If you are a Windows computer user, then you may have noticed directories on your C: or root drive that are labeled with the Found.000 or Found.001 name. Some computer users get confused and think these folders are stored by computer viruses or computer malware and are used to spy on you or to do your computer harm. This is not the case. The following will give you an explanation on why Found.000 folders are created so you can better understand the folders and information stored on your computer.
Where Are Found.000 Folders on My Computer?
A found.000 folder is a system folder that is hidden by your computer’s Operating System. If you have any Found.000 folders on your computer, they can be viewed by unchecking the “Hide Protected Operating System Folders and Files” menu option in the Folder Options menu. If you do have any folders resident on your computer, the number labeling of the folder will increment by 1 for each folder that has been created on your computer. These folders are not associated with computer malware.
Why Is a Found.000 Folder Created?
A Found.000 folder is created when a CHKDSK scan or other disk verification or checking program/utility is run on your computer. When the scan disk program finds an error on your hard drive, the operating system will fix the errors. Depending on the nature of the error and options you have selected for fixing the hard drive errors, windows may create the Found.000 folders sequentially.
What Is In a Found.000 Folder?
A found.000 folder will contain files that look similar to “File0000.chk” and so on, incremented by 1 similar to the folder naming conventions. CHKDSK creates these files to save data that may be lost during the scan disk fixing utility program run. The majority of the time, these files can be deleted without causing any harm to your computer. If you do not delete the files because you are unsure of the potential damage they could cause, then you do not have to do so. They will do harm by remaining on your computer.
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Odd thing is that i do see the found.000 in my scanner list but i can not see it in my folders.
And yes, hidden folders are shown.
I believe you mis-typed: ” If you do not delete the files because you are unsure of the potential damage they could cause, then you do not have to do so. They will do harm by remaining on your computer.”
I think you meant – They will NOT do harm by remaining on your computer.
Thanks for the correction Rick!
Thanks for this post. I found one of these and had a bit of a panic. I’ve been using Windows computers since — what was it — 3.1? Only hearing about this now has me feeling a little sheepish.
The found.000 folder may contain files you want to keep but that were improperly named. So you should probably check them before deleting them.