SOLVED Mysterious folders in my AppData>Local folder

[Hadron]

I have Microsoft Security Essentials installed. Can someone please rule this one in or out as a likely cause? If you are getting these mysterious folders and you don't have Microsoft Security Essentials installed, please post.

 

[clifford_cooley]

I have MSE installed as well.

 

[clifford_cooley]

Using SIW and navigating to (Software >> Installed Programs), this is my list of installed programs.

[FONT="Courier New"][B][I]Publisher                      - Installed Programs[/I][/B]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                               - µTorrent
                               - 7-Zip 4.65
                               - ASUSUpdate
                               - CPUID CPU-Z 1.56
                               - K-Lite Codec Pack 5.8.3 (Full)
                               - LG ODD Auto Firmware Update
                               - LG USB Modem driver
                               - Microsoft Expedia Streets 98
                               - OpenAL
                               - Photo Paint
                               - Really Slick Screensavers 0.2
Adobe Systems Incorporated     - Adobe Flash Player 10 ActiveX
Adobe Systems Incorporated     - Adobe Flash Player 10 Plugin
Adobe Systems Incorporated     - Adobe Reader 9.4.1
Adobe Systems Incorporated     - Chinese Traditional Fonts Support For Adobe Reader 9
AMD                            - AMD DnD V1.0.19
Arthur Liberman                - Core Temp version 0.99.7
ATI                            - Catalyst Control Center - Branding
ATI                            - Catalyst Control Center Core Implementation
ATI                            - Catalyst Control Center Graphics Full Existing
ATI                            - Catalyst Control Center Graphics Full New
ATI                            - Catalyst Control Center Graphics Light
ATI                            - Catalyst Control Center Graphics Previews Common
ATI                            - Catalyst Control Center Graphics Previews Vista
ATI                            - Catalyst Control Center HydraVision Full
ATI                            - CCC Help English
ATI                            - ccc-core-static
ATI                            - ccc-utility64
ATI Technologies Inc.          - ATI Catalyst Registration
ATI Technologies, Inc.         - ATI Catalyst Install Manager
ATI Technologies, Inc.         - Catalyst Control Center InstallProxy
Audacity Team                  - Audacity 1.3.11 (Unicode)
Bethesda Softworks             - Oblivion
Broadcom Corporation           - WIDCOMM Bluetooth Software
CyberLink Corp.                - LabelPrint
CyberLink Corp.                - LG CyberLink LabelPrint
CyberLink Corp.                - LG CyberLink Power2Go
CyberLink Corp.                - LG CyberLink PowerBackup
CyberLink Corp.                - LG CyberLink PowerDVD
CyberLink Corp.                - LG CyberLink PowerProducer
CyberLink Corp.                - LG CyberLink YouCam
CyberLink Corp.                - LG Power Tools
CyberLink Corp.                - Power2Go
CyberLink Corp.                - PowerDVD
CyberLink Corp.                - PowerProducer
CyberLink Corp.                - PowerStarter
CyberLink Corp.                - YouCam
dotPDN LLC                     - Paint.NET v3.5.6
eRightSoft                     - SUPER © Version 2009.bld.36 (June 10, 2009)
EVGA Corporation               - EVGA Precision 2.0.1
Futuremark Corporation         - 3DMark 11
Futuremark Corporation         - Futuremark SystemInfo
Ghisler Software GmbH          - Total Commander (Remove or Repair)
Husdawg, LLC                   - System Requirements Lab CYRI
Igor Pavlov                    - 7-Zip 9.20 (x64 edition)
Irfan Skiljan                  - IrfanView (remove only)
James Garton                   - Wallpaper Master v2.16
LightScribe                    - LightScribe System Software
Logitech                       - CDDRV_Installer
Logitech                       - KhalInstallWrapper
Logitech, Inc.                 - erLT
