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So we have some folders which are shared over the AD Domain (Windows Server 2003). It was just noticed that in 2 of those folders (which contain only Excel and Word files), whenever a file is opened and closed, the temp file which was opened corresponding to that file still remains. Apparently, this's been going on for the past couple of years (which has led to an insane amount of temp files in each folder/subfolder under those shared folders). These shared folders are under the D:drive and not C: drive.

There is only one group (containing 2 users) who access the said folders. I cannot understand if this has to do with the settings/permissions for the User/Group/Individual Client machine. For now, I have manually deleted all the temp files from each folder/subfolder. While this is not critical at the moment, I'd still like to clear this up. Also, it takes an additional fraction of a second to open folders that contains more than 10,000 temp files.

Thanks in advance.

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2 Answers 2

up vote 2 down vote accepted

It's almost certainly a permissions issue, do your users have "Modify" / "Delete" rights? Also, Process Monitor is great for issues like this as it should let you see what process is handling the file and with a bit of luck, why it can't remove it.

It could also be related to your Share Permissions, if applicable. Remember, these are different and mutually exclusive to your other permissions.

Your best way forward is to get yourself a test account, replicate the issue, and then try giving that account full control over the directory. If the issue persists, then you can probably rule out permissions and look elsewhere.

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Thanks @Dan for your help. I created a test user and replicated the issue. It looks like the users in those groups have everything except "Modify". The moment you add "Modify", the problem goes away. –  i.h4d35 Oct 27 '12 at 7:09

I'd look into inheritance on the security permissions for the folders in question. It might be some inconsistency in there where users have access to create but not modify folders. +1 to what Dan mentioned regarding using a test account to replicate and resolve the issue with trial and error.

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