I downloaded something off a link and once I installed it a few minutes later this thing popped up in task manager: Microsoft Edge Update Setup/libmfxsw32.exe. I tried to open its file location in Task Manager (located in &quot;%APPDATA%/Mxmetamux&quot;) and it says that access is denied, along with that the folder never displays in file explorer. I looked up the exe's name and it says that it executes these files: icalcs.exe, cmd.exe, and fontdrchost.exe. I know that icalcs.exe is the one that manages folder permissions, and I once tried both the takeown and icalcs commands that were &quot;executed successfully&quot; but didn't make the folder accessible. I tried ending the libmfxsw32.exe process but it keeps popping up again in task manager.
698
What should I do if my Windows computer seems to be infected with a virus or malware?  What are the symptoms of an infection? What should I do after noticing an infection? What can I do to get rid of it? how to prevent from infection by malware?   This question comes up frequently, and the suggested solutions are usually the same. This community wiki is an attempt to serve as the definitive, most comprehensive answer possible. Feel free to add your contributions via edits.
41226
An MFC application that I'm trying to migrate uses afxext.h, which causes _AFXDLL to get set, which causes this error if I set /MT:     Please use the /MD switch for _AFXDLL builds   My research to date indicates that it is impossible to build an application for execution on Windows NT 4.0 using Visual Studio (C++, in this case) 2005.  Is this really true? Are there any workaround available?
17382
I'm trying to run a exe file that is located on my Vista partition, when I browse to the file and try to change the file to run as executable the tick box unticks itself right after i tick it, i tried running gksu nautilus but it does the same thing
89418
Every once in a while when I try to remove a file I have been working with, Windows tells me I cannot remove it, because some application is still using it.  Sometimes it's just my own stupidity, and closing the app I was working with releases the file, but sometimes I cannot for the life of me imagine any of the remaining applications holding the file.  Sometimes when I close everything I have started, it is still reported as locked and not deletable.  Is there any low-level tool that I can point at a file that can tell me which applications are holding a reference to it, to diagnose how to resolve this without resorting to a reboot and delete cycle?
56425
There are some .exe and .dll files belonging to some programs on my laptop which communicate with the internet without my permission (for self-update generally). I want to prevent those files one by one from accessing the internet. I don't want to install any external firewalls. I'm using Windows 7 Home Pro and if this can be done by Windows Firewall, it's OK. I took a look at Windows Firewall but couldn't find a setting to disable file access.
54944
I have got this file that I can't delete. It happened after a system crash, so the CHKDSK kicked in upon next reboot. After that, I can't delete the file.  THis is on Windows Home Server, and the file is one of those hidden Thumbs.db, and my WHS reports a "File conflict" on the file, the reason: Access Denied"  What I have tried so far, running as an Administrator: Delete: Access Denied TakeOwn.exe : Access Denied Attrib.exe -s -h : Access Denied cacls.exe : Access Denied   (even whe trying to display the current owner) Rename: File not found (its hidden) Re-boot in to safe mode and tried the above: Access Denied Running the above commands as Local System: Access Denied   Tizer Unlocker: Fail (Doesn't find anything locking the file) File Assasin: Crashes ("FindRemoteFileHandles returned NULL value.")  I have used the CHKDSK /f again, rebooted since some suggestions is that the file has been corrupted, but that didn't change anything. Any suggestions ?  Update: In a total separate scenario, I experienced a similar situation; Access Denied when trying to take ownership of a file. It turned out that the file was owned by TrustedInstaler, which is not possible to override just by being an Administrator. In this case, one can use psexec /ids cmd to elevate yourself to System and then TakeOwn.exe /a
62538
I get "Access denied" when trying to end a process on Windows 8.  From  on Stack Overflow, I've read:     The process may have a thread active in kernel mode that is not exiting. Best way to diagnose that is by using Task Manager, Details tab, right-click one of the column headers and choose "Select Columns". Tick "Handles". Look at the displayed value for the process. If you see a non-zero value then the process is very likely to have a handle opened and is waiting for a device driver to perform an I/O request. And that device driver is otherwise impervious to Windows asking it to cancel the request. Narrowing down the troublemaker is not that easy, you have to know more about exactly what kind of I/O requests your process performs. Follow up on this by asking a question about it at superuser.com*   So yeah... this problem has accured to the following programs:    Spotify Skype Battlefield 3   I've checked that I have full permission on everything. Even added "Everyone" with full access.   The other solution involved something with C++ which I have no clue about.  I have tried asking support on Microsoft sites but they only told me to go to Security and add everyone with full access.
