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Question

Unable to Delete chrome_installer files from Temp Folder

Jan 16, 2020 9:46AM PST

I discovered some type of redirect associated with my Chrome browser that was placing LARGE files (about 50mb each) in my Temporary File Folder. This was causing the hard drive space to fill up quickly. I uninstalled Chrome and this appears to have stopped the file creation but I cannot delete the temporary files that have the extension either chrome_installer or chrome_updater. When trying to delete, I get a message that says that the file is running/in use by another program. Has anyone encountered this and how can I identify what is running so that I can kill that application then delete the files that total about 45gb of my hard drive?

Discussion is locked

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Answer
Yes.
Jan 16, 2020 10:09AM PST

My methods to delete such can use any below.

1. Boot safe mode and try again.
2. Look at ownership, and such then correct (you find folk unable to do this.)
3. Boot up another OS and delete them from there. I use a Linux boot USB stick for that.

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How to find ownership?
Jan 16, 2020 10:48AM PST

Hi and thank you for taking the time to reply kindly. How can I find the ownership of these application files? Even though they are chrome_updater and chrome_installer I cannot see anything resembling those in Task Manager. By the way, this is Windows 7 (be kind...ha) I'm working in. Thank you!

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It's technical.
Jan 16, 2020 10:58AM PST
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Thank you!
Jan 16, 2020 1:06PM PST

After following your advice and researching the links you provided, I was able to both remove the pesky temporary files and discover that I am probably the victim of the Trojan Poweliks virus. This created the redirect in Chrome and probably was responsible for creating the large temporary files with the goal (I believe) of filling my hard disk to capacity so that I would be unable to load any spyware/malware fixes. In any case, removing Chrome and using a different web browser seems to have resolved things. Thanks again.

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Good to read.
Jan 16, 2020 1:19PM PST

I truly wish that Windows had a way to remove a file with prejudice.
Put another way when a file is dismissed with prejudice means that it is dismissed permanently and without all the menus, dialog boxes and hoops you went through.

But any road that gets you home is a good one.