What are these folders?

[cartel]

[DELETED]

[sYSTEM]

$Extend

 

All my drives have these folders...I used 7zip as admin and clicked \\.\ and browse my volumes and they all have the folders and the [DELETED] folders have my "deleted" files.

[mta]

what is your OS and 7z version?

 

i have Win8 64bit and 7zip v9.20 and can't replicate making those folders visible.

but i've not seen anyone use the 7Zip File Manager before....

[cartel]

Win7 64 if you open 7zFM.exe as admin and open the \\.\

[mta]

OK, got them.

As you may have discovered yourself, they are definitely system related and therefore should not be touched - at least without knowing the side-effects.

[DELETED] seems to store all the files i have deleted since i last emptied the Recycle Bin.

[sYSTEM] predominately seems to be for the Master File Table ($MFT).

$Extend is for the NTFS change journal and records folder/file changes.

 

If you don't start 7zFM with admin rights, you don't see them. That may be the safest thing to do (out of sight, out of mind).

Since they don't get shown by Windows, natively, they aren't meant to be played with.

 

If you use 7zFM as your main File Manager, make sure actions it performs are 'windows compatible'.

[cartel]

Yes the [DELETED][uNKNOWN]

If you move files from one drive to another, the [uNKNOWN] folder contains these files.

 

Does anyone know how to navigate these folders?

 

I cant find anything on the web mentioning these files and folders.

 

you can drag the [DELETED][uNKNOWN] files to your desktop and they are very much intact.

[cartel]

I see if you do a drive free space wipe the files are securely overwritten.

Guess CCleaner is on top of it.

[Alan_B]

Does anyone know how to navigate these folders?

Yes - Defraggler can show you what is in them.

 

Use the Search Tab and check the boxes

"Included non-fragmented files"

and

"Filename contains" and then stipulate *.*

 

Then click Search

 

This will list all the files and you can click on the "Path" header to list all files in path order

My list starts with two files on the path C:\

then 9 entries on the path C:\$Extend\

 

If you right click on one of these files and select "Open Containing Folder".

then Defraggler will attempt to launch Windows Explorer so you can browse the folder.

Windows 7 pops up with "Access Denied" because I have chosen to be well behaved.

If you really want access then you can probably gain access by launching CMD.EXE and running iCacls to control Access Levels.

 

When you get the authority be careful not to break Windows, unless you like reinstalling Windows.

 

Hopefully you will be satisfied with the file sizes and names that defraggler can show you.

 

Windows 7 Ultimate has no [DELETED] folder - but I do not use 7zFM

It is highly probable that Defraggler will show you your [DELETED] folder,

and Windows MAY allow "Open Containing Folder" of this non-system folder.

[DennisD]

How very strange is that?

 

I have 7-Zip 9.20 and until today I've never used it in any way other than via the right click context menu.

 

Those folders are also visible for me in the file manager, and I'm puzzled as to why 7-Zip lists that "deleted" folder. That's very strange and I can't initially think of any reason for it.

 

This is definitely a case of I wish I was still in ignorance, but I'll let sleeping dogs lie. It's only a list after all and not a secret store of files, but I will be doing a little digging on this as I'm puzzled.

[mta]

I've never seen the [DELETED], [sYSTEM] or [uNKNOWN] folders before until you mentioned the admin rights to start 7z File Manager.

And I've been using the XYPlorer File Manager for a little while as well.

 

So I suspect 7z is going a whole extra 9 yards more the Windows Explorer (and maybe is shouldn't).

I think you are seeing folders that, if touched, may well be OK, but may equally cause negative, flow-on effects.

 

If you have complete trust in using a File Manager written by a lone Russian programmer and it's ability to interact with Windows, then use 7zFM to navigate those folders and hope the programmer knows what he is doing.

[Andavari]

Older very stable 7-Zip 4.65 doesn't show them, however it's default behaviour is to show even hidden files and folders that Windows would usually hide.