120752
When trying to execute a symbolic link which points to an exe file (on Windows 7), the "Open with" windows appears. When renaming it to a ".exe" file, it says "The specified path does not exist. Check the path, and then try again.".  Symlinks to other destinations seem to work fine.  So is there any way to execute a symlink?  EDIT: In the command prompt, I execute the following and the MyProgram.exe runs both times.  However, if I double-click on the symbolic link in Windows Explorer it fails with the above error message.  C:\Temp&gt;mklink SomeProgram.exe MyProgram.exe symbolic link created for Backup.exe &lt;&lt;===&gt;&gt; Backup-1.0.1.exe  C:\Temp&gt;SomeProgram.exe  C:\Temp&gt;del SomeProgram.exe  C:\Temp&gt;mklink SomeProgram.exe C:\Temp\MyProgram.exe symbolic link created for Backup.exe &lt;&lt;===&gt;&gt; C:\Temp\Backup-1.0.1.exe  C:\Temp&gt;SomeProgram.exe
66417
I am running Windows 7 x64. I have a file type that I want to associate with Microsoft Access 2003.  I right-click on the file and select Open With->Choose Default program. In the "Open With" dialog, I select the browse button. I choose Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office11\msaccess.exe and press "Open".  I end up back at the "Open With" dialog, but nothing has changed. Access is not listed as a program to use to open the file with. The original program (Adobe Acrobat) that is associated with this program is still selected.  Any tips on getting this association to work?
78940
I am on Windows 7.  I have some files on my computer leftover from an old version of Photoshop.  (I think... I don't remember exactly where they came from, but they seem to be Adobe files.)  There are 124 of them in a folder, which I have named "KILL."  (I don't remember what the original name of this folder is, it's been on my comptuer a long time.)  These files seem to be absolutely undeletable, as far as I can tell.  I can move them around and change the name of the folder, but deleting them is out of the question.  I also can't move them onto a different hard drive or flash drive, I've tried that.  So, let me list the things I've tried first:   A whole bunch of different "unlocking programs."  Including: IObit Unlocker, Lock Hunter, FileAssassin, and Project Kill box.  What I use LockHunter I am told: "No processes locking this file or folder have been found."  All of the other programs I've tried give me similar messages, telling me that nothing is locking the files.  Yet when I try to delete the files using LockHunter, I am simply told "Cannot delete x."  No reason is given. Tried using cmd.exe.  Even when I run a command window under administrator, it won't even let me access the KILL folder, much less delete anything.  I also tried killing explorer.exe from the task manager, and then using the cmd window.  Still can't even access that folder. Tried using safe mode in combination with these other options, doesn't change a thing. Tried changing permissions of the files using the security tab under properties.  It simply says "not inherited."  It will not allow me to change a thing. I am definitely the administrator of this computer. Tried Disk Cleanup and Defrag.  I suspected that some files must be damaged or something, but Disk Cleanup wasn't able to find any errors.  Defrag didn't help.   So, let me just say that I am not a computer expert.  But based on all the things I've tried, I suspect that this might be some hardware problem?  It seems strange that these files don't seem to be used by any processes, and yet are absolutely undeletable no matter what I do.  Is there anything else I can try?  Has anyone had any similar experience, and have any idea why this might have happened?  EDIT: Interesting recent development.  As I have toyed with moving the folder around, I moved it to the Program Files folder.  Now that it's there, it suddenly CANNOT be moved nor renamed.  It is stuck there, apparently permanently, as a folder called "KILL."  How irritating.