Malwarebytes Corporation       - Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware
matt.malensek.net              - 3RVX
Microsoft                      - D3DX10
Microsoft                      - Definition update for Microsoft Office 2010 (KB982726)
Microsoft                      - MSVCRT
Microsoft                      - MSVCRT_amd64
Microsoft                      - Security Update for Microsoft Office 2010 (KB2289078)
Microsoft                      - Security Update for Microsoft Office 2010 (KB2289161)
Microsoft                      - Security Update for Microsoft Publisher 2010 (KB2409055)
Microsoft                      - Security Update for Microsoft Word 2010 (KB2345000)
Microsoft                      - Update for Microsoft Office 2010 (KB2202188)
Microsoft                      - Update for Microsoft Office 2010 (KB2413186)
Microsoft                      - Update for Microsoft OneNote 2010 (KB2433299)
Microsoft                      - Update for Microsoft Outlook Social Connector (KB2289116)
Microsoft Corp                 - Windows Media Player Firefox Plugin
Microsoft Corporation          - Application Verifier (x64)
Microsoft Corporation          - Debugging Tools for Windows (x64)
Microsoft Corporation          - Feedback Tool
Microsoft Corporation          - Internet TV for Windows Media Center
Microsoft Corporation          - Junk Mail filter update
Microsoft Corporation          - Microsoft .NET Framework 4 Client Profile
Microsoft Corporation          - Microsoft .NET Framework 4 Extended
Microsoft Corporation          - Microsoft Antimalware
Microsoft Corporation          - Microsoft Application Error Reporting
Microsoft Corporation          - Microsoft Office Access MUI (English) 2010
Microsoft Corporation          - Microsoft Office Access Setup Metadata MUI (English) 2010
Microsoft Corporation          - Microsoft Office Excel MUI (English) 2010
Microsoft Corporation          - Microsoft Office Home and Student 2010
Microsoft Corporation          - Microsoft Office Live Add-in 1.5
Microsoft Corporation          - Microsoft Office Office 32-bit Components 2010
Microsoft Corporation          - Microsoft Office OneNote MUI (English) 2010
Microsoft Corporation          - Microsoft Office Outlook MUI (English) 2010
Microsoft Corporation          - Microsoft Office PowerPoint MUI (English) 2010
Microsoft Corporation          - Microsoft Office Proof (English) 2010
Microsoft Corporation          - Microsoft Office Proof (French) 2010
Microsoft Corporation          - Microsoft Office Proof (Spanish) 2010
Microsoft Corporation          - Microsoft Office Proofing (English) 2010
Microsoft Corporation          - Microsoft Office Publisher MUI (English) 2010
Microsoft Corporation          - Microsoft Office Shared 32-bit MUI (English) 2010
Microsoft Corporation          - Microsoft Office Shared MUI (English) 2010
Microsoft Corporation          - Microsoft Office Shared Setup Metadata MUI (English) 2010
Microsoft Corporation          - Microsoft Office Single Image 2010
Microsoft Corporation          - Microsoft Office Word MUI (English) 2010
Microsoft Corporation          - Microsoft Security Essentials
Microsoft Corporation          - Microsoft Silverlight
Microsoft Corporation          - Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 ATL Update kb973923 - x64 8.0.50727.4053
Microsoft Corporation          - Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 ATL Update kb973923 - x86 8.0.50727.4053
Microsoft Corporation          - Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 Redistributable
Microsoft Corporation          - Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 Redistributable (x64)
Microsoft Corporation          - Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 ATL Update kb973924 - x86 9.0.30729.4148
Microsoft Corporation          - Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable - x64 9.0.30729.17
Microsoft Corporation          - Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable - x64 9.0.30729.4148
