resolved! ty!

so, i stumbleupon'd a blog telling me about productivity apps. I thought one of them sounded good but wasn't convinced so i searched for it on a torrent search engine to "try-before-buy." i picked from a few sources and downloaded 3 torrents. one of them stuck on my desktop and won't go away.

if i try to open it:


if i try to rename it:


if i try to delete it:


so, there it sits. ugly, unwanted, a zero-byte .torrent file without it's U icon. a constant reminder of a piece of software so insignificant i couldn't even find a seeded source.



i have tried a few different anti-malware programs to move/rename/delete-on-boot which have all failed. i read a few postings on forums which say that illegal characters in the filename may be the cause. i did as they recommended, such as opening the file with notepad. notepad then says it can't find the file and asks you if you'd like to create a new one by the same name. you say yes, enter a random string of text, and save it. it saves a new file to the desktop with the same name. then you can delete the old file...but the new file is now the immortal one.

microsoft's website is as helpful as should be expected. it says that the file is either in use or corrupt. it says i should restart my computer, it wants me to run chkdsk /f. it doesn't know what it's talking about and it doesn't care about my problem.

i use xp professional.

did you try these instructions; http://www.techspot.com/vb/topic109461.html

If you already have Anti-virus and firewall already installed, please do not install another.

Or, try the folowing:

Start
Run
Enter 'cmd /k' (no quotes)
Enter 'cd\' (will get you the C:\ prompt)
Enter 'cd\Documents and Settings\{your user name}\Desktop'
Enter 'dir /w'
If you can see the item, Enter 'erase [filename]'


If you had a folder to delete, you would use 'rmdir [folder name]'


OR,

Download and install and update Malwarebytes (useful AM): use its' More Tools feature and run the FileASSASSIN.

OR,

To use HijackThis to remove a stubborn file:

Clearly identify the file(s) you want to delete and write down the COMPLETE path, eg, C:\Documents and Settings\MOM\Local Settings\Temp\filename

Start HijackThis,

click on the bottom option 'none of the above, just start the program'

click on the bottom right hand option 'config'

click on the top right hand option 'Misc tools'

click on the 'delete a file on reboot..' box

CAREFULLY work your way through the selection process to the file you want to delete and click on it

Shut down and Reboot

here are the results:
1.

2.

and finally, 3.

(because hijackthis didn't give an error message when attempting to delete on reboot)

Thats aweird problem.
Try downloading Unlocker (just google it)
Install it, then right click the torrent file and click Unlock. It will unlock all processes that have the file open. You should be able to then delete the file!

[TorrentReactor.to] looks like a Directory, not a file.

Try the rmdir command.

Infection

Another reason for me not to use torrents. Downloading unknown files from unknown locations, just doesn't sound very healthy. This could be an infection.

as if not being able to figure out how wasn't enough...

that did it. thanks very much, friend!

I think you should still follow the instructions found at the link I posted. You can never be too careful. Of course this is totally up to you.