Mystery "Hiding" Folder and File

[Plado]

This is a new one on me. I discovered that XP can size a jpg down to email size and attach it to email for you ready to send and makes a very nice job of the resize but once it attaches it to email it hides the attachment in a folder that seems not to exist.

After attaching it to an email I went to open the attachment to see what kind of job it made of the re-sampling of the photo, and it defaulted to storing it in a folder called
TVPTJP4S
So I saw that its name was correct picnic.jpg but out of curiosity I stepped back up through the tree to see where this strange storage folder for pending attachments was and the path was
(in reverse order) ContentIE5\ Temporary Internet Files\Local Settings\myname\Documents & Settings\C:\

OK so I tried to go and find this setting so I could grab the sized down jpg and move it to a storage folder just to save me having to save it manually to another folder from the email. The folder RBPTJP4S didn't exist. I made sure it looked in hidden files and sub folders.
Not only that but going through the tree in forwards order there is no ContentIE5 folder in the Temporary Internet Folder. And anyway I use IE6 so does anyone know where these attached files are held or is it only temporary while Outlook Express has the file ready to post and then they disappear into the ether for ever ?
Very odd.
Plado

[ESALADUANE]

IE5 is a system folder that is used by Windows and is not typically visible in My Computer or Windows Explorer. The Content.ie5 folder should not be deleted. If you have already deleted Content.ie5, restart your computer and then empty the Recycle Bin. The Content.ie5 folder should be recreated the next time you start Internet Explorer.

[Plado]

Well I wasn't likely to delete it. Not if XP is using it to stuff invisible files in it. So of course I didn't delete it. But thanks for the explanation it shows why I can't find the file.

XP does have a habit of giving toffee away with one hand while it steals candy from your other pocket as you are off your guard.
The moment you try to save yourself some time and gain control, it hides from you and then turns round and laughs at you in the most patronizing way.

Perhaps someone should hide Bill Gate's salary divided up into dollar bills and stick each one in a cache that is invisible. I wonder how long he'd take before he'd lose patience trying to ferret out what is his?
Plado

[Plado]

I'm sorry but I'm going to have to take issue with your comment about content.ie5 folder. I have just checked with a friend of mine the other side of the world who has Windows XP Home edition and who has today tried to duplicate my attaching of a jpg to email directly from the file, and he has discovered he has no folder anywhere called a name with IE5 in it.

His photo attachments get put in his TEMP folder when they have been attached to email. And he can retrieve them from there after the email has been sent as well.

I have checked my Temp folder and none of my attachments to email go in my TEMP folder, they are simply not there. So why does his XP work completely differently from mine? I thought they all functioned the same. If they should then perhaps my whole system needs altering ? I'm a bit worried now.
Plado

[ESALADUANE]

Sorry, the information source I used applies to:

- Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
- Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
- Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional
- Microsoft Windows 2000 Datacenter Server
- Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition
- Microsoft Windows 98 Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition
- Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0
- Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0

http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;EN-US;273010

[pav4530]

Originally Posted by Plado

I'm sorry but I'm going to have to take issue with your comment about content.ie5 folder. I have just checked with a friend of mine the other side of the world who has Windows XP Home edition and who has today tried to duplicate my attaching of a jpg to email directly from the file, and he has discovered he has no folder anywhere called a name with IE5 in it.

His photo attachments get put in his TEMP folder when they have been attached to email. And he can retrieve them from there after the email has been sent as well.

I have checked my Temp folder and none of my attachments to email go in my TEMP folder, they are simply not there. So why does his XP work completely differently from mine? I thought they all functioned the same. If they should then perhaps my whole system needs altering ? I'm a bit worried now.
Plado

Hi, Content.Ie5 is a system folder. It is usually hidden and different versions of windows has it in different places. In WindowsXp it is located in C:\Windows\system32\config\systemprofile\local settings\temporary internet files. It is a hidden file so to see it you must change the folder settings to view all files and uncheck the hide protected operating system files box. While you should not delete the folder the folder with the random numbers can be deleted from within Content.ie5. Those folders are dynamic and windows will recreate them as it needs them.

[Plado]

Well it's more than a year since this one was active but I will respond.

Thanks for this slight clarity on the issue. I don't know if you read earlier in the thread that I did have my system set to view all hidden and protected files. I can now find the IE5 folder on my system but I'm sad to say I still can't find any temporary jpg's placed in that folder or any of its sub folders. I just tested it by picking a jpg at random and re sizing it as I attached it to SEND to someone in email.
The photo didn't appear in the IE5 folder in the path you suggest.

So I still haven't got my question answered. Where does it put the photo when it has resized it and attached it to email? I suspect it's more likely to be in one of the Outlook Express hidden folders.
Wherever it is, it's a damned nuisance that Windows doesn't let you take hold of it to store it for future use sending copies. In this respect I'm better off re sizing it in an application and saving it myself to a location. Outllook Express is about as remote and system hi-jacked as the very worst any virus can manage.
Thanks for your help.

[namparc]

Plado to find your mystery folder do the fallowing. Go to your IE temp folder add "\Content.IE5" to the adderss then hit enter. ie: C:\Documents and Settings\myname\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5

[Plado]

Well thank you for that. Very thoughtful of you to solve the mystery of where the folder is hiding - very funny that it's taken two years and 2 months for anyone to respond!

I went to that location and put in the \Content.IE5 and found a magical path that contained some 25 folders with obscure names that don't identify which one my mystery filed jpg would be in.
Each of those 25 folders contained about 150 files gifs jpgs html pages and a mass of recent browsing history. I imagine that finding the one photograph that Outlook Express so kindly buried would probably take another 2 years and 2 months!

Or it might take until infinity if I had emptied the cache in my Temporary Internet Folders since making the sized down Jpg in Outlook Express.

I rest my case. The program is a bitch. User friendly it ain't.
And what's more the Search sometimes doesn't work and finds nothing when you know there's a file in there you want.

One last annoyance was that when I tried to select all files in one of the Temporary folders and see what the folder properties were, the IE6 crashed and had an illegal use of a dll file involved with NT - I've no idea what that was about and I care even less.

Thank you for your response I do appreciate it. I don't appreciate Outlook Express - it's as much use as a concrete parachute or a bath with no plug !

Originally Posted by namparc

Plado to find your mystery folder do the fallowing. Go to your IE temp folder add "\Content.IE5" to the adderss then hit enter. ie: C:\Documents and Settings\myname\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5