Help! Strange "fff" files in Windows ME!
 

Hello. I've just upgraded to Windows ME, and have carried on my
practice of tidying up all dubious-looking files at the end of each
day, i.e. when I search for "all files created in the last 1 day",
anything that looks to be of a temporary nature gets deleted. I've
noticed a whole load of files are created in C:\WINDOWS every day.
They are all ".tmp" files and all have long names beginning with
"fff", eg:-

fffbc343_{581A50.....
fffe0c27_{CA29F3.....
fffe28a5_{8A05C0.....

Can anyone tell me what application might be creating them, and why?
There are dozens already, and even though they are of neglible size,
I'm scared the volume of them will create directory problems soon.

Thanks in advance for any pointers.
Adrian Willis.

Adrian,

It appears that you may have Microsoft's Machine Debug Manager (mdm.exe)
loading at startup. MDM is installed by default when you install MS
Office and perhaps also by VisualStudio. If you don't need MDM to debug
script problems then I would recommend a) killing mdm.exe in the Task
Manager, b) removing mdm.exe from Startup in MSConfig, c) in Internet
Explorer, go Tools | Internet Options | Advanced and make certain that
"Disable script debugging" is checked in the "Browsing" section, and d)
renaming mdm.exe to something like mdm.old. This can be a pretty
persistent little program and unless one renames the file you will find it
added to startup again behind your back - for example when adding a
service pack to O2K.

One you have killed mdm you can delete all the fff??????{?????}.tmp files
it will have created in your ..\windows folder.

See also MS KB 221438 - "OFF2000: Files Whose Name Begins with "fff"
Appear in Windows Folder" (http://support.microsoft.com?kbid=221438).
--
Mike Maltby MS-MVP



Adrian wrote:

Hello. I've just upgraded to Windows ME, and have carried on my
practice of tidying up all dubious-looking files at the end of each
day, i.e. when I search for "all files created in the last 1 day",
anything that looks to be of a temporary nature gets deleted. I've
noticed a whole load of files are created in C:\WINDOWS every day.
They are all ".tmp" files and all have long names beginning with
"fff", eg:-

fffbc343_{581A50.....
fffe0c27_{CA29F3.....
fffe28a5_{8A05C0.....

Can anyone tell me what application might be creating them, and why?
There are dozens already, and even though they are of neglible size,
I'm scared the volume of them will create directory problems soon.

Thanks in advance for any pointers.

Many thanks to you Mike - much appreciated! I had actually seen a
process called "mdm" running when I once did ctrl/alt/delete, but just
thought "oh it must be something to do with modems, that's come in
with Windows ME" - oops! I have now got rid of it - I actually deleted
it using a "Tweak All" program, because I've used that before and I
was a bit apprehensive about editing a config file! I trust that was
ok. Oh - and I've changed the Internet Explorer thing too. On the
subject of stopping tasks running, could you please advise me on
PCHEALTH ???!!! I'm sure you're going to say that it does more good
than harm, but it seems to create so many files..... do I really need
it?
Thanks
Adrian

Adrian,

It appears that you may have Microsoft's Machine Debug Manager (mdm.exe)
loading at startup. MDM is installed by default when you install MS
Office and perhaps also by VisualStudio. If you don't need MDM to debug
script problems then I would recommend a) killing mdm.exe in the Task
Manager, b) removing mdm.exe from Startup in MSConfig, c) in Internet
Explorer, go Tools | Internet Options | Advanced and make certain that
"Disable script debugging" is checked in the "Browsing" section, and d)
renaming mdm.exe to something like mdm.old. This can be a pretty
persistent little program and unless one renames the file you will find it
added to startup again behind your back - for example when adding a
service pack to O2K.

One you have killed mdm you can delete all the fff??????{?????}.tmp files
it will have created in your ..\windows folder.

See also MS KB 221438 - "OFF2000: Files Whose Name Begins with "fff"
Appear in Windows Folder" (http://support.microsoft.com?kbid=221438).
--
Mike Maltby MS-MVP

Adrian,

Glad to have been able to help you with your fff*.tmp files problem.

The PCHEALTH entries in MSConfig | Startup and the Task Scheduler, rather
than doing more good than harm, are to all effects useless, producing
information that is of no use to man nor beast. What follows is my
standard "spiel" on this subject. g

PCHealth Scheduler for Data Collection:
The PCHealth entry in MSConfig | Startup and also in the Task Scheduler,
refers to the PCHealth Scheduler for Data Collection routine (pchschd.exe)
which launches winmgmt.exe to collect software and hardware configuration
data that can be accessed using Help & Support's System Information's
History view. In other words it allows you to see changes over a period of
time to your system such as drivers. The details collected are contained
in the files CollectedData???.xml files in the folder
...\windows\pchealth\helpctr\DataColl.

