather use something SAFE then to use CCleaner and have a damaged PC, or use it and damage someone elses Brian Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Pete_C Posted December 7, 2008 Report Share Posted December 7, 2008 Even in my Training, my instructors DO NOT recommend CCleaner: We are to use ATF - I agree with Jeff Here - I'd rather use something SAFE then to use CCleaner and have a damaged PC, or use it and damage someone elses BrianAgreed, I have seen many cases where using CCCleaner messed up a machine; often to the point of making it non bootable; I have never heard of or seen a case where ATF Cleaner did that. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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