Empty files appearing on desktop and can't run defrag - XP

Hi,
I have been having a problem with my computer for two days now. I believe it is related to my hard drive, but I am not sure. My knowledge of the inner workings of computers is not great, but I can follow instructions very well. Here's what happened.

I am running Windows XP (32 bit) on a Dell laptop. I just have the C drive. It is not loaded down with huge programs that tax the system. It's older (2007) and occasionally the blue screen of death appears or it doesn't want to recognize the DVD/CD drive, but I simply turn it off on those occasions and it has not had any major meltdowns.

Yesterday when I was online on IE8, I noticed that a new file had randomly appeared on my desktop. It was of an unidentified type and the file name was apparently in characters that my computer can't display, so it was mostly squares. When I looked at properties I saw it was 0 kb in size. I deleted it and after a while more appeared. No more than 3 have ever appeared at a time, but if I don't move them, I think they would fill up my desktop. I have saved some and can attach them if necessary.

Anyway, this concerned me and I thought I'd try cleaning my registry with CC Cleaner, which had no effect. I tried restarting it. When it booted back up, it went to the sky blue check disk screen and did a scan. When the scan was completed, the same thing happened with the 0 kb files. I can't link their appearance to a specific event. Rather it seems they appear after 5-10 minutes of the computer being on.

I thought I'd try defragging next, but when I tried that, I got an error message that says "Disk Defrag has detected that Chkdsk is scheduled to run on Vol C. Please run Chkdsk /f. " So I went to the error checking tool, which told me I couldn't run it at the moment, but if I wanted to schedule a check when the computer next booted up, select Y. I did, and rebooted, and the same files keep occurring. Also, it seems that pretty much every time I turn my computer on, check disk runs.

I haven't tried starting it in Safe Mode and running check disk, but it has definitely run check disk on startup multiple times and still can't defrag and the mystery files that seemed to start this problem still show up.

Figuring this can't bode well I have started backing up my hard drive just in case it's on its way out. If there is anything I can do for my system, please help! I searched old threads and didn't find this particular problem.

Thanks!

 

I hope someone can help with the chkdsk running on every restart. If you can zip up a couple of the files with the squares in the names and attach them that might be helpful as one of our computers might be able to display the names and give more insight.

7zip is a good zipping/archiving program if you don't already have one installed.

 

My two cents, as to chkdsk running on restart. If you are comfortable with regedit, check this link.
http://ask-leo.com/how_do_i_keep_chkdsk_from_running_on_every_start_up.html

kellys-korner, has an automated reg fix.

http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm
scroll down to #82 and select disable.

Cheers..

 

On second thoughts, don't use kelly's reg fix.
I would have tried it, but I dont have access to a Windows machine, as of now.
I opened up the reg fix in TextEdit on a Mac. The fix will disable chkdsk even when you want it to run on restart.

Please stay with the first link. If you need assistance, let us know.
Cheers..

 

Firsly is a good point of you downloading the cd ( from another clean computer )

http://forum.avira.com/wbb/index.php?page=Thread&threadID=82163

burn it , checking you computer for virus , these files seems like a virus , secondly read this thread

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...hkdsk-is/86922d13-892a-4201-ae3a-ae24ed69c7d6

possible hdd is faulty because chdkdsk run in start up checking your hdd health , back up your data is necessary i think !! :wave

 

If Windows sets the filesystem to "dirty" it automatically runs chkdsk at startup. For some reason, it seems that once chkdsk runs the dirty flag is not reset.

When Autochk runs at bootup is checks the flag and if dirty it will run on a blue screen at bootup.

Note: I would not do the above unless all else fails.

You can check to see if the file system is still dirty after chkdsk runs by using the following command. Start>Run and in the box type cmd. Then type the following

fsutil dirty query c:

The below link also explains the reason for the constant chkdsk at reboot and resolutions. One was listed by @sikvik, the kellys regfix.
http://www.infocellar.com/winxp/chkdsk-and-autochk.htm

Edit: I would back up any of your important files before doing anything like resizing the partition as explained in the link.

 

Hi all,
Thanks for the replies. I am finishing backing up my files this evening, and I would have posted my mystery files, but I am having a problem with the forum's uploader. It returned an error "invalid file" for 7z, WinRar, and WinZip, so I put two of the zipped files on my website. In case the trouble was with the empty files, I added a jpg to the archives.

http://www.gdiproductions.net/MysteryFiles.7z
http://www.gdiproductions.net/MysteryFiles.rar

I'm also going to run Malawarebites (I can't create the CD from a clean computer until tomorrow when I can access my work computer).

If these empty files don't shed any light on the problem, I can try the Ask Leo link's fix. My questions about this, however, are 1. if it will stop check disk from running at all times and 2. is there anything else I should attempt first.

Also, when I entered fsutil dirty query c: in the prompt box, it responded that c: was dirty. I've noticed that when check disk runs it doesn't list any repairs. When it's run before, on occasions when my computer's frozen and had to be turned off at the power source, it will list repairs that it's made.