Note that all that pchschd.exe is doing every ten minutes is checking if
the system is idle or not. If idle it launches winmgmt.exe to collect the
information and sets itself to run again in 6 hours, if not it continues
to run at ten minute intervals until it finds the system is idle.

As to whether you need this historic data or not, only you can decide. A
number of us have long since decided to disable pchschd.exe having no use
for the collected data. It should be noted that if you contact MS or an
OEM for help that it is possible that they might request you send them
these files. If you do choose to disable pchschd.exe it is ESSENTIAL to
delete/disable it from both MSConfig | Startup and the Task Scheduler as
otherwise the startup entry will recreate the Task Scheduler entry when
the system is rebooted.

One advantage of disabling the PCHealth Scheduler is that it minimizes the
chances of winmgmt.exe causing problems. What happens is that quite often
winmgmt.exe doesn't exit correctly when it has finished but instead
remains resident and using cpu cycles.

Note also that disabling these entries does NOT affect either System
Restore or System File Protect, nor AutoUpdate or your ability to use Help
& Support, all part of what Microsoft call "PCHealth".
--
Mike Maltby MS-MVP



Adrian wrote:

Many thanks to you Mike - much appreciated! I had actually seen a
process called "mdm" running when I once did ctrl/alt/delete, but just
thought "oh it must be something to do with modems, that's come in
with Windows ME" - oops! I have now got rid of it - I actually deleted
it using a "Tweak All" program, because I've used that before and I
was a bit apprehensive about editing a config file! I trust that was
ok. Oh - and I've changed the Internet Explorer thing too. On the
subject of stopping tasks running, could you please advise me on
PCHEALTH ???!!! I'm sure you're going to say that it does more good
than harm, but it seems to create so many files..... do I really need
it?
Thanks

Thanks again Mike, for some wonderful enlightenment - I'd noticed that
"winmgmt" thing too, but hadn't a clue what it was. I'd also tried
deleting some PCHEALTH job from the Task Scheduler, and was a bit
annoyed when it came back again later! I shall follow your
instructions though, and hopefully rid myself of it once and for all!
Cheers!
Adrian

Adrian,

Thanks. Hopefully I've been of some help.

Cheers,
--
Mike M


Adrian wrote:

Thanks again Mike, for some wonderful enlightenment - I'd noticed that
"winmgmt" thing too, but hadn't a clue what it was. I'd also tried
deleting some PCHEALTH job from the Task Scheduler, and was a bit
annoyed when it came back again later! I shall follow your
instructions though, and hopefully rid myself of it once and for all!
Cheers!
Adrian

Hello Adrian and Mike,

I've just subscribed to this newsgroup & started by browsing the archives.
I was interested to read this thread , as I've also had the same concerns as
Adrian about the masses of fff*files that are persistently being created &
would eventually clog up valuable disc space, & didn't know what to do. So
thank you - although I'm having some trouble going through the process
recommended by Mike & following the information on the Windows help-pages.

Mike, you wrote.......
I would recommend
a) killing mdm.exe in the Task Manager

I believe I have done this correctly - there was just one instance of it in
the exact place as
described in the help-pages.

b) removing mdm.exe from Startup in MSConfig

There doesn't seem to be any instance of it here. Could I be missing it?
might it be named
something else in here? If so, this might be the problem, as I don't seem
to be able to progress much further after this step.

c) in Internet Explorer, go Tools | Internet Options | Advanced and make
certain that
"Disable script debugging" is checked in the "Browsing" section.

Yes, this is checked ....... but..............

d) renaming mdm.exe to something like mdm.old

I attempted to do this - but it wouldn't allow me to do it -
I received a message box telling me that I could not rename mdm as the
system
is using the file.

It seems as though it must be step(b) that is preventing me from doing this.
Could it possibly be somewhere in the Startup list in MSconfig under another
name
& I am just not recognising it?

I haven't yet attempted to delete all those "fff**" files - until I'm sure
I've achieved all of the
above successfully.

Any help with this, would be much appreciated.

Carole


"Mike M" wrote in message
...
Adrian,

It appears that you may have Microsoft's Machine Debug Manager (mdm.exe)
loading at startup. MDM is installed by default when you install MS
Office and perhaps also by VisualStudio. If you don't need MDM to debug
script problems then I would recommend a) killing mdm.exe in the Task
Manager, b) removing mdm.exe from Startup in MSConfig, c) in Internet
Explorer, go Tools | Internet Options | Advanced and make certain that
"Disable script debugging" is checked in the "Browsing" section, and d)
renaming mdm.exe to something like mdm.old. This can be a pretty
persistent little program and unless one renames the file you will find it
added to startup again behind your back - for example when adding a
service pack to O2K.

One you have killed mdm you can delete all the fff??????{?????}.tmp files
it will have created in your ..\windows folder.

