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Where did *.exe go?
Okay, here's the deal. I have my HDD divided into three partitions. One for the OS, one for programs/apps, and one for all my junk: downloads, music, docs, etc. On this third partition is all my important stuff.
I have some games saved to that partition [namely things like emulators, utilities, installers, etc], but pretty much only things that are downloaded. If something needs to be installed, I'll install it to either the C or D drive. I came home today and found that all of the .exe files on the E drive are just... gone. I have no idea where they went, or why they're gone. I've tried running a couple of undelete utilities, and it found a couple of files, but they're in 'bad' condition and can't run anymore. Not only is this frustrating because I keep all of my installers for programs here, but also a number of other things, as mentioned. They were all there yesterday, as far as I know. I didn't have any problems before I left home yesterday. I got home today and found this. Nobody else was home while I was gone, and my computer was locked anyway, so I have no idea how or why this happened. Any suggestions? Any way I can find out what happened? Where to look, etc? Jam it back in, in the dark. |
Sounds like a virus of some sort, if it's only .EXE programs that got the boot. If other files are also missing then maybe the hard disk is going bad, and you may have to replace the entire physical drdive.
Do some scans and see if you find anything. There's nowhere I can't reach. |
Seems like it's only the exe files, but only on that particular partition. The others seem fine. Other executables like .msi and such are still there, and I don't seem to be missing any images, videos, or docs. I'll run a scan overnight and check it out though.
This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it. |
I experienced a problem with files disappearing from my downloads partition in the past, although it is not limited to EXE files. It turns out that doing a System Restore rollback could also wipe out anything new that you've downloaded.
Perhaps if you check the Event Logs, there might be something which explains the debacle (Start > Run > eventvwr.msc) Save Application and System logs in .evt format and attach here (after zipping) if you like us to take a look. I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body? |
At the risk of sounding patronising, are you sure it's not just Windows Explorer hiding them? You might have accidentally changed the folder options or something.
I'd check the folders in commandline first before anything else. Go to the command prompt and use the CD drive or folder name command to navigate to somewhere there should be a .exe file then use dir *.exe/p to list them all. At least then you'll know for sure they're actually gone rather than just hidden. Oh and from a forum discussion like this I found through Google:
And this:
I was speaking idiomatically.
Last edited by Fluffykitten McGrundlepuss; Feb 5, 2009 at 12:22 PM.
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I wouldn't touch McAfee with a 10-foot-pole. D:
I checked everywhere I could, and couldn't find the exe's. The reason I found out is because I had tried running shortcuts to the files and it always came up with that 'Cannot find target" and gives you the option to find it yourself. At first I didn't know why... Until I checked it out, and... you know the rest. NOD32 found no virus, and Ad-aware and Spybot didn't find anything of note either. In any case, I took this as an opportunity to wipe my drive clean and start anew. Oh, and Zerg--I checked both the App and System logs, and there were only two entries spanning those three days. Nothing interesting at all. What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now? |