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What is the purpose/function of “.ßß߆files?
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While trying to copy the contents of a 16GB usb drive, I got a warning that there was not enough free space. Checking the properties of the folder tree on the usb drive, I found a large number of ".ßßß" files that claim to be around 3.5GB each, for a total of approximately 908GB (which I don't think could be possible on a 16GB drive).
Obviously there is something going on here, but I cannot find any reference to this file type online.
When I try to delete these files, they request administrator permission (which I provide). However, they then throw a "File Access Denied" error and state that I require permission from the adminsitrator...
Does anyone know what the purpose of these files are, and how to remove them?
windows file-transfer
edited Aug 2 at 8:28
Konrad Rudolph
3,82562033
asked Aug 1 at 17:58
Arne
630229
 |Â
show 3 more comments
up vote
134
down vote
favorite
While trying to copy the contents of a 16GB usb drive, I got a warning that there was not enough free space. Checking the properties of the folder tree on the usb drive, I found a large number of ".ßßß" files that claim to be around 3.5GB each, for a total of approximately 908GB (which I don't think could be possible on a 16GB drive).
Obviously there is something going on here, but I cannot find any reference to this file type online.
When I try to delete these files, they request administrator permission (which I provide). However, they then throw a "File Access Denied" error and state that I require permission from the adminsitrator...
Does anyone know what the purpose of these files are, and how to remove them?
windows file-transfer
edited Aug 2 at 8:28
Konrad Rudolph
3,82562033
asked Aug 1 at 17:58
Arne
630229
12
This looks like malware, possibly using USB spreading technologies or obfuscation of file content/names to destroy data. It's definitely nothing normal or expected. The filesize also only appears to be this big.
– confetti
Aug 1 at 18:04
46
I think your drive, or at least the filesystem on it, might be toast.
– Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams
Aug 1 at 18:07
3
That... looks like FS corruption. Try runningchkdskorRepair-Volumeon the drive?
– bwDraco
Aug 2 at 5:43
2
Is this drive from China? They used to change FW to report bigger size than real. If end was reached, writing begin on start, thus overriding FS.
– JIV
Aug 2 at 12:02
3
@MrLister Among many blog posts and articles (0 1 2) there are two mentions by Andrew Huang (of Xbox jailbreaking fame) in pages 151-152 and 292-293 of his book "The Hardware Hacker", one of the chapters where he analyzes all kinds of counterfeit electronic parts.
– grawity
yesterday
 |Â
show 3 more comments
up vote
134
down vote
favorite
up vote
134
down vote
favorite
While trying to copy the contents of a 16GB usb drive, I got a warning that there was not enough free space. Checking the properties of the folder tree on the usb drive, I found a large number of ".ßßß" files that claim to be around 3.5GB each, for a total of approximately 908GB (which I don't think could be possible on a 16GB drive).
Obviously there is something going on here, but I cannot find any reference to this file type online.
When I try to delete these files, they request administrator permission (which I provide). However, they then throw a "File Access Denied" error and state that I require permission from the adminsitrator...
Does anyone know what the purpose of these files are, and how to remove them?
windows file-transfer
edited Aug 2 at 8:28
Konrad Rudolph
3,82562033
asked Aug 1 at 17:58
Arne
630229
While trying to copy the contents of a 16GB usb drive, I got a warning that there was not enough free space. Checking the properties of the folder tree on the usb drive, I found a large number of ".ßßß" files that claim to be around 3.5GB each, for a total of approximately 908GB (which I don't think could be possible on a 16GB drive).
Obviously there is something going on here, but I cannot find any reference to this file type online.
When I try to delete these files, they request administrator permission (which I provide). However, they then throw a "File Access Denied" error and state that I require permission from the adminsitrator...
Does anyone know what the purpose of these files are, and how to remove them?
windows file-transfer
edited Aug 2 at 8:28
Konrad Rudolph
3,82562033
asked Aug 1 at 17:58
Arne
630229
edited Aug 2 at 8:28
Konrad Rudolph
3,82562033
edited Aug 2 at 8:28
Konrad Rudolph
3,82562033
edited Aug 2 at 8:28
Konrad Rudolph
3,82562033
3,82562033
asked Aug 1 at 17:58
Arne
630229
asked Aug 1 at 17:58
Arne
630229
asked Aug 1 at 17:58
Arne
630229
630229
12
This looks like malware, possibly using USB spreading technologies or obfuscation of file content/names to destroy data. It's definitely nothing normal or expected. The filesize also only appears to be this big.
