Nwwia

Got rid of my old Xerox prnter, but can't get rid of one file "NWWIA" (yes, Mike, did it right this time! ) so I looked around and found two interesting threads:

techimo

and

annoyances

Now, I cannot remember if nwwia came with Windows XP, or if the Xerox put it there, but it is indeed a "ghost file ". It can't be deleted, and seems to be empty...but how did it get there? Some people say M$, some Xerox. Curious if anyone else has it, if they ever tried to dump it (and how and if it worked!) and if anyone knows any more about this controversial little folder. Nah, it's not causing any problems, I'm just like a dog chewing on a bone when I run into mysteries like this one. TIA
Johanna

 

I just checked and found it on mine too. I've never had any type of Xerox hardware or software so I'm guessing it's probably put there by something else. Perhaps the driver for your printer, scanner or some such thing. I suppose it's possible it's put there when you install XP. Maybe something to do with faxing??? In any event, I've just decided to just get on with life and not lose any sleep over it. It hasn't ever bothered anything so..... Then again, maybe it would be nice to know what put it there and why. Hmmm.....

 

Nah, Zander, I agree it's not worth losing any sleep over, but it's one of those little puzzles to ponder when you CAN'T sleep!

Like I said, I had a Xerox 4-in-one so it could be a scanner printer fax driver...but it is empty, and XP users seem to have it w/o Xerox hardware... and I haven't figured out a way to get rid of it. Not that I need to- it doesn't appear to be doing anything but sitting there, empty. The one thread had a lot of Japanese references- and that just piqued my interest all the more. What is this thing? What is it there for? Where did it come from? No one knows...but the shadow...

btw, it originally caught my attention because it prevented my old printer software from uninstalling- because it said nwwia was running, and therefore the files were in use and could not be deleted. Of course, it was not showing on the task mgr, and the file path doesn't trace back to any processes. So, that's when I started investigating.

 

I agree, it's a harmless FOLDER (Christer, sorry for being careless!), not a hoax or virus, but why would Microsoft put in a Xerox folder? Does Xerox pay for that? I had that printer for 2 years, and as far as I know, there was nothing in that folder at any time. and there were never any applications or executables in it, for certain. Yet, the dialog said it was in use by another file or program, and it appears to be a "system file ", in other words, look don't touch. But, WHAT IS IT FOR?? No one seems to know.

 

This is a generic driver written by Xerox and used by WIA (Windows Image Acquisition) now comes with XP can be installed by frontpage and other programs on about all other M$ operating systems. Has something to do with FrontPage.

Has zilch to do with a Xerox printer!

It is protected by windows via (Windows File protection).

You can get rid of it by turning off windows file protection deleting the sfcfilesold.ddl. Deleting from registry. Booting back up with File protection off and all will be removeable.

Let me give you some advice! Leave it alone! As they say in Philly "Forget it "!

Mike

 

Yes, sir!!
Johanna