Content.IE5 - Lost Folder XP Home

Who_am_i · 2004/08/13

Hi there,
I'm a bit of a 'nut' for P.C. performance and cleanliness and hence each time I use my machine I clear out all the unnecessary Temp' Internet files and cookies etc, primarily using TweakIE 3.1, with a bit of manual deletions where I find this hasn't completely done the job. I also regularly run defrag using the default Windows XP (Home) version in an attempt to keep everything in tip-top order.
Something must have gone awry recently though as today when I was trying to view video news files on Real.com I kept getting an error message saying something like "Couldn't download the *.ram file as C:\Documents and Settings\Name\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5 folder is missing "?
True enough it is and I cannot make a copy of another such and paste it in, nor can I create the folder from scratch in the Explorer view. I know it is not impossible to get the Content.IE5 folder and 4 x alpha-numerical folders back again, but I need some specific guidance please.
Thanks in advance,
Who_

PeteC · 2004/08/14

Your best bet is to Repair Internet Explorer , the first step of which is to run System File Checker ....

Start > Run > sfc /scannow - note the space and have your XP install CD handy. SFC will run and close - any files replaced will be listed in Event Viewer.

Christer · 2004/08/15

Another possibility is to move* the TIF folder to a different location, delete the old one and then move it back to the previous location.

This will rebuild the TIF folder and its subfolders.

There are actually more subfolders in the TIF folder than appear in Windows Explorer. Some of them are super hidden and never show up there. However, in fragmentation reports ...... ...... they do show up. These super hidden subfolders never get cleared ...... ...... unless You move the TIF folder as I suggested.

*) In Internet Explorer > Tools > Options > General > TIF - settings > Move

Christer

Who_am_i · 2004/08/15

Re: Content.IE5 - Lost Folder

Hi PeteC and Christer both, thanks for your quick replies!!
I executed BOTH your ideas, PeteC's first [Start\Run\sfc /scannow]. This went through without any obvious problems except a persistent call for me to re-insert my WindowsXP Home Installation disc. It WAS in the CD-ROM drive! Thankfully a "Retry" button was there and kept things ticking along, albeit in a stuttering way, requiring me to click it perhaps 30 or so times before the progress bar applet finished and disappeared.
RESULT - NO CHANGE,
Next I tried Christer's method. In Internet Explorer clicking [Tools\Internet Options\General tab\Settings\Move Folder], allocating to move it to "C:\Temp "; then moving back again to "C:\Documents and Settings\name\Local Settings" using the same method. Got a bit frustrated here as in between moving to one location and then moving back again you directed me to "delete the old one ". Having moved it to "C:\Temp" the old one wasn't there to delete Christer?? Can you explain more here please?
RESULT - NO CHANGE,
I'm beginning to think that in my compulsive attempts to keep my m/c in top condition, using "TweakIE3.1 ". "Ad-aware6.0 ", and "Spybot - S&D 1.3" I've inadvertently deleted an important registry entry
Any further ideas guys please?
Thanks & Regards,
Who..

Christer · 2004/08/15

Got a bit frustrated here as in between moving to one location and then moving back again you directed me to "delete the old one ". Having moved it to "C:\Temp" the old one wasn't there to delete Christer?? Can you explain more here please?
Click to expand...

Well, first of all, I didn't notice that You are on XP-home ...... ...... and I'm on XP-pro and they may differ in TIF sub folders. A user in XP-pro only has the TIF folder without any visible sub folders, even not while viewing hidden folders.

To punish myself ...... ...... I moved my own TIF folder from the default location to D:\temp. I was prompted for confirmation since a logout was required and I went ahead.

After relogin, no TIF folder in the old location and it was all moved to the new location.

Next, I moved it back to where it was before and guess what ...... ...... in D:\temp there was a "left over" TIF folder with a Content.IE5 folder containing one file "index.dat" ...... ...... !

This is to demonstrate that there ARE super hidden sub folders in the TIF folder.

Thinking twice, my memory of this is since the time I was on WinME and IE6.0 ...... ...... ! It's been a while since I did it and I remembered being asked if the current contents should be moved or not. The answer should be no, to create a "blank" new TIF folder including "blank" new sub folders. That would leave the old TIF folder in its place to be deleted. Now, I'm almost sure that I didn't remember correctly.

Let's hope that someone on XP-home and not suffering from memorytis teflonis will help!

Sorry about this,
Christer

PeteC · 2004/08/16

Who_am_i

It would seem that step 1 of the MS recommendation (sfc /scannow) was unsuccessful - did you try step 2?

Method 2 here is less daunting

Who_am_i · 2004/08/16

Is OK Christer, I know fine what a bummer slippery memory/thoughts can be - I suffer spells regularly my wife says If you or another colleague can get this sorted tho' I'd be a happy bunny. News on the web is a handy tool and I'm a bit lost at present without. I might have to subscribe to a daily newspaper again
Who..

