📎 AI Summary:
The forum discussion revolves around an unexplained appearance of large, new folders on the data partition of multiple laptops, possibly related to CrashPlan backup activity. The original poster suspects that backup updates might be creating these folders, but their exact cause remains unclear, and conclusions are inconclusive. The overall tone is one of curiosity and uncertainty, with suggestions including verifying backup settings, considering malware, and noting that the issue seems linked to the backup process.
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prroots

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Thread Author #1
In the root of my D data partition I've seen a bunch of new folders appear. Anyone have any idea what created them? The folders are about 35+ MB each.
 

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Jimbo22
If I had to guess, I'd say those new folders are a direct result to the "update" to the backups that you are changing. I never change my backups. If I have new data, I just create another backup and delete the previous one. If you start messing with backups, you will inevitably corrupt the backup which defeats the purpose of creating the backup in the first place.

After looking up CrashPlan, I see that it's an online storage backup service that one has to pay for. Depending on the plan you have, I see that there is an unlimited amount of storage. If that is the case, then I would create daily backups.
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prroots

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seekermeister said:
Have you checked their contents?
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Thanks for your response. Yes, the contents are still more folders with many 'Z's in them? I was hoping that the names of the folders attached would give some clue. I just deleted them otherwise I would upload another attachment. If the past is any indication, they'll reappear within a day or so!
 
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seekermeister

seekermeister

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#4
At this point, I have no idea of how to identify their source, but I do recall several years ago, that when I had changed permissions on my user account, it caused the folders on that account to form a seemingly unlimited number of folders inside of folders, somewhat like you described. Whether that has any bearing on your situation or not, I can't say, but it is just one possibility.
 
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prroots

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seekermeister said:
At this point, I have no idea of how to identify their source, but I do recall several years ago, that when I had changed permissions on my user account, it caused the folders on that account to form a seemingly unlimited number of folders inside of folders, somewhat like you described. Whether that has any bearing on your situation or not, I can't say, but it is just one possibility.
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Thanks. Yes, it is a mystery. The even weirder thing is that it's happening to both my laptop and my wife's laptop. There is one thing I've been doing to both and that is updating the backups on each using CrashPlan. I have submitted a ticket to Crashplan asking them about it, but so far no response. The interesting thing is that when I delete the folders, CrashPlan doesn't complain or seem to notice which makes me wonder. As additional background, I've partitioned both laptops into two partitions with the first containing the OS and all programs and the second containing all data. The strange files are created only in the second ie, data partition. If it were windows creating the folders I would think it would happen in the OS partition?
 
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seekermeister

seekermeister

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#6
Other than the chronology you mentioned, is there any other reason you suspect that program? I don't know anything about CrashPlan, but do you have it set to run on a scheduled basis? I know that I have True Image set in that fashion, and it allows me to create the backup directory anywhere I wish. Check if you have that option in CP also, for two things...if the current backup location agrees with where you find these folders, and if you have the option to direct it to a specific folder that you manually create. Afterward create a new back and see if it looks anything like what you have found.
 

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prroots

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Thanks. Yes, I have attempted to review all CrashPlan options to be sure backups are saved to folders I created ie, D:\CrashPlan-P and D:\CrashPlan-K.. Basically, each laptop backs up to itself and to the other which is the reason that each laptop has both folders. As noted, the strange folders are created in D:\ root.
 
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Jimbo22

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#8
If I had to guess, I'd say those new folders are a direct result to the "update" to the backups that you are changing. I never change my backups. If I have new data, I just create another backup and delete the previous one. If you start messing with backups, you will inevitably corrupt the backup which defeats the purpose of creating the backup in the first place.

After looking up CrashPlan, I see that it's an online storage backup service that one has to pay for. Depending on the plan you have, I see that there is an unlimited amount of storage. If that is the case, then I would create daily backups.
 
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prroots

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Thread Author #9
bassfisher6522 said:
If I had to guess, I'd say those new folders are a direct result to the "update" to the backups that you are changing. I never change my backups. If I have new data, I just create another backup and delete the previous one. If you start messing with backups, you will inevitably corrupt the backup which defeats the purpose of creating the backup in the first place.

After looking up CrashPlan, I see that it's an online storage backup service that one has to pay for. Depending on the plan you have, I see that there is an unlimited amount of storage. If that is the case, then I would create daily backups.
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Thanks. I'm using CrashPlan+ which requires a paid subscription. CrashPlan has a very sophisticated backup scheme to continually backup and save old backups. When you go to restore you can select the date of the backup you wish to restore from. The attachment gives you an idea how this gets setup. I use CrashPlan for my D (data) partition. The C (OS/programs) partition changes infrequently and I use Acronis True Image 2013 to backup it. The Acronis image files then get backed up via CrashPlan and to external HDD/DVDs.
 

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Jimbo22

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#10
When you said "updating the backups" in post #5, what do you actually mean by that. Are you actually changing/adding something to the backup? Why the two different backup systems of the two drives.

Next thing I'll ask, have you checked both of the PC's for Virus's, malware, spyware that might be lurking around.
 
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prroots

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Thread Author #11
bassfisher6522 said:
When you said "updating the backups" in post #5, what do you actually mean by that. Are you actually changing/adding something to the backup? Why the two different backup systems of the two drives.

Next thing I'll ask, have you checked both of the PC's for Virus's, malware, spyware that might be lurking around.
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Thanks. I just upgraded the internal hard drive on my wife's laptop from 160GB to 1TB and was then able to use CrashPlan to backup both her and my D (data) partition to her local hard drive. As mentioned, CrashPlan allows backup to your local disk and to disk of another computer (as well as the cloud) so we each back up the other. Previously her hard drive was too small to do much of this. Backing up to the local hard drive provides for fast restore as needed and backing up to the other laptop provides security in case of hard drive failure.

Yes, I ran full scans with MS Security Essentials and Malwarebytes. Neither found anything.
 

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