48037
I deleted the Downloads folder in my Windows 7 home directory (which I had moved and renamed to incoming)  I was able to restore the folder from a backup, this restores the contents as well as Desktop.ini (hidden) that gives it the right folder icon within the home directory.  However, right clicking does not show the "Location" tab, indicating that Windows doesn't recognize it as the special downloads folder. By Location tab I mean the tab that allows moving the location of the folder (try this on My Pictures, etc.). Until I see this restored I assumed Windows isn't aware that this is in fact my Downloads folder.  How to fix this?
57948
A few years ago Umber Ferrule wrote that the toolbars in the taskbar are defined in   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Streams.   This looks very plausible but cannot be the entire story.  Deleting this key will in no way affect the taskbar and on rebooting the system the key magically reappears.  Why do I want to know?  Simple.  I would like to export the key to a reg. file as a convenient backup.
102946
Whenever a search is performed in Windows 7 on a folder that is not indexed, Windows throws up a banner at the top of the Explorer window (below the address bar) blabbing about Indexing and asking you to turn it on and index the folder:    After the thousandth or so time, that warning/prompt/banner flashing and its [x] needing to be clicked gets to be really annoying. I heard you the first time!!!  Worse, this still occurs even when the Indexing service is disabled, and Indexing is un-selected and all of the relevant options.  (Windows is acting like a stupid person who cannot understand a simple concept like yes, I heard you the first thousand times, but no, I don’t want to use it, now leave me alone! and so keeps bugging you anyway.)  Is there a way to disable the banner short of hacking explorer.exe?  What’s particularly aggravating is that I have already disabled and removed the Indexer from Windows and yet it still tries to use it and then complains when it can’t. Well duh; it’s been removed:
112561
A friend of mine downloaded some malware from Facebook, and I'm curious to see what it does without infecting myself. I know that you can't really decompile an .exe, but can I at least view it in Assembly or attach a debugger?   Edit to say it is not a .NET executable, no CLI header.
35059
I attached an hdd to my win7 machine and assigned the drive letter I: to the only partition on the hdd. The hdd was originally from another computer, and to avoid all those "you don't currently have permission..." dialogs, I decided to use icacls to clear all ACLs.  I ran icacls I:\ /reset /t /c /l. After a while, Chrome stopped working. Safari crashed. I traced the problem and find that the ACLs of my home folder (in C:\Users) are all messed up. Chrome and Safari couldn't write to their cache folder. I fixed the ACLs of my home folder and everything seems to be OK now.  Why would icacls mess with my home folder when I specifically told it to work on the I: drive? I have even put in the /L switch so that it won't resolve symbolic links. Did I misunderstood the switch?  For your reference, below is the relevant parts of the help screen.   ICACLS name /reset [/T] [/C] [/L] [/Q]     replaces ACLs with default inherited ACLs for all matching files.      /T indicates that this operation is performed on all matching         files/directories below the directories specified in the name.      /C indicates that this operation will continue on all file errors.         Error messages will still be displayed.      /L indicates that this operation is performed on a symbolic link        itself versus its target.
61803
When opening Run via +R in Windows Server 2019, there are no items in its history or Registry key: (I believe the situation is the same in Windows 10) HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\RunMRU   I think it's because I deleted a folder in one of the Windows system directories, and while I can't think of the exact name of that folder, I remember its name contains history  Is there a way to fix this?
100069
I just upgraded from windows 7 to windows 8 and everything is working fine except notepad keeps opening on boot with a "access denied" window that comes up as well. I've ran MBAM and removed some junk, I've disabled every "file not found" item in autoruns as well as something that had a text/xml title in it and I've ran CCleaner a few times. Nothing is working, any help is much appreciated!