Microsoft Corporation          - Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable - x86 9.0.30729.17
Microsoft Corporation          - Microsoft Visual C++ 2010  x64 Redistributable - 10.0.30319
Microsoft Corporation          - Microsoft Visual C++ 2010  x86 Redistributable - 10.0.30319
Microsoft Corporation          - Microsoft Web Platform Installer 2.0
Microsoft Corporation          - Microsoft Windows Performance Toolkit
Microsoft Corporation          - Microsoft Windows SDK for Windows 7 (7.1)
Microsoft Corporation          - Microsoft Windows SDK for Windows 7 Common Utilities (30514)
Microsoft Corporation          - Microsoft Windows SDK for Windows 7 Headers and Libraries (30514)
Microsoft Corporation          - Microsoft Windows SDK for Windows 7 Samples (30514)
Microsoft Corporation          - Microsoft Windows SDK for Windows 7 Utilities for Win32 Development (30514)
Microsoft Corporation          - MSXML 4.0 SP2 (KB954430)
Microsoft Corporation          - MSXML 4.0 SP2 (KB973688)
Microsoft Corporation          - Security Update for Microsoft .NET Framework 4 Client Profile (KB2160841)
Microsoft Corporation          - Security Update for Microsoft .NET Framework 4 Extended (KB2416472)
Microsoft Corporation          - Windows Live Communications Platform
Microsoft Corporation          - Windows Live Essentials
Microsoft Corporation          - Windows Live ID Sign-in Assistant
Microsoft Corporation          - Windows Live Installer
Microsoft Corporation          - Windows Live Language Selector
Microsoft Corporation          - Windows Live Mail
Microsoft Corporation          - Windows Live Mesh ActiveX Control for Remote Connections
Microsoft Corporation          - Windows Live MIME IFilter
Microsoft Corporation          - Windows Live Photo Common
Microsoft Corporation          - Windows Live PIMT Platform
Microsoft Corporation          - Windows Live SOXE
Microsoft Corporation          - Windows Live SOXE Definitions
Microsoft Corporation          - Windows Live UX Platform
Microsoft Corporation          - Windows Live UX Platform Language Pack
Microsoft Corporation          - Windows Live Writer
Microsoft Corporation          - Windows Live Writer Resources
MiniTool Solution Ltd.         - MiniTool Partition Wizard Home Edition 5.2
Mozilla                        - Mozilla Firefox (3.6.13)
Mozilla                        - Mozilla Firefox 4.0b7 (x86 en-US)
MSI Co., LTD                   - MSI Afterburner 2.0.0
NeoSmart Technologies          - EasyBCD 2.0
Nero AG                        - Nero 7 Essentials
Nero AG                        - neroxml
NVIDIA Corporation             - NVIDIA 3D Vision Driver 260.99
NVIDIA Corporation             - NVIDIA Control Panel 260.99
NVIDIA Corporation             - NVIDIA Graphics Driver 260.99
NVIDIA Corporation             - NVIDIA HD Audio Driver 1.1.9.0
NVIDIA Corporation             - NVIDIA Install Application
NVIDIA Corporation             - NVIDIA PhysX
NVIDIA Corporation             - NVIDIA PhysX System Software 9.10.0514
NVIDIA Corporation             - NVIDIA Stereoscopic 3D Driver
OpenOffice.org                 - OpenOffice.org 3.2
Opera Software ASA             - Opera 10.60
Opera Software ASA             - Opera 10.61
Opera Software ASA             - Opera 10.63
Opera Software ASA             - Opera 11.00
Pando Networks Inc.            - Pando Media Booster
Piriform                       - CCleaner
RaLink                         - Ralink Wireless LAN
Realtek Semiconductor Corp.    - Realtek High Definition Audio Driver
Red Egg Software               - ieSpell
Riot Games                     - League of Legends
Seagate                        - Seagate*DiscWizard
Sun Microsystems, Inc.         - Java(TM) 6 Update 17
Sun Microsystems, Inc.         - Sun VirtualBox
Topala Software Solutions      - SIW version 2010.03.11
Ubisoft                        - Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X. 2
UBISOFT                        - Ubisoft Game Launcher
VS Revo Group                  - Revo Uninstaller 1.90
Yahoo! Inc.                    - Yahoo! Messenger[/FONT]

