Many empty folders in Windows directory

[Anyhoo]

I have many folders in my C:\Windows directory with names such as "06BHNSX27DJOTY39". There may be around 1000 of these folders and they are all empty (no hidden files). I want to know why they are being created. I want to delete them but they are all locked by Explorer.exe (even folders created back in 2006). Sorting the folders by date I see that many of these folders are being created each day, and each folder has a random name such as the example above.

So, can anyone tell me what may be creating these folders and why can't I delete them? It seems abnormal that they are present and being created each day and are empty. There are so many of them it makes it difficult to find other files and folders in the Windows directory.

I am running Windows XP SP3 and running McAfee Enterprise Antivirus software.

[berry120]

Does running a full virus scan bring back any results? I'd also run chkdsk, corruptions in the filesystem can sometimes cause those sorts of issues.

[Neodude112320]

Also run a tool called Hijack This and post the log up here

[setishock]

Old thread I know, blah blah...
The cryptic file name indicates it's a system folder. Being created every day is the give away. Windows does housekeeping chores and keeps a record of it. Restore points, event logs, system wide indexing. All of these wind up in a folder of some sort.
Because they are locked by the windows explorer I'd bet make hidden files visble is not going to affect them.

[mohsin]

I was having almost the same problem. It is surely due to a virus. My drives showed many empty files and there were some word files too in which additional codings as you showed in your post were attached. I visited hardwaredir.net and came to know that I was having this problem due to a virus in my system which was continuously making new emplty folders and also damaging other important files.
You must get your computer checked by a technician. It would be much better if you install a new anti-virus.

[GibsonSGKing]

Originally Posted by mohsin

I was having almost the same problem. It is surely due to a virus. My drives showed many empty files and there were some word files too in which additional codings as you showed in your post were attached. I visited hardwaredir.net and came to know that I was having this problem due to a virus in my system which was continuously making new emplty folders and also damaging other important files.
You must get your computer checked by a technician. It would be much better if you install a new anti-virus.

You're in the wrong forum

[bienvang]

I visited hardwaredir.net and came to know that I was having this problem due to a virus in my system which was continuously making new emplty folders and also damaging other important files.