– confetti
Aug 1 at 18:04
46
I think your drive, or at least the filesystem on it, might be toast.
– Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams
Aug 1 at 18:07
3
That... looks like FS corruption. Try runningchkdskorRepair-Volumeon the drive?
– bwDraco
Aug 2 at 5:43
2
Is this drive from China? They used to change FW to report bigger size than real. If end was reached, writing begin on start, thus overriding FS.
– JIV
Aug 2 at 12:02
3
@MrLister Among many blog posts and articles (0 1 2) there are two mentions by Andrew Huang (of Xbox jailbreaking fame) in pages 151-152 and 292-293 of his book "The Hardware Hacker", one of the chapters where he analyzes all kinds of counterfeit electronic parts.
– grawity
yesterday
 |Â
show 3 more comments
12
This looks like malware, possibly using USB spreading technologies or obfuscation of file content/names to destroy data. It's definitely nothing normal or expected. The filesize also only appears to be this big.
– confetti
Aug 1 at 18:04
46
I think your drive, or at least the filesystem on it, might be toast.
– Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams
Aug 1 at 18:07
3
That... looks like FS corruption. Try runningchkdskorRepair-Volumeon the drive?
– bwDraco
Aug 2 at 5:43
2
Is this drive from China? They used to change FW to report bigger size than real. If end was reached, writing begin on start, thus overriding FS.
– JIV
Aug 2 at 12:02
3
@MrLister Among many blog posts and articles (0 1 2) there are two mentions by Andrew Huang (of Xbox jailbreaking fame) in pages 151-152 and 292-293 of his book "The Hardware Hacker", one of the chapters where he analyzes all kinds of counterfeit electronic parts.
– grawity
yesterday
12
12
This looks like malware, possibly using USB spreading technologies or obfuscation of file content/names to destroy data. It's definitely nothing normal or expected. The filesize also only appears to be this big.
– confetti
Aug 1 at 18:04
This looks like malware, possibly using USB spreading technologies or obfuscation of file content/names to destroy data. It's definitely nothing normal or expected. The filesize also only appears to be this big.
– confetti
Aug 1 at 18:04
46
46
I think your drive, or at least the filesystem on it, might be toast.
– Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams
Aug 1 at 18:07
I think your drive, or at least the filesystem on it, might be toast.
– Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams
Aug 1 at 18:07
3
3
That... looks like FS corruption. Try running
chkdsk or Repair-Volume on the drive?– bwDraco
Aug 2 at 5:43
That... looks like FS corruption. Try running
chkdsk or Repair-Volume on the drive?– bwDraco
Aug 2 at 5:43
2
2
Is this drive from China? They used to change FW to report bigger size than real. If end was reached, writing begin on start, thus overriding FS.
– JIV
Aug 2 at 12:02
Is this drive from China? They used to change FW to report bigger size than real. If end was reached, writing begin on start, thus overriding FS.
– JIV
Aug 2 at 12:02
3
3
@MrLister Among many blog posts and articles (0 1 2) there are two mentions by Andrew Huang (of Xbox jailbreaking fame) in pages 151-152 and 292-293 of his book "The Hardware Hacker", one of the chapters where he analyzes all kinds of counterfeit electronic parts.
– grawity
yesterday
@MrLister Among many blog posts and articles (0 1 2) there are two mentions by Andrew Huang (of Xbox jailbreaking fame) in pages 151-152 and 292-293 of his book "The Hardware Hacker", one of the chapters where he analyzes all kinds of counterfeit electronic parts.
– grawity
yesterday
 |Â
show 3 more comments
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
up vote
354
down vote
accepted
Most likely these aren't actual files but the result of filesystem corruption.
- It is normally not possible to have multiple identically named files.
- Their names (ßßßßßßßß.ßßß) correspond to hexadecimal bytes E1 E1 E1… in code page 437 (which was the default MS-DOS code page, and therefore the default FAT/FAT32 code page when long file names aren't in use).
