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A question about a file...

2K views 22 replies 4 participants last post by  Dude111 
#1 ·
Hey guys how are ya??

I have no idea what the file is...... Have you ever seen an extention __- thats what it is 8 lines and then the extention "__-"

________.__-

Its 0 bytes and there is no file just that marker....


Pic 1: https://img.techpowerup.org/200525/capture.png
Pic 2: https://img.techpowerup.org/200525/capture3.png

The creation date was 9/28/15 11:59pm

How do you delete a pointer in the file system with no actual file to it?? (Maybe thats why I cant delete it,it cant find the file it supposedly goes to)

I have a program called DELETE DOCTOR and I have tried deleting it by UNC name which didnt work (No Universal name as there is no file) I havent tried scheduling it with that program to delete the file on reboot though. I dont know if that will work because I think it will try to do it from DOS and according to DOS that file doesnt exist (The pointer doesnt even show up in dos (If I goto the system directory that "________.__-" file doesnt show up))


Its very strange............. Any help??


Thank you and god bless ya all!!!!
 
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#2 · (Edited)
There are ways to restore System Files with 0 bytes and then deleting them, but if this isn't hurting anything, I'd leave it alone. Also, if it's an old OS, remember 8 line limit on name.

EDIT: One more thought. Did you ever run the DOS command undelete c:\windows\system\*.* /all? This could be the origin of where the "line dot line" originated.
 
#3 ·
The underscore character "_" is a valid filename character. For example, get to a DOS/CMD prompt, type:
copy con ________.___
and press [Enter]. (Note: That filename is 8 underscore characters, a dot|period, and then another 3 underscore characters).

Press [F6], (and you'll see "^Z"), press [Enter] and DOS|CMD will respond a "1 file(s) copied." message.

Type:
dir ________.___
and press [Enter] -- (Note: That filename is 8 underscore characters, a dot|period, and then another 3 underscore characters) -- and DOS|CMD will respond with something like:

Code:
 Volume in drive D is WD WD1002FAEX (Black) 1TB HDD
 Volume Serial Number is 3668-1315

 Directory of D:\

05/25/20  11:15 AM                 [B][COLOR=red]0 ________.___
               1 File(s)              0 bytes[/COLOR][/B]
               0 Dir(s)  346,059,997,184 bytes free
(I.e., it is showing you that there is now a file named "________.___" with "0" bytes in it. To delete it, simply type:
del ________.___
and press [Enter] -- (Note: That filename is 8 underscore characters, a dot|period, and then another 3 underscore characters) -- That's it, the "________.___" file should be gone. To check type:
dir ________.___
and press [Enter] -- (Note: That filename is 8 underscore characters, a dot|period, and then another 3 underscore characters) -- and DOS|CMD will respond with something like:
Code:
Could Not Find D:\________.___
(or possibly with the old "file not found" message from years gone by.
 
#4 · (Edited)
Thank you my friend..... When I goto DOS and goto the system directory and type copy ________.__- it says FILE NOT FOUND.... (In the system directory)

I can create the file ________.__- in dos but its not the same as that 0 byte entry...... (I can delete the one I created but the other one remains)

Its the strangest thing ever...... Thanx for your help guys!!
 
#6 ·
Nope cant do a thing with it.........

Cant rename,move or anything..............

I tried copying the system folder into another folder and as soon as it gets to the ________.__- file it says CANNOT COPY "________.__- FILE NOT FOUND" and it aborts the copy........

My system folder is 183MB (1406 files) it gets up to 13.8MB when copying before aborting saying that ___ file cant be found so it looks like its something screwed up in the file system? (It says there is a file there but there isnt)
 
#8 · (Edited)
Well what I have done so far is created a new folder and manually copied every file into the new folder..... So I have all 1405 files in a new folder called SYSTEM2 and I put it in my Windows directory........ I know I have to reboot to DOS to change the name of that folder to SYSTEM (and the original to something else) but Im worried it might screw something up.... All the files are there except the ________.__- file........

I dunno if it will let me delete the system directory though. (Its not marked as a system folder so it might)

Maybe what Corday said is the best to do?? (Its not doing anything just let it stay)


Would be nice to fix the problem though.. Thank you for your time my friend!! -- Maybe we can get this corrected!!
 
#10 ·
Note: The command was:


copy con ________.___​


not:


copy ________.___​


--


To delete it, try the command


del _*.*​
 
#13 ·
Thank you buddy.. I have tried using chkdsk before and it doesnt let me,it says to use scandisk instead.... When I use scandisk it does not fix that error.... (However I havent tried it from dos since this file came)

CHKDSK has NOT checked this drive for errors.
You must use SCANDISK to detect and fix errors on this drive.

Volume Serial Number is 177C-13F1

13,328,912 kilobytes total disk space
12,636,920 kilobytes free

8,192 bytes in each allocation unit
1,666,114 total allocation units on disk
1,579,615 available allocation units on disk

655,360 total bytes memory
615,168 bytes free

Instead of using CHKDSK, try using SCANDISK. SCANDISK can reliably detect
and fix a much wider range of disk problems.
Ill try scandisk from dos and let ya know what happens...

Is there anyway to get Win98se to let you use chkdsk??? (Why is it even there if it wont run??)
 
#16 ·
I ran scandisk and it said NO ERRORS FOUND (File system was checked)

I dont understand........


Thank you guys for trying...

CORDAY: That may be so but is there a way to get CHECKDISK to run?? (I mean why did they put it on 98se if they werent gonna let you use it??)

Anyway of getting it to run??
 
#18 ·
CORDAY: That may be so but is there a way to get CHECKDISK to run?? (I mean why did they put it on 98se if they werent gonna let you use it??)

Anyway of getting it to run??
I thought it wasn't included until Windows ME. Anyway, Scan Disk is what the recommended solution was from original DOS until then.
 
#17 ·
Temporarily boot the computer from some flavor of a Linux Live CD/USB and delete the file.


It could also probably be deleted using QBASIC.
 
#21 ·
I think its totally bizarre they put a non working copy of chkdsk on 98,totally stupid!!

Why not give people the option of running it??


Do you know where to get the EXE for 2000?? (Would be neat seeing if it runs on 98)


Thanx everyone for all your help........
 
#22 ·
CNET used to have it, but it's gone. Major Geeks version only works on XP and later. There are ways to download 2000 which would give you a lot more stability than Windows 98SE since it's based on the NT platform.
 
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