.txt file keeps reappearing after deletion

Makis Akritidis 10

Hello,I installed an .exe file for game and after a few hours I saw that it created a .txt file with some curse words on it.I said that it was OK and I will delete it but when I deleted it later this day it reappeared then I deleted the whole exe file.But still the file kept reappearing for some reason when I delete this txt file it keeps reappearing is there any way to stop it from reappearing

Ian Xue (Shanghai Wicresoft Co., Ltd.) 31,656 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor

2024-05-22T04:17:31.5433333+00:00

Hi Makis,

Thanks for your post. Can I know if you use OneDrive, DropBox or any other Cloud service to sync your files?

By Default in Windows 10, OneDrive will sync your user profile folders, including the Desktop folder

At the bottom right of your screen on the Taskbar, you should see a cloud Icon, right click that and Open OneDrive Settings

3 answers

Michael Taylor 49,261 Reputation points

2024-05-20T20:56:49.6466667+00:00

Most likely this is an auto-generated file that contains blocked words for chat or something. Just guessing since you didn't specify the game. Most likely this is part of a service that was installed as part of the game. Did you uninstall the game? Did it uninstall all its related anti-cheat software? Most likely it didn't and you would need to uninstall that as well.
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Makis Akritidis 10 Reputation points

2024-05-20T20:59:51.74+00:00

It was a cheating software for call of duty but the creator of the cheat decided to mess with me and put a txt file with curse words so I cannot delete it.I think that it's hidden and it's a script and I can't delete it

Michael Taylor 49,261 Reputation points

2024-05-20T21:43:40.95+00:00

If you're going to run software that auto-generates a file then there is no benefit in deleting it. If you are confident you removed the software but it is still getting created then something is still running (task scheduler, startup group, service/driver, etc). If you cannot figure out where it is coming from then download and run Process Monitor as an admin. Delete the file, set ProcMon to monitor file operations and leave it running until the file is created. Look in ProcMon for touched the file. That is the creator.

Note that ProcMon will generate lots and lots of data so disable monitoring of anything other than files. Also exclude some processes that are system processes. Things like lsass, explorer and svchost can be excluded. If it looks like it is from MS then right click the entry and tell it to ignore the process.

If it is a service then you might need to leave svchost.exe included as services tend to run from this process. There is no easy way to know but I would start out by leaving it excluded.

Makis Akritidis 10 Reputation points

2024-05-21T04:07:13.8666667+00:00

It is too complicated can you do it in another way?Will a reset work or it will tramsfer

Michael Taylor 49,261 Reputation points

2024-05-21T14:27:49.42+00:00

It really isn't as hard as it sounds. But a reset will be more work.

You really should run through your installed programs and find the program that is causing problems. What makes you believe they haven't installed something else that you aren't aware of yet?

Another option might be to run autoruns. It will show you all the processes that start when you start Windows or log on. It won't show scheduled tasks but it shows apps and services. Search these lists for malicious programs.

If you still cannot find the program and are OK with leaving it running then a workaround would be to lock down the file. Do the following:

Go to where the file is located.

Delete the file. If you cannot delete it then you might need to take ownership first.

Create a new, empty file with the same name.

Open the security tab (right click Properties, go to Security tab).

Click the Edit button and then select the Users group.

Under permissions check the options to Deny Modify and Write permissions.

The file will now exist, empty. But any attempts by a user to edit the file will fail. This should also prevent deleting the file. If the process doing the writing is using a different account then they might still have access.
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Makis Akritidis 10 Reputation points

2024-05-21T14:37:50.9133333+00:00

Can you guide me on how to reset my pc and clean the disks because last time i reseted my pc and some files where still on my second drive(clean the disk without removing the os)
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Makis Akritidis 10 Reputation points

2024-05-21T14:40:20.37+00:00

I forgot to mention that I've selected the opting delete all files
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.txt file keeps reappearing after deletion

3 answers