Hi Jim,
Sorry for a tardy response.
Not sure what those two posts from Digerati are about.
I have just attempted your latest set of instructions, and unfortunately no progress.
I typed CMD in the Run Dialog box, and that gave me a list of files and folders on my desktop, but did not include the folder that is so vexing. The undeletable folder is presently inside a folder called "Junk" which seems apropos, and Junk did not appear on the list.
Restarting in Safe Mode with Command Prompt I could not even get a list of files on the desktop.

But did you follow the instruction and check to see if you have ownership of the folder?

When I followed the link I found Brink's entry which says "This tutorial will show you how." But there is no link to the tutorial, and the headline for that topic, and the link you posted, both are about Vista File Management, and I am running XP.
As before with some of the instructions you have posted, some of the boxes you suggest I check are not there in XP, which is why I asked you if you were referring to Vista.
Still confused here.

Hi xero

If you are starting in safe mode as Administrator you will not see your desktop but the Administrators desktop
You need to start in Safe Mode and log on in your account assuming your accounts as Administrators rights.
When you log on in Safe mode in your account name at the command prompt the first line should read : -
C:\Documents and settings\Your Name>
Now at that position you type cd desktop
Now type dir
You said you moved the folder to a folder call Junk on your desktop?
Can you see the folder called Junk
If so type cd Junk

In the Junk folder type in dir /x
Can you now see the problem folder I assume is now called 8VAX37.
If you can and its as an 8.3 name the line will look something like this
Date folder was created Time created <DIR> 8VAX37~1 8VAX37
The 8VAX37~1 is what you need to use to delete the folder
So type RMDIR 8VAX37~1 /s
If can only see 8VAX37 then type RMDIR 8VAX37 /s

I also asked you to check if you have ownership of the folder

There is better instructions on this from Microsoft and it can be found here

How to take ownership of a file or a folder in Windows XP

If you do not have ownership you need to take ownership in your name as well as administrator
otherwise you will need to log on as administrator to remove the folder.

Jim

Hi Jim,
Thanks for the reply.
The link regarding taking ownership was very useful and I have established that I do have ownership of the folder.
And that is as much progress as I have made.
In safe mode with command prompt I see the following:

Date Folder was created Time Created <DIR> .
Date Folder was created Time Created <DIR> ..
Date Folder was created Time Created <DIR> 8BFOTA
The date that 8FBOTA was created is five days earlier than the other "contents" of the folder (26 Jan as opposed to 31 Jan for the first 2)

(8BFOTA is the latest name change caused by an unsuccessful attempt at using Unlocker and Eraser)
There is NO 8BFOTA~1 listed! So attempts to use the 8.3 name result in the file not being found, and rmdir still does not want to work. When using the command DEL I get as far as: Are You Sure? Y/N. When I type Y I get "File could not be found."

Other things which may be noteworthy are that my last couple of scans with Avast have found a number of instances of "Virus/Worm" which I am treating with some scepticism. The scepticism is because they are appearing in things that have until recently scanned as virus free. The item which was found Win32: Malware-gen appears to be a nasty one capable of replicating, but it is appearing in downloaded warez, which I have deleted (not worth the trouble, most try then buy things are reasonably priced and when you pay you get support, not nasties). This virus has also appeared in music files I have downloaded, and that is just about unheard of (EVERYTHING I download, legal or P2P, gets full scans before I do anything with them, and malware warnings usually lead to swift deletion.)
It is also appearing in System Volume Information, which may be the habit of this, Trojan, judging by the name, but I suspect false positives.
The last email from the maker of the program is fairly certain that a virus is at work, they have checked the copy downloaded from their site, and also checked the copy available from my ISP, and both are clean. The ISP has a Download Vault of handy free or shareware apps, media players etc, which is free traffic even if shaped.
This is all getting a bit tedious, but I appreciate your time and effort in the advice and links you have helped with.
Should I take this Malware-gen more seriously? Something weird is going on that is for sure, but all occurrences of the Trojan/virus/worm have been on a different drive to Program Files, and the specific scans of the folder have not shown any positive results.
Maybe this dude is the culprit. Ahh, how long since I have thought of Flip Wilson?

Hi Xero

It concerns me that Avast has found a number of instances of "Virus/Worm Win32: Malware-gen
I wouldn't be treating it with some scepticism
Avast is a good AV and I think it would be wise to go to D-A-L's Spyware ,Adware virus team and let them make sure your PC is clean.
If you post here Spyware, Adware, Viruses and HijackThis Logs - D-A-L Computer Help
D-A-L's excellent security will I'm sure be only to willing to make sure your PC is clean.
I'm not trying to pass the buck we need to ensure your PC is clean and the
D-A-L security team are the best way of ensuring this.
It may be as you say a false positive but checking it out this way would rule out completely.

You could also try booting your PC with a Linux Live CD/DVD any distro will do
Then when the PC has started in linux go to your C:\ and locate the file and try deleting it whilst in linux.


Jim

Hi Jim,
There would not be much point in using this forum if I did not take the advice offered.
I am presently running another scan with Avast, and after reading the sticky in the appropriate section of the forum I have downloaded and installed the latest version of HijackThis, which I will run once Avast has finished.
The reason for my scepticism I won't reiterate, (cos I am quite likely wrong) but there is something weird going on as this file should not be so resistant to removal, so thanks for the advice and I will let you know how I get on with the Spyware, Adware section of the forum, perhaps a pm when all is done.
I have already learned how to take ownership of a file and I have security tabs on my folders so I can pretend I have XP Pro.
Thanks heaps.

Originally Posted by xero

Hi Jim,
There would not be much point in using this forum if I did not take the advice offered.
I am presently running another scan with Avast, and after reading the sticky in the appropriate section of the forum I have downloaded and installed the latest version of HijackThis, which I will run once Avast has finished.
The reason for my scepticism I won't reiterate, (cos I am quite likely wrong) but there is something weird going on as this file should not be so resistant to removal, so thanks for the advice and I will let you know how I get on with the Spyware, Adware section of the forum, perhaps a pm when all is done.
I have already learned how to take ownership of a file and I have security tabs on my folders so I can pretend I have XP Pro.
Thanks heaps.

Hi xero

Hope you get it sorted soon.
The security techs are very good
So I'm sure you will

Jim

Hi Jim,
Thanks for that.
I have already posted in the appropriate section of the forum.
One thing you may be interested to know: today I deleted the two warez files, then scanned with Avast. No Win32:Malware-gen, not anywhere. There is a lesson in there.
Thanks for your help and happy trails.

Hi xero

I would be wary (sorry no pun intended) of using anything to do with warez files.
If you have the Wot add-on installed (Wot Stands for Web of Trust) and google warez files you
will find that many of the sites offering warez downloads have a bad Wot rating as
Sites that cannot be trusted or have a bad reputation.

Information About Wot can be found here: Safe Browsing Tool | WOT Web of Trust

Jim