Massive number of undefined folders on c drive?

[rhodges 6]

I have three desktops, and two laptops in my home which run Windows 7 home premium.

 

My primary computer with which I have FS9 and FSX installed along with a number of addons has a massive number of folders originated from an unknown source. None of the other computers ever display folders like these. Even after upgrades and reinstallations this scenario has persisted.

 

For example, just picking a couple out of probably hundreds:

30d4a567f3f8del2

or

46f504de209f369eo68c5cafed75ec

 

If I double click on any of these folders they appear to be empty and they display 0bytes.

 

If I try to delete them, they say they are shared?

 

Should I delete them, and if so how do I keep from getting more of them. Is there a setting somewhere that I am missing?

 

They don't seem to affect anything, but are something I have wondered about for a long time.

 

Any insight on this would be greatly appreciated.

 

Respectfully:

RTH

[Jimm 437]

Those almost resemble cache file folders or something along those lines.  Where do these folders reside specifically?  When you get the message that they are shared, does it specify by what they are shared?

[rhodges 6]

Thanks for the reply Yashigashi:

 

The folders reside in the root C folder. The sharing window displays: "This folder is shared with other people. If you delete this folder, it will no longer be shared. The share names are the same as the folder names, just without the "C:\"

 

Thanks again.

RTH

[Alpha Floor 237]

Welcome to Windows, haha

 

If you don't know about a folder, DON'T TOUCH IT; RENAME IT, MOVE IT, DELETE IT or do anything to it until you find out what it is and does.

 

Are these HIDDEN FOLDERS? This option can be changed searching for "folder options"

 

Folders are hidden:

 

Folders unhidden:

 

 

Sorry these are in Spanish :S

 

Also: Could it be that you changed your TEMP location, that is, the location of all the temporary folders?

[Jimm 437]

I was just about to suggest the idea that they may be temp folders, haha.  I'd have to agree with Jaime, leave them alone.  If they truly are only zero bytes, then they aren't harming anything by being there.  Deleting them, could cause a problem...operative word here is could.

[vortex681 806]

I have three desktops, and two laptops in my home which run Windows 7 home premium.

 

My primary computer with which I have FS9 and FSX installed along with a number of addons has a massive number of folders originated from an unknown source. None of the other computers ever display folders like these. Even after upgrades and reinstallations this scenario has persisted.

 

For example, just picking a couple out of probably hundreds:

30d4a567f3f8del2

or

46f504de209f369eo68c5cafed75ec

 

If I double click on any of these folders they appear to be empty and they display 0bytes.

 

If I try to delete them, they say they are shared?

 

Should I delete them, and if so how do I keep from getting more of them. Is there a setting somewhere that I am missing?

 

They don't seem to affect anything, but are something I have wondered about for a long time.

 

Any insight on this would be greatly appreciated.

 

Respectfully:

RTH

 

They are almost certainly folders left by Windows Update. From another forum: "Some security updates that are applied using Windows Update will sometimes leave these folders and files behind (generally in the root of the C: drive).  They are only used to install the updates and can be safely deleted after the system has been rebooted." However, before deleting them it's worth searching Google for "folders with random numbers and letters on the c: drive" for more information.

[overspeed3 410]

Whenever I've seen these type of temporary folders, I always deleted them with no apparent problems,  provided that these folders are EMPTY - if not I leave them alone...  Sometimes, however, the folder can contain a sub-folder with another long set of numbers, also empty.    (Over time, these temp. folders seem to multiply exponentially).