 

[davehc]

I think my earlier post gave an explanation.There is no single way to prevent it. Microsoft have now returned on my bug, and say, (makes sense) that the culprits are third party programs, which do not do a correct cleanup after installing or checking for periodic updates.(Java checks for updates are a big culprit)
However, if disk space is the major problem, the folder can be moved to aother hard disk on your system.

Open "System" in the Control Panel and select the "Advanced system settings" (over on the left) or
Press the Windows key and Pause , together. and click on the Advanced Systems settings"
Select the "Advanced" tab.
Select the the Environment Variables button on the bottom .Another window opens which shows the variables. The ones you will be dealing with are are the TMP and TEMP user variables.
First create a new directory manually on another hard drive, or for you choice (d:\temp, for example.
select the first variable now and sthen elect edit from the menu and change the default location to d:\temp.
Do the same with the second variable click ok.
Restart your computer.
You can delete the old temporary directory, but it is advisable to leave it, even if empty, for possible future use

 

[Hadron]

Hi davehc.
I don't think anyone is really concerned about disc space.
And also. It is the fact that something is writing to a user's local profile folder and littering it with empty folders without the user's consent, which is the issue.
It shouldn't be happening. It is not a temp folder.

 

[davehc]

Hi davehc.
I don't think anyone is really concerned about disc space.
And also. It is the fact that something is writing to a user's local profile folder and littering it with empty folders without the user's consent, which is the issue.
It shouldn't be happening. It is not a temp folder.

With respect, no flaming intended, you are continuously subjected to indiscrete writing to your hard disk, if you use the internet (or often with an install) That is exactly one of the reasons for which the temp folders are designed.

Have a look at this one
C:\Users\Administrator\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files

or this
C:\Windows\Temp

(Quite a few others!)

 

[clifford_cooley]

The problem is, the temp folder is not being used.

 

[davehc]

Looking back through the posts, I can see, Cliff, that there are minimal complaints regarding disk space. In that case, the solution is, as intended by default, hide them in the options then they will not be a problem.

 

[lalittle]

I'm still not convinced.

I have Windows Live Mail installed, the only app from Windows Live Essentials package. All of the temporary folders are going to my temp Folder.

There seems to be another factor that has not been uncovered.

Just to clarify, what are you not convinced about? I was merely pointing out what appears to be a pretty clear connection between these folders and the installation of Windows Live Essentials. The file dates/times of the Windows Live folders that don't get changed as you use them are EXACTLY the same as the time that the first one of these mystery folders was created. That's just too exact to be a coincidence.

Note that I also have one system that IS putting these folders into the Local\Temp folder, so I totally agree that there is some other factor here. It's important to note, however, that I installed WLM VERY soon after my OS install, and this issue has been happening ever since. It's also interesting to note that of my three systems right now, two of them are having this issue, while the third is not. The two that ARE having the issue were the two most recent builds, both of which had WLM installed very early in the process.

All three of these systems had Microsoft Security Essentials installed before WLM was installed, so I can confirm that a combination of Windows Live Essentials apps along with MSE does not "always" cause this issue.

The issue, as noted above, is not with drive space, but rather with "clutter." After some time, the Local folder will have hundreds or even thousands of these folders in it.

Thanks again for all the feedback and discussion here,

Larry

 

[lalittle]

I think my earlier post gave an explanation.There is no single way to prevent it. Microsoft have now returned on my bug, and say, (makes sense) that the culprits are third party programs, which do not do a correct cleanup after installing or checking for periodic updates.(Java checks for updates are a big culprit)
However, if disk space is the major problem, the folder can be moved to aother hard disk on your system.

Open "System" in the Control Panel and select the "Advanced system settings" (over on the left) or
Press the Windows key and Pause , together. and click on the Advanced Systems settings"
Select the "Advanced" tab.
Select the the Environment Variables button on the bottom .Another window opens which shows the variables. The ones you will be dealing with are are the TMP and TEMP user variables.
First create a new directory manually on another hard drive, or for you choice (d:\temp, for example.
select the first variable now and sthen elect edit from the menu and change the default location to d:\temp.
Do the same with the second variable click ok.
Restart your computer.
You can delete the old temporary directory, but it is advisable to leave it, even if empty, for possible future use

I don't think that changing those variables will help because my temp folder located at AppData\Local\Temp IS being used. I even see one of these "mystery" folders in that folder as well (but only one, and it's in the middle of the pack as far as dates go.) In other words, my "Temp" folder is correctly being used by plenty of OTHER programs -- it's just that one or more programs are using "Local" instead, and it appears that Windows Live Essentials is related to this in some way due to the file dates/times as discussed above.

