Excel TMP files on Windows Server 2003 R2 NTFS volume cannot bedeleted

February 29, 2008

We're having problems with certain file types on our Windows 2003 R2

volumes that once created cannot be deleted anymore in any way. Such

is the case with lots of Excel TMP files. Here are the symptoms.

File is existing on disk (for example: test.TMP)\

When viewing the properties of the file you can see the information

about the time of creation, when it was last modified etc, but the

tabs for VERSION, COMPATIBILITY, SUMMARY and most important SECURITY

are missing. This is strange since the file is located on a NTFS

volume and the user who want to view this information has FULL CONTROL

on the file.

When trying to delete the file we get a message that the access is

denied.

When looking at the currently open files on the server the TMP file is

not listed as open.

When examining the server with Sysinternals Process Monitor of Process

Explorer the TMP files are not listed as being used by any active

process.

When trying to delete the file from a DOS BOX we also get an ACCESS IS

DENIED warning.

I tried changing the security on the file, but this also gives an

ACCESS IS DENIED. Taking ownership also doesn't work, ACCESS IS

DENIED.

I cannot copy the file, I cannot rename the file it just looks like

the file doesn't exist at all on disk. Rebooting the server might do

the trick, but the problems remains with more and more TMP files being

added that just cannot be deleted. We've removed any anti-virus

software to make sure that didn't interfere with the deletion.

The problem didn't exist at first, it seems to have surfaced after the

January updates from Microsoft.

Is anyone else experiencing a similar problem on a Windows 2003 R2

server with SP2?

Any help or insight is appreciated.

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