Nasty WMP bug - totally deleted files still playable *months later

Hi,

I generally like WMP but I think I've discovered a really nasty bug. I've
searched the web but can't find anyone else reporting it, so here goes - hope
someone can give some comments or ideas.

My setup: Asus F3JP laptop, WMP11 (came with Vista Home Premium 32bit).
Fully Microsoft-updated.

The bug:

(1) I put AVI files from the web in my PC's "Public Videos" folder.
(2) My girlfriend then copies them on to an SD card when she wants to watch
them, and watches them on our TV, using a little set-top box player thingy
that can play AVIs off an SD card (it's not networked or anything like that,
and therefore is unrelated to this issue).
(3) She or I then delete the original file from the "Public Videos" folder
(using Explorer, not WMP11.
(4) Here's the scary bit. I recently noticed that almost ALL of the videos
are still listed in Windows Media Player, and are STILL PLAYABLE - despite
having deleted the file and emptied the recycle bin, and also with no system
restore points (I've turned the feature off).
(5) If I right click on the file in WMP, and choose "Open location", it
opens a path within "C:\$Recycle.bin", and sure enough the file is still
there.

This is obviously a really nasty bug, because the files must still be taking
up disk space if they're still playable, and of course if the video was
private or personal, someone sharing my login could STILL WATCH videos I
thought I had totally deleted.

Can anyone else help with this problem or recreate it?

Thanks,

Chris
I com

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http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/com...pictures_video

This wouldn't be a bug in the player - the player is simply finding the
track on the disc. You might have some sort of delete issue going on, but
that's the actual problem. Even if WMP didn't play the track (which is
still there) any other player could still access it. =\

--
Speaking for myself only.
See http://zachd.com/pss/pss.html for some helpful WMP info.
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
--

"Chris OTR" <Chris OTR@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:3EC8D07D-B89B-4635-9B75-BC4188E098F5@microsoft.com...
> Hi,
>
> I generally like WMP but I think I've discovered a really nasty bug. I've
> searched the web but can't find anyone else reporting it, so here goes -
> hope
> someone can give some comments or ideas.
>
> My setup: Asus F3JP laptop, WMP11 (came with Vista Home Premium 32bit).
> Fully Microsoft-updated.
>
> The bug:
>
> (1) I put AVI files from the web in my PC's "Public Videos" folder.
> (2) My girlfriend then copies them on to an SD card when she wants to
> watch
> them, and watches them on our TV, using a little set-top box player thingy
> that can play AVIs off an SD card (it's not networked or anything like
> that,
> and therefore is unrelated to this issue).
> (3) She or I then delete the original file from the "Public Videos" folder
> (using Explorer, not WMP11.
> (4) Here's the scary bit. I recently noticed that almost ALL of the videos
> are still listed in Windows Media Player, and are STILL PLAYABLE - despite
> having deleted the file and emptied the recycle bin, and also with no
> system
> restore points (I've turned the feature off).
> (5) If I right click on the file in WMP, and choose "Open location", it
> opens a path within "C:\$Recycle.bin", and sure enough the file is still
> there.
>
> This is obviously a really nasty bug, because the files must still be
> taking
> up disk space if they're still playable, and of course if the video was
> private or personal, someone sharing my login could STILL WATCH videos I
> thought I had totally deleted.
>
> Can anyone else help with this problem or recreate it?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Chris
> I com
>
> ----------------
> This post is a suggestion for Microsoft, and Microsoft responds to the
> suggestions with the most votes. To vote for this suggestion, click the "I
> Agree" button in the message pane. If you do not see the button, follow
> this
> link to open the suggestion in the Microsoft Web-based Newsreader and then
> click "I Agree" in the message pane.
>
> http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/com...pictures_video

Hey,

Thanks for the thought

I see your point, but on the other hand, my "Watched folders" list doesn't
include anything other than the defaults (Music/Videos/Pics)... So it seems
like 2 issues! (1) why is the file not gone, and (2) why is it showing files
outside of the folders it should be showing ("Add files when played" is
turned off, incidentally)

Cheers,

Chris

"zachd [MSFT]" wrote:

