Helping people with computers... one answer at a time.
\Program Files\XEROX\NWWIA appears to be a harmless "ghost" file, and there is no need to delete it.
What is '\Program Files\XEROX\NWWIA', and how do I get rid of it?
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OK, this is one of the weirdest situations I've seen come up in a long time.
The short answer is that it does appear to be something related to "Windows Image Acquisition", which is a common component of Windows. Why it shows up empty, and why it remains protected by the operating system is as best we can tell, a mystery.
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For what it's worth, it benign. It's on lots of systems, including my own.
Using SysInternals Process Explorer I was able to tell that the windows logon process has the directory open. But I was able to find no reference to it in the registry. And apparently when you do manage to delete it, the system file protection service dutifully restores it.
There's a long thread on the subject out at the Annoyances.org discussion forum titled Deleting Ghost/Empty Directories that has many theories and a couple of ways to delete it, if that's really important to you.
Article C2129 - July 17, 2004 « »
Leo A. Notenboom has been playing with computers since he
was required to take a programming class in 1976. An 18 year career as a programmer at Microsoft soon followed.
After "retiring" in 2001, Leo started Ask Leo! in 2003 as a place for answers
to common computer and technical questions. More about Leo.
June 4, 2007 11:36 PM
but, how do i delete it?
June 5, 2007 9:16 AM
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Sigh. Please read the comment immediately preceding yours.
In my opinion: you don't.
I'm closing comments on this article since we just seem to be going around in
circles.
Thanks,
Leo
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February 4, 2010 9:26 PM
do not found the discussion helpful due to this virus i am not able to listn the songs on my pc
March 30, 2010 6:53 PM
this is not a virus. it is harmless. there is probably a different reason you can't listen to music.
January 12, 2011 7:04 AM
I gave you the legit answer to this question and you removed it from your site. I can fire up my old laptop and show you the date created for that folder, and i challenge you to find one prior to it. I made the folder and subfolder. Just trying to let people know it's harmless.