Note also that I checked those environment variables, and both "TEMP" and "TMP" are set to use the AppData\Local\Temp folder. I see no references to the AppData\Local folder in any part of that window.

It looks to me like the variables are set correctly, but that something isn't correctly using the variables, or is overriding the current settings.

Larry

 

[davehc]

You may have misunderstood my post.
I did not state moving the folder would stop it being used.
Windows Live Essentials is ONE of the programs that uses it.
Yes. By default, the TMP and Temp are set correctly, of course. My post was an explanation of how to change them ONLy if you wish to move the folder to another location.

 

[lalittle]

You may have misunderstood my post.
I did not state moving the folder would stop it being used.
Windows Live Essentials is ONE of the programs that uses it.
Yes. By default, the TMP and Temp are set correctly, of course. My post was an explanation of how to change them ONLy if you wish to move the folder to another location.

I was simply saying that I don't think that changing the temp variables will solve the issue at hand, which is the incorrect appearance of temporary folders in the "Local" folder rather than the "Local\Temp" folder.

In other words, I don't think anyone here is concerned with where Windows "Temp" folders are located as long as Windows uses the correct folders. The concern is that the "Local" folder is incorrectly being used for a temp folder by at least one program.

Larry

 

[Hadron]

With respect, no flaming intended, you are continuously subjected to indiscrete writing to your hard disk, if you use the internet (or often with an install) That is exactly one of the reasons for which the temp folders are designed.

Have a look at this one
C:\Users\Administrator\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files

or this
C:\Windows\Temp

(Quite a few others!)

davehc.
With all respect, I think you have completely missed what I and others are trying to say. I will allow someone else to try and explain it to you as I have failed to do so.

Please don't take my post the wrong way.

Kind regards.

 

[lalittle]

Okay -- as I reported earlier, I refrained from opening Windows Live Mail for all of Jan 20th. I wanted to see what happened if I "skipped" a day. It's now after midnight here, which makes it the 21st, so I just opened WLM. Not only did I confirm that NO mystery folder was created on the 20th (as I had speculated would be the case), I ALSO observed a NEW one of these folders being created right in front of my eyes right after WL Mail started.

I had Windows Explorer open so that I could see what happened in the "Local" folder after WLM was started. First, I checked the "Local" folder and confirmed that none of these folders had been created since the 19th, which was the last time I had run WL Mail. I then started WL Mail and immediately switched over to Win Explorer and watched. A few seconds after WLM came up, another one of these mystery folders appeared in the "AppData/Local" folder right in front of me. This proves without ANY doubt that WL Mail is at least ONE of the sources of these folders. This is not to say that WL Mail is the ONLY culprit, but it does prove that it's at least "one" of the culprits, and based on prior posts here, it seems that it's always a Windows Live Essentials app that creates these folders.

The pattern seems to be that one of these folders is created either the first time WL Mail is run on a calendar day, or perhaps the first time it's run after having not been run in a while (which explains why on some days, I have two of these folders created around 12 hours apart.)

This narrows down the source of the folders, so the only question is why WL Mail (or WL Messenger, and possibly other WL Essentials apps as well) are sometimes using the "Local" folder instead of the "Local\Temp" folder for the temporary files, or why these folders are simply left there indefinitely and not "cleaned up" by WL Mail.

This test also seems to indicate that Microsoft's response above is NOT correct about this issue being caused by "third party programs." davehc posted MS's response to this issue above (thanks again for posting that, dave), which was:

Microsoft have now returned on my bug, and say, (makes sense) that the culprits are third party programs, which do not do a correct cleanup after installing or checking for periodic updates.(Java checks for updates are a big culprit)

Based on what I just observed, this issue does not appear to be with "third party programs," but with Windows Live apps (in my case, the Mail component.)

davehc -- could you possibly follow up with MS and let them know that we can specifically prove that WL Mail IS the program that is creating these folders? Based on their response, it seems clear that they are assuming that some other app is creating these folders. What they don't yet realize, however, is that I just confirmed that when I refrained from opening WL Mail for a whole calendar day, none of these folders was created, and that as soon as I started WL Mail on the following day, I watched one of these folders appear right in front of me.