>
> This wouldn't be a bug in the player - the player is simply finding the
> track on the disc. You might have some sort of delete issue going on, but
> that's the actual problem. Even if WMP didn't play the track (which is
> still there) any other player could still access it. =\
>
> --
> Speaking for myself only.
> See http://zachd.com/pss/pss.html for some helpful WMP info.
> This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
> --
>
> "Chris OTR" <Chris OTR@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:3EC8D07D-B89B-4635-9B75-BC4188E098F5@microsoft.com...
> > Hi,
> >
> > I generally like WMP but I think I've discovered a really nasty bug. I've
> > searched the web but can't find anyone else reporting it, so here goes -
> > hope
> > someone can give some comments or ideas.
> >
> > My setup: Asus F3JP laptop, WMP11 (came with Vista Home Premium 32bit).
> > Fully Microsoft-updated.
> >
> > The bug:
> >
> > (1) I put AVI files from the web in my PC's "Public Videos" folder.
> > (2) My girlfriend then copies them on to an SD card when she wants to
> > watch
> > them, and watches them on our TV, using a little set-top box player thingy
> > that can play AVIs off an SD card (it's not networked or anything like
> > that,
> > and therefore is unrelated to this issue).
> > (3) She or I then delete the original file from the "Public Videos" folder
> > (using Explorer, not WMP11.
> > (4) Here's the scary bit. I recently noticed that almost ALL of the videos
> > are still listed in Windows Media Player, and are STILL PLAYABLE - despite
> > having deleted the file and emptied the recycle bin, and also with no
> > system
> > restore points (I've turned the feature off).
> > (5) If I right click on the file in WMP, and choose "Open location", it
> > opens a path within "C:\$Recycle.bin", and sure enough the file is still
> > there.
> >
> > This is obviously a really nasty bug, because the files must still be
> > taking
> > up disk space if they're still playable, and of course if the video was
> > private or personal, someone sharing my login could STILL WATCH videos I
> > thought I had totally deleted.
> >
> > Can anyone else help with this problem or recreate it?
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Chris
> > I com
> >
> > ----------------
> > This post is a suggestion for Microsoft, and Microsoft responds to the
> > suggestions with the most votes. To vote for this suggestion, click the "I
> > Agree" button in the message pane. If you do not see the button, follow
> > this
> > link to open the suggestion in the Microsoft Web-based Newsreader and then
> > click "I Agree" in the message pane.
> >
> > http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/com...pictures_video
>
>
>

2: The public videos folder you're referring to would seem logically to be
under one of the monitored folders.
That (monitoring) is going to put a file reference in the library.
The player evidently isn't running or getting file delete notifications.
When you later try to access the file, the player tries to resolve the
broken reference, and it maps correctly the location in the recycle bin.

So the only real question in the above data is where it is relative to the
actually monitored folders. =\

--
Speaking for myself only.
See http://zachd.com/pss/pss.html for some helpful WMP info.
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
--

"Chris OTR" <ChrisOTR@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:A9D62593-5CB2-4FC8-8102-385D89D71B79@microsoft.com...
> Hey,
>
> Thanks for the thought
>
> I see your point, but on the other hand, my "Watched folders" list doesn't
> include anything other than the defaults (Music/Videos/Pics)... So it
> seems
> like 2 issues! (1) why is the file not gone, and (2) why is it showing
> files
> outside of the folders it should be showing ("Add files when played" is
> turned off, incidentally)
>
> Cheers,
>
> Chris
>
> "zachd [MSFT]" wrote:
>
>>
>> This wouldn't be a bug in the player - the player is simply finding the
>> track on the disc. You might have some sort of delete issue going on,
>> but
>> that's the actual problem. Even if WMP didn't play the track (which is
>> still there) any other player could still access it. =\
>>
>> --
>> Speaking for myself only.
>> See http://zachd.com/pss/pss.html for some helpful WMP info.
>> This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
>> rights.
>> --
>>
>> "Chris OTR" <Chris OTR@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:3EC8D07D-B89B-4635-9B75-BC4188E098F5@microsoft.com...
>> > Hi,
>> >
>> > I generally like WMP but I think I've discovered a really nasty bug.
>> > I've
>> > searched the web but can't find anyone else reporting it, so here
>> > goes -
>> > hope
>> > someone can give some comments or ideas.
>> >
>> > My setup: Asus F3JP laptop, WMP11 (came with Vista Home Premium 32bit).
>> > Fully Microsoft-updated.
>> >
>> > The bug:
>> >
>> > (1) I put AVI files from the web in my PC's "Public Videos" folder.
>> > (2) My girlfriend then copies them on to an SD card when she wants to
>> > watch
>> > them, and watches them on our TV, using a little set-top box player
>> > thingy
>> > that can play AVIs off an SD card (it's not networked or anything like
>> > that,
>> > and therefore is unrelated to this issue).
>> > (3) She or I then delete the original file from the "Public Videos"
>> > folder
>> > (using Explorer, not WMP11.
>> > (4) Here's the scary bit. I recently noticed that almost ALL of the
>> > videos
>> > are still listed in Windows Media Player, and are STILL PLAYABLE -
>> > despite
>> > having deleted the file and emptied the recycle bin, and also with no
>> > system
>> > restore points (I've turned the feature off).
>> > (5) If I right click on the file in WMP, and choose "Open location", it
>> > opens a path within "C:\$Recycle.bin", and sure enough the file is
>> > still
>> > there.
>> >
>> > This is obviously a really nasty bug, because the files must still be
>> > taking
>> > up disk space if they're still playable, and of course if the video was
>> > private or personal, someone sharing my login could STILL WATCH videos
>> > I
>> > thought I had totally deleted.
>> >
>> > Can anyone else help with this problem or recreate it?
>> >
>> > Thanks,
>> >
>> > Chris
>> > I com
>> >
>> > ----------------
>> > This post is a suggestion for Microsoft, and Microsoft responds to the
>> > suggestions with the most votes. To vote for this suggestion, click the
>> > "I
>> > Agree" button in the message pane. If you do not see the button, follow
>> > this
>> > link to open the suggestion in the Microsoft Web-based Newsreader and
>> > then
>> > click "I Agree" in the message pane.
>> >
>> > http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/com...pictures_video
>>
>>
>>