See also MS KB 221438 - "OFF2000: Files Whose Name Begins with "fff"
Appear in Windows Folder" (http://support.microsoft.com?kbid=221438).
--
Mike Maltby MS-MVP



Adrian wrote:

Hello. I've just upgraded to Windows ME, and have carried on my
practice of tidying up all dubious-looking files at the end of each
day, i.e. when I search for "all files created in the last 1 day",
anything that looks to be of a temporary nature gets deleted. I've
noticed a whole load of files are created in C:\WINDOWS every day.
They are all ".tmp" files and all have long names beginning with
"fff", eg:-

fffbc343_{581A50.....
fffe0c27_{CA29F3.....
fffe28a5_{8A05C0.....

Can anyone tell me what application might be creating them, and why?
There are dozens already, and even though they are of neglible size,
I'm scared the volume of them will create directory problems soon.

Thanks in advance for any pointers.

In microsoft.public.windowsme.new-user, "Carole"
Carole@aWindowsMESystem wrote:

Hello Adrian and Mike,

I've just subscribed to this newsgroup & started by browsing the archives.
I was interested to read this thread , as I've also had the same concerns as
Adrian about the masses of fff*files that are persistently being created &
would eventually clog up valuable disc space, & didn't know what to do. So
thank you - although I'm having some trouble going through the process
recommended by Mike & following the information on the Windows help-pages.

Mike, you wrote.......
I would recommend
a) killing mdm.exe in the Task Manager

I believe I have done this correctly - there was just one instance of it in
the exact place as
described in the help-pages.

b) removing mdm.exe from Startup in MSConfig

There doesn't seem to be any instance of it here. Could I be missing it?
might it be named
something else in here? If so, this might be the problem, as I don't seem
to be able to progress much further after this step.


You appear to have missed it. It is called Machine Debug Manager, as
it is called in the MSKB article below.
You can disable it in Msconfig (Start-Run-MSCONFIG-Startup tab) or
remove the Registry key as shown in the article.

See also MS KB 221438 - "OFF2000: Files Whose Name Begins with "fff"
Appear in Windows Folder" (http://support.microsoft.com?kbid=221438).
--

....Alan

--
Alan Edwards, MS MVP W95/98 Systems
http://dts-l.org/index.html

Thankyou Alan,

Yes I had in fact already removed the registry key via the runregedit
process.
And then had thought I also had to do the disabling of MDM in Msconfig
Startup -
but realise now - of course I wouldn't find it there as I'd already removed
the
Registry Key per instructions in the article.
I'm thinking now that my mistake was not shutting down & restarting my
system
before then attempting to rename the mdm.exe file.
Glad to say I've now been able to rename it & deleted about 250 plus "fff"
files.

Really grateful for your reply, Alan, thanks.

Carole


"Alan Edwards" wrote in message
...
In microsoft.public.windowsme.new-user, "Carole"
Carole@aWindowsMESystem wrote:


You appear to have missed it. It is called Machine Debug Manager, as
it is called in the MSKB article below.
You can disable it in Msconfig (Start-Run-MSCONFIG-Startup tab) or
remove the Registry key as shown in the article.

See also MS KB 221438 - "OFF2000: Files Whose Name Begins with "fff"
Appear in Windows Folder" (http://support.microsoft.com?kbid=221438).
--

...Alan

--
Alan Edwards, MS MVP W95/98 Systems
http://dts-l.org/index.html

SNIP

Hi Carole

Thanks for the feedback.

Take care ...Alan

--
Alan Edwards, MS MVP W95/98 Systems
http://dts-l.org/index.html


In microsoft.public.windowsme.new-user, "Carole"
Carole@aWindowsMESystem wrote:

Thankyou Alan,

Yes I had in fact already removed the registry key via the runregedit
process.
And then had thought I also had to do the disabling of MDM in Msconfig
Startup -
but realise now - of course I wouldn't find it there as I'd already removed
the
Registry Key per instructions in the article.
I'm thinking now that my mistake was not shutting down & restarting my
system
before then attempting to rename the mdm.exe file.
Glad to say I've now been able to rename it & deleted about 250 plus "fff"
files.

Really grateful for your reply, Alan, thanks.

Carole


"Alan Edwards" wrote in message
.. .
In microsoft.public.windowsme.new-user, "Carole"
Carole@aWindowsMESystem wrote:


You appear to have missed it. It is called Machine Debug Manager, as
it is called in the MSKB article below.
You can disable it in Msconfig (Start-Run-MSCONFIG-Startup tab) or
remove the Registry key as shown in the article.

See also MS KB 221438 - "OFF2000: Files Whose Name Begins with "fff"
Appear in Windows Folder" (http://support.microsoft.com?kbid=221438).
--

...Alan

--
Alan Edwards, MS MVP W95/98 Systems
http://dts-l.org/index.html

SNIP