Maybe you could refer them to this thread, or even to some of the more pertinent posts here. I think that this could be solved if we can just get this information to the right people at MS. So far, the support person that responded to you doesn't realize that this really is related to Windows Live.

Thanks,

Larry

 

[davehc]

"davehc -- could you possibly follow up with MS and let them know that we can specifically....... "

Sorry Larry, but I cannot do that, because, as (I thought) I have explained this clearly, and I am not having the same experience.
Here is a picture of my current folder. The .savs are from snaggit, with which I made this picture.. . The jars are java cache files, which change from time to time. Only other of significance is the MPCmd....log, which is the antimalware Microosoft add-on and runs when I reboot or start my computer.
I will certainly point to this thread, but there have been many similar posts on the web which have been concluded, without "solving", except by continuing to hide the directory.
Fwiw. My directory at the moment is about 800kbs.

Later. Forgot to add. I use the whole Live suite. My Live mail is opened four or five times a day. Of significence, perhaps, viewing my picture, I frequent one particular Java site several times a day.

 

[Zoolx]

Good morning ....

i totaly agree that this is no problem of discspace at all. I also dont want to ignore these folders as long as they are not written in Temp as they should be ...

My System is also a very new one and i have installed the most software on two days. And now a very important information: Its not so much ! At the moment i cant access the system so i will do a complete post of all programs perhaps tonight.

Perhaps it was a right problem during the installation because many people inculding me are installing some apps and do a reboot later and not after each app. So it could be that any app was locking the "local\temp" folder and MSN for example was trying to write ... doesnt work ... so MSN tries the next possible folder the "LOCAL" flder above. These information was then written in the registry and for now on used as standard.

Shure i use Nvidia and Logitech and allthe other stuff you also use very day.

But at the moment i realy doesnt have installed a lot - these aplications could cause the problem for me ... and its realy not much more:

- All the needed drivers (of course)
- WIDCOMM Bluetooth Software
- NVidia Graka driver 260.9 (as i can remeber)
- Logitech Setpoint
- usw.

- All the Windows Updates (of course)

- Microsoft Office 2010 (FULL)
- Microsoft Visio 2010
- MSN (only Microsoft Live App)
- Microsoft Security Essentials
- Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware
- Adobe Acrobat Reader X
- 7-Zip
- 3DMark Vantage
- 3DMark 11
- Deamon Tools

- and all the stuff i cant remember at the moment ... but its not much more. A lot of apps where installed later after creating the first of these empty folders ... so i have to look.

Some "portable" Apps without Installation routines like
- CPU-Z
- GPU-Z
- usw.

i will post the rest later today (hopefully=

regards
.Zool.

 

[Hadron]

So Zoolx, you are using Microsoft Security Essentials also?
Anyone else with this problem using Microsoft Security Essentials?

 

[Zoolx]

Thanks Larry great work and good to know.

I have an open case at/with Microsoft for this at the moment and pointed direktly to your post. Hopefully we get an answer soon but as you know you normaly have to wait a long time or figure out by your own - because MS can give this to the correct channel in USA but normal this takes a long time ...

I will try the MSN stuf the next days also ... but even if i know that this is a problem my MSN for me its not clear how to fix this. Has you tried an uninstall and install process allready and does this fix the problem. I think this would be my nex step ...

We can also try to figure out something with the Sysinternals tools (perhaps)...

But the best idea would be a technical contact from Windows Live ...

till later

.Zool.

 

[clifford_cooley]

davehc

I know you and I both are using a new version of Windows Live Essentials. We now have the ribbon interface in Windows Live Mail instead of the menubar.

It would be of interest in knowing which version everyone else is using.

 

[davehc]

So Zoolx, you are using Microsoft Security Essentials also?
Anyone else with this problem using Microsoft Security Essentials?

LOL. That is my problem - I don't see what is the problem. Trainable man's first post in this thread pretty much answered the initial query.

I think I,ll duck out and leave you guys to discuss it.