Windows Folder is Huge-40GB

J

jefftate

Member
My laptop was telling me that the disk space was low (C), so I started looking for any bloated files and saw that my Windows folder was at a whopping 40 GBs. The main culprit is a lone file, talking up nearly all of the 40GBS. It's called:

ocsetup_install_NetFx3.etl

I'm assuming this is a virus of some kind. What is going on here? What is this? Do I delete???
 

My Computer

System One

I Googled, and agree looks like a virus
Run a full updated virus scan
Download and run a full updated malwarebytes scan. Report back with results.

Dont delete. Follow instuctions from the Forum.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS420
    Memory
    6 gig
    Graphics card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD3650 256 MB
    Sound Card
    Intergrated 7.1 Channel Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell SP2009W 20 inch Flat Panel w Webcam
    Hard Drives
    640 gb
    Cooling
    Fan
    Mouse
    Dell USB 4 button optical
    Keyboard
    Dell USB
    Other Info
    DSL provided by ATT
Hello and welcome to the Vista Forum!

It is certainly an odd file. However I am not certain that it is a virus. .etl files are Event Trace Files (basically log files) and are usually alright. Ocsetup.exe is an installer/uninstaller which Vista/7 use. NetFx3 is .net Framework 3.

I think that this might just be a bloated log file, for some reason. .etl files are usually safe to delete, but this one is a special case. We can't upload it for analysis, either. Please run MBAM as directed above, but after that I think you can just rename it to ocsetup_install_NetFx3.etl.bak, test for a good few days, and then delete.

Good luck!

Richard
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 420
    CPU
    Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 2.50GHz
    Motherboard
    Stock Dell 0TP406
    Memory
    4 gb (DDR2 800) 400MHz
    Graphics card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD 3870 (512 MBytes)
    Sound Card
    Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    1 x Dell 2007FP and 1 x (old) Sonic flat screen
    Screen Resolution
    1600 x 1200 and 1280 x 1204
    Hard Drives
    1 x 640Gb (SATA 300) Western Digital: WDC WD6400AAKS-75A7B0 1 x 1Tb (SATA 600) Western Digital: Caviar Black, SATA 6GB/S, 64Mb cache, 8ms Western Digital: WDC WD1002FAEX-00Z3A0 ATA Device
    PSU
    Stock PSU - 375W
    Case
    Dell XPS 420
    Cooling
    Stock Fan
    Mouse
    Advent Optical ADE-WG01 (colour change light up)
    Keyboard
    Dell Bluetooth
    Internet Speed
    120 kb/s
    Other Info
    ASUS USB 3.0 5Gbps/SATA 6Gbps - PCI-Express Combo Controller Card (U3S6)
I ran a full virus scan and a malwarebytes scan and nothing came up. It looks like it might not be a virus. How does a file get so bloated like this?
 

My Computer

System One

As Niemiro mentioned the folder is made up of log files. A log file is created when an error occurs. You can see a list of your errors by going to your event viewer .
You may have had quite a few logs created.
I, agree with Niemiro, change the extention to .bak and use if for a significant amout of time. If you do not have problems, just delet it.
You can use a great software Ccleaner to regualarly clean out old files.
Just untick any registry changes that it may want to make. You set it up once and then you can forget about it. I will help with any other settings that you may question
Good luck
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS420
    Memory
    6 gig
    Graphics card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD3650 256 MB
    Sound Card
    Intergrated 7.1 Channel Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell SP2009W 20 inch Flat Panel w Webcam
    Hard Drives
    640 gb
    Cooling
    Fan
    Mouse
    Dell USB 4 button optical
    Keyboard
    Dell USB
    Other Info
    DSL provided by ATT
Thanks so much for all the help thus far. I checked the event viewer, and saw that I have thousands upon thousands of log files created, since for the longest time Vista hasn't been able to install some update from Microsoft...it's been trying over and over again for a long time now, hourly, failing, and creating these event files.

Can they be deleted from the event viewer? Do these log files, even if there are a ton, take up that much space?
 

My Computer

System One

Download Ccleaner.
Ask me for the correct settings and you will delete a lot of garbage.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS420
    Memory
    6 gig
    Graphics card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD3650 256 MB
    Sound Card
    Intergrated 7.1 Channel Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell SP2009W 20 inch Flat Panel w Webcam
    Hard Drives
    640 gb
    Cooling
    Fan
    Mouse
    Dell USB 4 button optical
    Keyboard
    Dell USB
    Other Info
    DSL provided by ATT
Now take your time and understand how it works. Then tick the settings that you think are correct and I will look it over. Then you will regain a lot of HD space.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS420
    Memory
    6 gig
    Graphics card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD3650 256 MB
    Sound Card
    Intergrated 7.1 Channel Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell SP2009W 20 inch Flat Panel w Webcam
    Hard Drives
    640 gb
    Cooling
    Fan
    Mouse
    Dell USB 4 button optical
    Keyboard
    Dell USB
    Other Info
    DSL provided by ATT
There are many sections, for example registry and for that dont check anything.
For settings I check
History
Cookies
recently typed urls
empty recycle bin
clip board
memory dumps (unless you are having problems)
checkdsk
Windows logs and windows error reporting, unless you are having problems

Others may or may not check more, but this is a very safe conservative setting for everyday use.

When you go to cookies right click in one of the panels and then intelligent scan. If you do this before each cleaning of cookies, your settings that you always use, such as login sites, will be saved. Also put all the cookies that you see and recognize and want to save in the save column.

Initially, I went with the default settings, and had to replace some cookies. Try the above, very conservative, if you want to delete more we can change the settings.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS420
    Memory
    6 gig
    Graphics card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD3650 256 MB
    Sound Card
    Intergrated 7.1 Channel Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell SP2009W 20 inch Flat Panel w Webcam
    Hard Drives
    640 gb
    Cooling
    Fan
    Mouse
    Dell USB 4 button optical
    Keyboard
    Dell USB
    Other Info
    DSL provided by ATT
I searched. I guess it's hidden or something. The Windows file still shows the space being take up, but I can't find the renamed file anymore. Who knows what is going on.
 

My Computer

System One

Thanks for all the help thus far. I've tried searching, but the file doesn't seem to be anywhere. Why would it disappear just because I renamed it? This is bad, since I can't even delete it now if I wanted to. What do you think?
 

My Computer

System One

did you see the above post, hidden files?
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS420
    Memory
    6 gig
    Graphics card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD3650 256 MB
    Sound Card
    Intergrated 7.1 Channel Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell SP2009W 20 inch Flat Panel w Webcam
    Hard Drives
    640 gb
    Cooling
    Fan
    Mouse
    Dell USB 4 button optical
    Keyboard
    Dell USB
    Other Info
    DSL provided by ATT
Option two, shows how to unhide. Try that see if you find file.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS420
    Memory
    6 gig
    Graphics card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD3650 256 MB
    Sound Card
    Intergrated 7.1 Channel Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell SP2009W 20 inch Flat Panel w Webcam
    Hard Drives
    640 gb
    Cooling
    Fan
    Mouse
    Dell USB 4 button optical
    Keyboard
    Dell USB
    Other Info
    DSL provided by ATT

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS420
    Memory
    6 gig
    Graphics card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD3650 256 MB
    Sound Card
    Intergrated 7.1 Channel Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell SP2009W 20 inch Flat Panel w Webcam
    Hard Drives
    640 gb
    Cooling
    Fan
    Mouse
    Dell USB 4 button optical
    Keyboard
    Dell USB
    Other Info
    DSL provided by ATT
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