Re: Why were the WOW files placed on a partition of my hard drive?
Hello Denise,
When installing OS updates, the system is scanned for appropriate volumes
to put the temp folders on.
That may be the Volume the OS is installed on or it may be a different
volume. Free disk space is one of the criteria that is used, in some cases
more is preferable.
The temp folders should have been deleted at the end of installation but
there are occasions where they are not. Items that can affect the temp
files remainng are seeing the volumes differently between reboots, the
installation was interrupted or never completed, OS changes that occured
during the package installation that affect how we see the system, etc
Thanks,
Darrell Gorter[MSFT]
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights
--------------------
| >Thread-Topic: Why were the WOW files placed on a partition of my hard
drive?
| >thread-index: Aciq66mmhHFoWwRaTryrMSM/Oda7hw==
| >X-WBNR-Posting-Host: 207.46.19.197
| >From: =?Utf-8?B?RGVuaXNl?= <Denise@discussions.microsoft.com>
| >References: <86868128-BB14-4DBC-BD37-6132C5F899DA@microsoft.com>
<OWEOjMoqIHA.4876@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl>
<357C9505-5FDA-4B2E-8BA4-0A7D7E574334@microsoft.com>
<O5tWQesqIHA.1436@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl>
| >Subject: Re: Why were the WOW files placed on a partition of my hard
drive?
| >Date: Wed, 30 Apr 2008 10:57:32 -0700
| >Lines: 148
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| >
| >I agree with you that the first 2 are temp files so I renamed the folder
by
| >placing ===== after the folder names. I've been running my pc for the
past
| >12 hours and have had problems so I deleted them.
| >
| >I searched for approximately 25 files that are on my D drive to see if
they
| >were also on my C drive, and they were. Since 25 of the files are also
on my
| >C drive, the folder that has the updates to my D drive appear to be only
| >copies.
| >
| >It looks like the Windows installation or an update went to my D drive
in
| >error and when I got updates, Microsoft Updates found that I didn't have
| >those files and installed them on my C drive.
| >
| >It's the best conclusion that I can come up with. I've renamed the
update
| >folder on my D drive and if I have no problems for the next few days,
I'll
| >delete it.
| >
| >Thanks for your help
| >
| >--
| >Denise
| >
| >~ If you don't know where you came from, you won't know where you're
going.
| >
| >
| >
| >"Tom Ferguson" wrote:
| >
| >> Thanks for the additional information.
| >>
| >> I agree that it all seems very peculiar. At this point, I would
surmise that
| >> there has been some type of installer error; that some updates were
| >> downloaded and because of some design error or anomalous event or
unforeseen
| >> situation, certain files were installed to the wrong location. These
might
| >> have been intended as temporary files but were not deleted upon update
| >> completion. I emphasize that this thought is pure speculation. I can
say
| >> that what you describe has the characteristics of an update package.
E.g.
| >> the msi file would be the installer manifest, MUI might refer to the
| >> Multi-Language User Interface while WOW, as previously discussed, is
| >> Windows-on-Windows.
| >>
| >> I recall that there was one DL a while ago that caused some system
update
| >> files related to the "Dr. Watson" facility to be mislocated.
| >>
| >> Sorry to say, I have no information upon which to base a more useful
answer
| >> to your question. Hopefully, someone else will step up with
authoritative
| >> information.
| >> --
| >>
| >> Tom
| >> MSMVP 1998-2007
| >>
| >>
| >>
| >> "Denise" <Denise@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
| >> news:357C9505-5FDA-4B2E-8BA4-0A7D7E574334@microsoft.com...
| >> >I understant what WOW files are but I don't know exactly what part
these
| >> > particular files play in giving x32 wow support for x64. When I
installed
| >> > Windows x64 or when I receive updates, the files appeared on my D
drive.
| >> >
| >> > "For example, the WOW sub-system of Windows 64 that enables 32
| >> >> bit applications run on the 64 bit system. However that does not
seem to
| >> >> fit
| >> >> well to your question since it is installed with the OS"
| >> >
| >> > This is exactly my question to you. I don't know what they're doing
on my
| >> > D
| >> > drive instead of on my C drive where Windows placed all the other
files.
| >> > I
| >> > had limited input when I installed Windows and I never chose to
place any
| >> > wow, x32 or x64 files on my D drive.
| >> >
| >> > In the Windows folder on my C drive, there is a folder named
"system32"
| >> > and
| >> > a folder named "SysWOW64."
| >> >
| >> > there are 3 Windows/wow folders on my D drive. The first folder is
named
| >> > 9bb24a76a93030d8b6bd2320 and it has a .txt doc in it named
| >> > %temp%dd_msxml_retMSI, but access is denied. I'm the Administrator
of my
| >> > pc.
| >> >
| >> > The second folder is named 9fac1b9de91c2f6fafa06eaa10c44f62 and it
has a
| >> > .txt doc in it named %temp%dd_msxml_retMSI, but access is denied.
| >> >
| >> > The third folder is named 171b624f114c1d68d406b63f61239a17. It
contains
| >> > 111
| >> > files with 2 folders. One folder is named "update" and the other is
| >> > "wow."
| >> > I can't open either folder because access is denied. The other
files are
| >> > mostly .dll's and dll.mui's. Some are exe.mui's. There is
| >> > ieunatt.exe.mui,
| >> > iesetup.dll.mui
| >> > and the other is iexplore.exe.mui. There's also iexplore, ticrf,
icrav03,
| >> > ie4uinit.exe.mui, an internet setup/install .exe file, and a number
of
| >> > others.
| >> >
| >> > In addition, Microsoft "Common Files" is on my D drive which appear
to be
| >> > error reporting files.
| >> >
| >> > This is about all the information I can give you. I don't know why
| >> > Windows
| >> > or an update placed these files on my D drive. I would like to
delete
| >> > them
| >> > but I don't know if Windows will crash if I do so.
| >> >
| >> > Denise
| >> >
| >> > ~ If you don't know where you came from, you won't know where you're
| >> > going.
| >> >
| >> >
| >> >
| >> > "Tom Ferguson" wrote:
| >> >
| >> >> The only WOW I can think of at the moment is the Windows On Windows
| >> >> sub-system. For example, the WOW sub-system of Windows 64 that
enables 32
| >> >> bit applications run on the 64 bit system. However that does not
seem to
| >> >> fit
| >> >> well to your question since it is installed with the OS. So, please
| >> >> explain
| >> >> further.
| >> >> --
| >> >>
| >> >> Tom
| >> >> MSMVP 1998-2007
| >> >>
| >> >>
| >> >> "Denise" <Denise@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
| >> >> news:86868128-BB14-4DBC-BD37-6132C5F899DA@microsoft.com...
| >> >> >I was given no option as to where the WOW should be placed when
they
| >> >> >were
| >> >> > downloaded and installed. They were automatically placed on the D
| >> >> > partition
| >> >> > of my main drive. Why were they placed there?
| >> >> >
| >> >> > Can they be safely moved to my C drive? I want my program files
to all
| >> >> > be
| >> >> > on my C drive.
| >> >> >
| >> >> > --
| >> >> > Denise
| >> >> >
| >> >> > ~ If you don't know where you came from, you won't know where
you're
| >> >> > going.
| >> >>
| >> >>
| >>
| >>
| >