Who_am_i · 2004/08/16

Thanks for your continued interest PeteC, but once again NADA! It was certainly an easier exercise to run through, and I did it twice.
The first time I replied "No" to whether or not I wanted to replace any files with older versions; the second time I agreed to these replacements as the first attempt did nothing to address my missing Content.IE5 folder. Unfortunately the second attempt also failed to rectify it.
Please keep trying, but warn me (if you can) when I might expect a more radicle change to my m/c system, or when perhaps I need to go onto the "Windows Update" site and review the patches and updates I might again require due to the changes!
Onwards and upwards.... N-e-x-t?
Regards,
Who..

Who_am_i · 2004/08/16

PeteC, Christer,
Guys something else that's odd with my TIF, it also lacks the "desktop.ini" configuration file. When I've deleted the files in that TIF it's COMPLETELY empty as far as I can see in Explorer/My Computer view. No warning about "are you certain you want to delete this file" etc...

Could this be a part of my overall problem, and might it be a step in the right direction to get this back?
Regards,
Who..

PeteC · 2004/08/16

Apart from suggesting a repair of XP - which I hesitate to do as it can go horribly wrong I am out of ideas right now.

Moving this thread with title edit to the XP forum.

Newt · 2004/08/16

You will probably need to re-run some of the patches/hot fixes since you agreed to take older file versions. There may be a good way someone can suggest to let you know which ones but it may be tricky. Best I can offer is start~run~eventvwr.msc and you should see a record of both the sfc runs with details about what was done.

Meanwhile, boot from your XP CD to a recovery console session and at the command prompt,
Code:
chkdsk /r
and let that run to clean up any file/index issues it finds. May not fix the problem but certainly can't hurt and may well help you out.

Christer · 2004/08/17

I have had a look in Windows Explorer and Ghost Explorer to see which folders are there. As I have mentioned earlier, some files/folders are super hidden and do not show up in WE even if "show hidden ..." and "show system ..." are checked. They do, however, show up in GE.

Red color denotes that WE and GE differ.

Green color denotes that WE and GE show the same.

In Windows Explorer I currently have TIF folders in the following locations:

Documents and Settings\ "My Name "\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\ "no sub folder "

Documents and Settings\Default User\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\ "4 sub folders "

Documents and Settings\LocalService\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\ "no sub folders "

Documents and Settings\NetworkService\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\ "4 sub folders "

Windows\system32\config\systemprofile\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\ "4 sub folders "

In Ghost Explorer, I have browsed images which were created at certain stages during the installation of XP-pro and applications. I had everything I needed downloaded and images #1-4 were created prior to connection to the Internet for the first time:

Documents and Settings\ "My Name "\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\ "4 sub folders "

Documents and Settings\Default User\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\ "4 sub folders "

Documents and Settings\LocalService\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\ "no sub folders "

Documents and Settings\NetworkService\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\ "4 sub folders "

Windows\system32\config\systemprofile\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\ "4 sub folders "

Image #5 (after connecting to the internet):

Documents and Settings\ "My Name "\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\ "no sub folders "

Documents and Settings\Default User\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\ "4 sub folders "

Documents and Settings\LocalService\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\ "no sub folders "

Documents and Settings\NetworkService\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\ "4 sub folders "

Windows\system32\config\systemprofile\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\ "4 sub folders "

Connecting to the Internet for the first time made changes to the TIF folder under "My Name ". The sub folders in Content.IE5 were history ...... ...... or were they really?

Possibly not, since new folders appeared, which also currently show up in WE:

Documents and Settings\ "My Name "\UserData\ "4 similar sub folders "

Documents and Settings\ "My Name "\WINDOWS\system

The contents in the "4 similar sub folders " is "oWindowsUpdate[1].xml" which indicates that this change occurred when the Windows Update Engine (v.4) was installed.

There has been changes since the latest image (#7) and I believe that this happened when I got WUE (v.5).

I kept getting an error message saying something like "Couldn't download the *.ram file as C:\Documents and Settings\Name\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5 folder is missing "?
True enough it is ...
Click to expand...

Well, I'm not sure about that ...... ...... on the contrary, I believe it's there but You can't view it in Windows Explorer because it's super hidden.

I can't rule out the possibility that Real has lost track of the folder which it claims to be missing. (I actually don't think that Real downloads to Content.IE5 but to one of the super hidden sub folders. No other application does ...... ...... that I know of.)

Have You tried to uninstall and reinstall RealPlayer or what You are using to view those videos?