(The character is not the Greek beta but the German lowercase sharp S. The dot isn't actually stored in the FAT, but added by the OS when reading, so it doesn't get corrupted.) - Their sizes are close to 3 789 677 025 bytes, which is again 0xE1 E1 E1 E1 in hex.
(That's approximately 3 700 856.469 kilobytes; Windows probably rounds up.)
All signs point to part of your filesystem's master file table being filled with the byte 0xE1, which may be caused by software (such as unplugging mid-write), but may also indicate that the flash memory itself is dying.
Software-induced corruption can often be cleaned up by using Windows' disk error checking (chkdsk). Or just reformat the drive (after copying your real files out of it).
But especially for cheaper and/or heavily-used drives, bad flash memory is very likely. Don't use this drive for important files anymore.
answered Aug 1 at 18:12
grawity
211k31429496
31
Your theory seems solid, based on the recurring theme of the E1 byte. I've since formatted the drive and all appears well... but I will likely not be using this drive for mission-critical purposes anymore. Thanks for the insight!
– Arne
Aug 1 at 18:27
add a comment |Â
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
up vote
354
down vote
accepted
Most likely these aren't actual files but the result of filesystem corruption.
- It is normally not possible to have multiple identically named files.
- Their names (ßßßßßßßß.ßßß) correspond to hexadecimal bytes E1 E1 E1… in code page 437 (which was the default MS-DOS code page, and therefore the default FAT/FAT32 code page when long file names aren't in use).
(The character is not the Greek beta but the German lowercase sharp S. The dot isn't actually stored in the FAT, but added by the OS when reading, so it doesn't get corrupted.) - Their sizes are close to 3 789 677 025 bytes, which is again 0xE1 E1 E1 E1 in hex.
(That's approximately 3 700 856.469 kilobytes; Windows probably rounds up.)
All signs point to part of your filesystem's master file table being filled with the byte 0xE1, which may be caused by software (such as unplugging mid-write), but may also indicate that the flash memory itself is dying.
Software-induced corruption can often be cleaned up by using Windows' disk error checking (chkdsk). Or just reformat the drive (after copying your real files out of it).
But especially for cheaper and/or heavily-used drives, bad flash memory is very likely. Don't use this drive for important files anymore.
answered Aug 1 at 18:12
grawity
211k31429496
31
Your theory seems solid, based on the recurring theme of the E1 byte. I've since formatted the drive and all appears well... but I will likely not be using this drive for mission-critical purposes anymore. Thanks for the insight!
– Arne
Aug 1 at 18:27
add a comment |Â
up vote
354
down vote
accepted
Most likely these aren't actual files but the result of filesystem corruption.
- It is normally not possible to have multiple identically named files.
- Their names (ßßßßßßßß.ßßß) correspond to hexadecimal bytes E1 E1 E1… in code page 437 (which was the default MS-DOS code page, and therefore the default FAT/FAT32 code page when long file names aren't in use).
(The character is not the Greek beta but the German lowercase sharp S. The dot isn't actually stored in the FAT, but added by the OS when reading, so it doesn't get corrupted.) - Their sizes are close to 3 789 677 025 bytes, which is again 0xE1 E1 E1 E1 in hex.
(That's approximately 3 700 856.469 kilobytes; Windows probably rounds up.)
All signs point to part of your filesystem's master file table being filled with the byte 0xE1, which may be caused by software (such as unplugging mid-write), but may also indicate that the flash memory itself is dying.
Software-induced corruption can often be cleaned up by using Windows' disk error checking (chkdsk). Or just reformat the drive (after copying your real files out of it).
But especially for cheaper and/or heavily-used drives, bad flash memory is very likely. Don't use this drive for important files anymore.
answered Aug 1 at 18:12
grawity
211k31429496
31
Your theory seems solid, based on the recurring theme of the E1 byte. I've since formatted the drive and all appears well... but I will likely not be using this drive for mission-critical purposes anymore. Thanks for the insight!
– Arne
Aug 1 at 18:27
add a comment |Â
up vote
354
down vote
accepted
up vote
354
down vote
accepted
Most likely these aren't actual files but the result of filesystem corruption.
- It is normally not possible to have multiple identically named files.
