how do I delete files from the Windows Startup directory?

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Hi, I have the FBI ransomeware virus in one of my computers so I want to take this opportunity to experiment and try to get rid of it in my own way. So far, I have done some research stating that the virus creates a .exe file that runs the virus in startup. So I want to create a "vaccine" with my USB. I plan on creating a program that will automatically delete all files from the windows startup directory. So that I can restart the computer and hopefully the popup doesn't appear so I can then download a proper anti-virus and get rid of it all.

Question: So my question is, how can I delete all the files from the windows startup? I have this code but it doesn't seem to work. I know that there are many ways of deleting a directory but this method finds the specific file appropriately.

C#

string path = Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.Startup);

            foreach(string files in Directory.GetFiles(path))
            {
                File.Delete(files);
            }

All help is appreciated.

Posted 11-Sep-12 7:35am

MR. AngelMendez

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Zoltán Zörgő 11-Sep-12 13:41pm

This will probably not work. It is not wise to try to remove infected files this way. When this code will run, the malware will be active, and probably locking the files you want to delete. And even if, it is unlikely to be enough...

Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov 11-Sep-12 13:51pm

That's right. For this very case (the problem of deleting files) I provided basic information -- please see my answer.
Of course, if cannot help to really fight viruses... :-)
--SA

Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov 11-Sep-12 13:42pm

What exactly happens when you try it? Exception? Then provide comprehensive exception information. Or this loop found no files?
Just a note: you probably understand that this is a pretty naive way of fighting viruses. Practically, this activity is pretty much useless.
--SA

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Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov · Accepted Answer · 2012-09-11T07:50:00

Please see the comments to the question by Zoltán Zörgő and mine. You did not provide relevant information on what happens. One of the most apparent thing which might happen is this: some executable files in this directory are loaded for execution and are actually executed when you try to execute your code. Also, some data files could be opened by some processes for exclusive access (which is done by default) and not closed. In both cases, it is not possible to delete such files; you would need to kill the processes which hold them.

You can you investigate which process holds which file. For this, I recommend using one utility from the Sysinternals Suite. This set of utilities (formerly from Winternals company, presently at Microsoft) is a must-have for any developer, please see:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb842062[^],
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb545027[^].

The utility you need is "handle.exe", please see:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896655[^].

This utility will scan all kinds of handles, not just file handles. For file, it will scan all file handles matching the file name (so it does not have to be a full path name) and return information sufficient to identify each process, including its pid. So, if you need more information on a process in question, you can also use other Sysinternals utilities, in particular, its Process Explorer:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896653[^].

Note that these considerations are very basic. They along cannot help you to fight really sly viruses, most of which are way more cryptic and hard to remove.

Good luck,

—SA