Christer

TonyT · 2004/08/17

Appears you have corrupted Temp folders. Real DOES use the cache for downloads, as do Windows Media Player and almost all other multimedia plugin apps,

Do you have more than one user account on the machine? If so, give the second accoung admin privledges. With admin rights you can delete the other user's Temp folder, TIF folder, Recent folder, Cookies folder. (in Documents & Settings) Then log off and login as the other users and delete the other user's folders.

These folders will get recreated newly along with new index.dat files and new desktop.ini files. Then the next time IE is run, the TIF subfolders will get created as they are needed.

If you don't have separate user accounts, e.g. only one user account for the computer, then you cannot delete those system folders when explorer.exe is running, but you can delete them using a batch file or a command file, and they will get recreated new when explorer.exe is restarted.

Put these lines in Notepad and save as cleanup.cmd:
Code:
taskkill /f /im explorer.exe
RD /S/q  "%UserProfile%\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files "
RD /S/q  "%UserProfile%\Cookies "
RD /S/q  "%UserProfile%\Local Settings\History "
RD /S/q  "%UserProfile%\Recent "
DEL /S/q  "%UserProfile%\Local Settings\Temp\*.* "
start explorer.exe
or use these lines as cleanup.bat:
Code:
@echo off
echo.
echo.
echo Instructions:
echo 1. Right click taskbar and select Task Manager.
echo 2. Click Process Tab.
echo 3. Right click EXPLORER.EXE and select End Process.
echo 4. Click this window.
echo 5. At prompt answer Y and press Enter key.
echo 6. Repeat step 5.
echo 7. Return to Task Manager, click File Menu and select New Task (Run...).
echo 8. In Create New Task window type EXPLORER.EXE.
echo 9. Press Enter key.
echo 10. Close Task manager.
@echo off
RD /S/q  "%UserProfile%\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files "
RD /S/q  "%UserProfile%\Cookies "
RD /S/q  "%UserProfile%\Local Settings\History "
RD /S/q  "%UserProfile%\Recent "
DEL /S/q  "%UserProfile%\Local Settings\Temp\*.* "

Who_am_i · 2004/08/17

Whooah Guys.... Loads of information!! Let me try to reply to you all, but one at a time..
Newt:-
I ran 'good old' Windows-Update again and it gave me a selection of two or three that I think I had already downloaded. So I ran these against my installation. I also took note of the date of the ie.inf file that I re-installed [very early August 2004] and installed all other update files that I'd taken the trouble to download on to my HDD [I like to keep local copies for just this reason]. Rebooted. I tried your idea of the XP-CD boot and typing in "chkdsk /r" in the 'Recovery Console', but after two loops and never getting to a point where I could type such a command in I went back in with a regular boot and with a Start\Run\ typed in "Command ". At the prompt I then typed in "CD\" to get back to the root C:\ drive, and gave it the checkdisk command you specified, then hit return. Got an expected message back saying that a checkdisk run was now programmed-in following the next reboot. I rebooted, and the system went into it's automatic chkdsk /r routine. This is easier I think than using the installation disk as a boot drive Newt.
Result : NO CHANGE [to the 'missing' folders] But please keep trying for me!

Christer:-
As soon as I got this m/c on my desk I think I un-hid whatever I could and so I can actually see the whole paths you detailed in your text. Now this is the odd thing with my 'missing' folders... If I get the properties of the 'Temporary Internet Folder' folder that appears to be missing its sub-folders, IT'S EXACTLY THE SAME as for those other accounts where I can still see folder 'Content.IE5' + 4 sub-folders, 'desktop.ini' files and 'index.dat' file!!??? So the TIF folder in say 'Administrator' has the SAME properties [number of folder/files and bytes] as does the one in 'My Name' path???
That's 7 Files, 5 Folders 32Kb(33,170bytes) file size, 56.0Kb(57,344bytes) used disk space. SO THEY ARE ALL THERE IT SEEMS, JUST NOT VISIBLE TO EXPLORER AND WHATEVER I RUN IN "Real.com" etc .....
Result : NO CHANGE [to the 'missing' folders] But please keep trying for me!

TonyT:-
I concur with the cache usage, and that's why they don't run at present isn't it? As stated above I have several accounts so I tried deleting the offending bits of 'My Name' account as you suggested, going in via the 'Administrator' account. Being an 'old' hand with DOS [anyone else remember that OS?] I gave it a good try, but failed at the last hurdle I think. Got all the way up to 'C:\DOCUME~1\MY NAME\LOCALS~1\TEMPOR~1\CONTENT.IE5' and deleted 'index.dat'. Then said 'del *.*' which didn't come back with any odd replies, so I went back down one step by typing 'CD..' with a return, and tried removing the offending directory with 'RD Content.IE5' but got "The directory is not empty" by return. Tried several other things, including using your 'RD /S/q' switches [what do they do please?] but to no avail. What are the other files/folders in Content.IE5 that I need to delete first please TonyT?
So again I think that these attempts go to prove the 'missing' folders are ACTUALLY THERE ALL ALONG!!...
Result : NO CHANGE [to the 'missing' folders] Please also keep trying for me!