- Their names (ßßßßßßßß.ßßß) correspond to hexadecimal bytes E1 E1 E1… in code page 437 (which was the default MS-DOS code page, and therefore the default FAT/FAT32 code page when long file names aren't in use).
(The character is not the Greek beta but the German lowercase sharp S. The dot isn't actually stored in the FAT, but added by the OS when reading, so it doesn't get corrupted.) - Their sizes are close to 3 789 677 025 bytes, which is again 0xE1 E1 E1 E1 in hex.
(That's approximately 3 700 856.469 kilobytes; Windows probably rounds up.)
All signs point to part of your filesystem's master file table being filled with the byte 0xE1, which may be caused by software (such as unplugging mid-write), but may also indicate that the flash memory itself is dying.
Software-induced corruption can often be cleaned up by using Windows' disk error checking (chkdsk). Or just reformat the drive (after copying your real files out of it).
But especially for cheaper and/or heavily-used drives, bad flash memory is very likely. Don't use this drive for important files anymore.
answered Aug 1 at 18:12
grawity
211k31429496
Most likely these aren't actual files but the result of filesystem corruption.
- It is normally not possible to have multiple identically named files.
- Their names (ßßßßßßßß.ßßß) correspond to hexadecimal bytes E1 E1 E1… in code page 437 (which was the default MS-DOS code page, and therefore the default FAT/FAT32 code page when long file names aren't in use).
(The character is not the Greek beta but the German lowercase sharp S. The dot isn't actually stored in the FAT, but added by the OS when reading, so it doesn't get corrupted.) - Their sizes are close to 3 789 677 025 bytes, which is again 0xE1 E1 E1 E1 in hex.
(That's approximately 3 700 856.469 kilobytes; Windows probably rounds up.)
All signs point to part of your filesystem's master file table being filled with the byte 0xE1, which may be caused by software (such as unplugging mid-write), but may also indicate that the flash memory itself is dying.
Software-induced corruption can often be cleaned up by using Windows' disk error checking (chkdsk). Or just reformat the drive (after copying your real files out of it).
But especially for cheaper and/or heavily-used drives, bad flash memory is very likely. Don't use this drive for important files anymore.
answered Aug 1 at 18:12
grawity
211k31429496
edited Aug 2 at 14:36
answered Aug 1 at 18:12
grawity
211k31429496
answered Aug 1 at 18:12
grawity
211k31429496
answered Aug 1 at 18:12
grawity
211k31429496
211k31429496
31
Your theory seems solid, based on the recurring theme of the E1 byte. I've since formatted the drive and all appears well... but I will likely not be using this drive for mission-critical purposes anymore. Thanks for the insight!
– Arne
Aug 1 at 18:27
add a comment |Â
31
Your theory seems solid, based on the recurring theme of the E1 byte. I've since formatted the drive and all appears well... but I will likely not be using this drive for mission-critical purposes anymore. Thanks for the insight!
– Arne
Aug 1 at 18:27
31
31
Your theory seems solid, based on the recurring theme of the E1 byte. I've since formatted the drive and all appears well... but I will likely not be using this drive for mission-critical purposes anymore. Thanks for the insight!
– Arne
Aug 1 at 18:27
Your theory seems solid, based on the recurring theme of the E1 byte. I've since formatted the drive and all appears well... but I will likely not be using this drive for mission-critical purposes anymore. Thanks for the insight!
– Arne
Aug 1 at 18:27
add a comment |Â
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12
This looks like malware, possibly using USB spreading technologies or obfuscation of file content/names to destroy data. It's definitely nothing normal or expected. The filesize also only appears to be this big.
– confetti
Aug 1 at 18:04
46
I think your drive, or at least the filesystem on it, might be toast.
– Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams
Aug 1 at 18:07
3
That... looks like FS corruption. Try running
chkdskorRepair-Volumeon the drive?– bwDraco
Aug 2 at 5:43
2
Is this drive from China? They used to change FW to report bigger size than real. If end was reached, writing begin on start, thus overriding FS.
– JIV
Aug 2 at 12:02
3
@MrLister Among many blog posts and articles (0 1 2) there are two mentions by Andrew Huang (of Xbox jailbreaking fame) in pages 151-152 and 292-293 of his book "The Hardware Hacker", one of the chapters where he analyzes all kinds of counterfeit electronic parts.
– grawity
yesterday