Phantom files?

[beingsneaky]

OK Defraggler shows c:\user\user name\my videos\*04.vob a video file.

i look for the files in Explorer but can not locate it.. I know My video is a link to Videos looked in there and no such file

I would love to delete these files but cant locate them even show hidden files does not reveal them.

[DennisD]

Hi beingsneaky, and welcome to the forum.

 

Do an analyze with Defraggler, and then right click the entry for that file and select "Open Containing Folder". Just to make sure you are navigating to the right location. Computers do odd things sometimes.

 

Depending upon the program which made them, I dunno if vob files are ever considered as System Files. To eliminate this possibility, go to where you enabled "Show Hidden Files And Folders", and uncheck "Hide Protected Operating System Files". You could also uncheck "Hide Extensions For Known File Types" if it isn't already, which will enable you to see which extension is attached to a file.

 

And then search again. You can always reverse these options later.

 

Short of that, I'm out of ideas although you may get other suggestions.

[redhawk]

Are you sure there's an * included in the filename because this is techincally impossible??

In case of file system errors run "chkdsk.exe /f"

 

Richard S.

[beingsneaky]

I have been working on computers since DOS 3.1 3.3.

The * is just a wild card to let you know there is mor the one file with the .vob extension. VOB is a DVD file format mpeg2 i do believe. it is not a system file

 

c:\user\user name\ my videos\WTM--something or other-DES04.vob

c:\user\user name\ my videos\WTM--something or other-DES07.vob

c:\user\user name\ my videos\WTM--something or other-DES01.vob

even doing a wild card search for *.vob does not find them

 

I only notice them because they listed a a fragmented file but not defrag. i have looked a the open file container list file location??

[hazelnut]

Could they be inside videos you have ripped?

[DennisD]

I do a fair bit of video converting to DVD Compliant, so my experience of them is inside VIDEO_TS folders, along with BUP and IFO files, but I've never had one I couldn't find.

 

They're not system files as you say, but I've come across files before which have been hidden as System Files by the program which created them, so it's always worth checking that out just in case.

 

I was thinking the .vob may be a temp file created by whatever software you use for converting, and the temp folder hasn't been deleted or cleaned after the conversion.

 

If you know the location your conversion program uses as a temporary folder/directory, then I would try and find that.

 

It may be odd that it's location is shown in Defraggler as being in one place, and that it may actually be in a hidden temp folder somewhere else, but Windows does some strange things at times, and I'm speaking from my own experience with conversion programs which don't clean up after themselves.

 

It's an unusual problem I haven't come across before, so I'm simply suggesting outside possibilities, but worth checking out anyway.

[Tristrambryan]

Here's another example of phantom files that show up in Defraggler as fragmented, but un-defragable, and undisplayable in Windows Exploring: work files(maybe) from the freeware, Gadwin PrintScreen. I set it up to save screenprints as .jpg and it does, and these can be displayed, defraged, or deleted. BUT what gets left behind are .bmp versions with the same names. Defraggler shows these files as very fragmented. Use the go to containing folder option and these files are not listed. Yes, I've turned on display of protected system files, show file extensions, etc, but no soap. I'd just love to be able to get to these files, or, at least defrag them! I'm running Windows 7 with all important updates applied. Anyone else run into this?