PHEW !!
Who..

Newt · 2004/08/17

and with a Start\Run\ typed in "Command

In this case it didn't really matter but use start~run~cmd rather than start~run~command because that one opens up an older 16bit version of the command prompt that isn't very smart. Kept around for backward compatibility but missing lots of the newer features.

Chkdsk should run fine that way but I like to have the system booted to a device other than the hard drive if I really want to make sure I got a good scan. It may not matter though. I don't know enough about the guts of Windows to be sure.

lj50 · 2004/08/18

The RD command deletes an empty directory. The RD command with the parameter /S lets you delete the directory and its contents with a single command. The variable /Q means to run the RD command in quiet mode. Adding the /Q variable will make your system delete directories without confirmation.

Christer · 2004/08/18

If I get the properties of the 'Temporary Internet Folder' folder that appears to be missing its sub-folders, IT'S EXACTLY THE SAME as for those other accounts where I can still see folder 'Content.IE5' + 4 sub-folders, 'desktop.ini' files and 'index.dat' file!!???
Click to expand...

Yes, You can see it in the folder properties too ...... ...... I forgot about that.

It actually shoots holes in my statement that nothing can be hidden from Ghost ...... ...... since they don't show up in my Image. However, my most recent Image is a few weeks old and the current system may differ but I don't think so.

This morning I received an email, with an attachment, from a friend. When I opened the attachment, the path was displayed as "Documents and Settings\ "My Name "\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\WR4HSXSD\hotel.htm "

I searched high and low for that file while it was displayed on my computer but there is no prize for guessing that I didn't find it!

Christer

TonyT · 2004/08/18

While in Windows (GUI) you cannot delete system directories of the account you are logged in as because they are in use by windows, you must "end task" on explorer.exe to do so, You can however delete those directories of other user accounts.

Try as was suggested and use RD with the /S switch opr you can just navigate to the other users' directories and delete the entire folders via windows explorer.

Christer · 2004/08/18

It actually shoots holes in my statement that nothing can be hidden from Ghost ...... ...... since they don't show up in my Image. However, my most recent Image is a few weeks old and the current system may differ but I don't think so.
Click to expand...

Well, after making that statement, I simply had to create a few fresh Images ...... ...... to restore my confidence in Ghost.

I created an Image of the system as it was, no cleaning and defragmenting as I usually do as a preparation. I really felt like a bad naughty boy ...... ...... sorry, I meant old codger!

Browsing the Image in Ghost Explorer revealed Documents and Settings\ "My Name "\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\ "4 sub folders "
AND
Documents and Settings\ "My Name "\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.mso\ "no sub folders "

This was in agreement with the properties in Windows Explorer which said #### files, 6 folders.

Next, I cleaned the system partition by clearing TIFs, cookies, temps and created a new Image.

Browsing the Image in Ghost Explorer revealed Documents and Settings\ "My Name "\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\ "no sub folders "

AND nothing else which was in agreement with Windows Explorer which said 3 files, 1 folder.

My confidence in Ghost has been restored and the super hidden folders have been revealed. The question is from where the Content.mso came from and what put it there?

Christer

Who_am_i · 2004/08/19

Newt:-
Thanks. Will there be anything different when using ~cmd as opposd to ~command?

1j50:-
Thanks for the additional explanation of the /R and /q switches on RD, that really helps.

TonyT:-
It's not clear in your suggestion whether you are saying to use Explorer or to use DOS to remove the folders and their contents. Could you be more obvious for this 'old fool' please?

I have tried the Explorer approach today, going in on another account and then deleting the \My Name\TIFs, the \My Name\History and the \My Name\Temp folders and files. Went very straight-forwardly, but on the reboot and on signing in to my usual account the initially messed-up situation returned. Nothing at all actually being visible further than the TIF folder itself. MADDENING!!!

It's odd, but this blank TIF bounces about between my usual account and the other account [the one that I use to do the deleting as explained above] When I'm in \My Name\ account, IT is the one with a blank TIF and the other [I've named it "Adminy"] has the full specification. When I sign in under the "Adminy" account then "Adminy" is the one that has the blank TIF, and my usual account looks just fine.....

Christer:-
I'm sorry but I'm a bit lost as to where you are going with this now. Is Ghost Explorer something installed but 'silent' in a standard installation? Please explain.

Many thanks guys; with all your assistance I know it'll just be a matter of time. Would me running "Norton IS 2003" on this m/c have any influence here?

Regards,
Who..

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