Readers like you help support MUO. When you make a purchase using links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Read More.

A co-worker's computer has triplicate of every file on his computer. If he tries to delete 2 sets of the files they all delete. If he tries to delete one file, all versions of that file delete. Almost as if they are grouped. You can see them in the directory tree; however, if you search for the file name it only shows once not 3 times. Any ideas? Operating system is Windows XP.

Ultimitloozer
2011-03-30 10:54:00
If this only appears in Windows Explorer (and not the command prompt) and you are sure that the system is malware-free, apply Service Pack 3 to the system and recheck behavior.
MAKEUSEOF VIDEO OF THE DAY
SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT
Tina
2011-03-27 17:51:00
Jan, did you follow any of the suggestions above? Were you able to figure out what caused the triplicates and could you remove them? Please let us know. Thank you!
2011-03-23 10:25:00
Thats strange, you can try to use a duplicate cleaner, but delete one by one so to not make a mistake.Possible windows is corrupted with malwares, do a scan with Clamwin (http://www.clamwin.com/)Download treesize pro and do a scan to see whats eating your had drive space and from there you can delete files.http://www.jam-software.com/treesize/
Oron Joffe
2011-03-22 22:53:00
Never seen one quite like that, but it sounds to me like the problem is with the operating system and not with the files themselves. You cannot have multiple files in the same folder and sharing the same name, so the problem may be with Explorer or perhaps with Windows' file system drivers. You can check by removing the hard disc and connecting to another PC, or possibly even by accessing the PC over the network.