 

Before you do anything, I would recommend that you post over in the Malware Removal Forum and see if your computer is clean. If it is, then you can proceed with the other options. I believe the link I listed here has a registry file that will turn off autochk and another that will turn it back on. It might also be a good idea to run a hard disk diagnostic utility from a boot CD. UBCD has many diagnostic tools.

The method that requires you to resize the system partition may also help. Again, just be sure you have your files backed up before doing this. A bootable partition manager like Gparted or Partition Wizard should do the job.

I noticed that you have a Dell from your first post. I would be very careful about resizing your system partition as this may mess up the restore partition or that is on your hard drive if you have one. Could also affect the MBR because this points to the recovery partition and any resizing may mess it up.

 

Okay, thanks. I'll make sure my system is clean in the malware forum and post back here with the results. I'll also try to run one of the diagnostics on my hard drive before trying turning check disk off and then on again. (And yep, it's a Dell.)

 

I think malware forum is probably the best solution.

I did look at your files and they seem to be Chinese characters but since they are empty I wasn't able to figure out anything else about them. Google translate only gives variations of "Angeles" and "Rubber" when you put the symbols in their translator. Nothing useful in terms of finding a program that is creating them.

 

Think I was looking at the same source, but the syntax was different:
http://infocellar.com/winxp/chkdsk-and-autochk.htm

Under the heading What if the Dirty Bit won't go away ??
chkdsk /x /f drive:

You can also Run chkdsk from the Recovery Console

This may be a more effective repair.

support.microsoft.com: Description of the Windows XP Recovery Console

 

All right, so the malware forum finds no infection on my computer, so I'm back to try some of the fixes suggested here.

The first one I'll try is running check disk from the recovery console when I get home from work and can get to my personal computer.

Also, I will try this suggestion from the malware forum:

The status of the system is it's still producing the 0 kb files and running check disk on startup and not finding errors. I realize I am *assuming* these two things are related, since they started at the very same time, but I'm not sure why or how they would be connected.

 

After having tried running check disk from the Recovery Console, using Kelley's regedit, and shutting down startups in MSconfig, checkdisk still runs on startup. The difference is that once it runs, sometimes fsutil query dirty says C is not dirty, but after a while of running, it goes back to finding the dirty bit. I can't tell what is creating the dirty bit. And something called Windows File Protection now comes up on start up and says it's checking that all the system's protected files are where they should be.

At this point, I think it's time to format the hard drive and start over, based on http://infocellar.com/winxp/chkdsk-and-autochk.htm. If that doesn't work I'll know I need a new laptop.

 

Did you try this method mentioned in my link

run Partition Magic - try resizing the C: partition a little smaller, create another partition
from the unallocated space, then delete this partition and reclaim the space
back into C:

I would recommend either the bootable disk or Partition Wizard or Gparted Live CD instead of Patition Magic.

Did you run a hard disk diagnostic?

 

Scanning the hard drive for errors didn't go so well. I burned a disk from the Ultimate Boot CD website (using their recommended software), but my computer would not boot from the CD. I don't know enough about BIOS to change settings, so I used the Partition Wizard to perform the only diagnostic I found, which was to scan the hard disk for surface errors (it found none).

I was under the impression that because my laptop is a Dell, I should not try to resize the C: partition. The only thing I've done to a hard drive before is format and reinstall the OS, so if I created a new problem in the partitioning process, I'd be really up a creek. If I'm wrong and I should try that, let me know!

 

Yea, I forgot about that. Sorry. That MBR is special because Dell's usually have a recovery partition that can be accessed by a key during boot that will take the computer back to a factory state. I would leave it alone unless you want to wipe the whole drive and you have an Install CD with the correct key. Otherwise if you can access this recovery partition, that may be the way to go.

 

I don't see the recovery partition in the Partition Wizard tool, or at least it's not identified as such. There are three FAT partitions plus the NTFS C: partition. Of the three other partitions, there are two hidden partitions that are primary partitions and then a logical partition for Dell's Media Direct.

I didn't see mention of the recovery MBR in the papers that came with the laptop. I have all the original disks and manuals. However, Dell's support site has a page devoted to it.

http://support.dell.com/support/top...=us&l=en&s=gen&docid=DSN_181316&isLegacy=true

This looks like the thing to try before going to the formatting option. I would never have known this was there from the documentation that came with the laptop. Thanks!

 

I am really glad you mentioned Dell Media Direct because you definitely do not want to mess with the MBR or you would never be able to achieve the factory reset with the key combination. See here for an explanation.

http://www.goodells.net/dellrestore/mediadirect.shtml

Also this.

http://www.goodells.net/dellrestore/hpa-issues.shtml

So, never modify the MBR of a Dell with Media-Direct if you want to be able to restore the computer to the factory state.

 

Wow. It's strange none of this is more clear in the documentation. Sounds like it's safe to try Dell's recovery partition (PC restore), at least. If that doesn't work I may just work around the hard drive's file system error messages and leave well enough alone. But at least that explains why I have an entire CD just for Media Direct reinstall.