Microsoft KB Archive/79092

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File Manager Can Delete All Data on a Logical Drive

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Q79092

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The information in this article applies to:


 * Microsoft Windows versions 3.0, 3.0a

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SUMMARY
When using File Manager included with Windows 3.0 or 3.0a, it is possible to delete all data on a logical drive (either floppy or hard drive).

NOTE: This problem does not occur in later versions of Windows.

Steps to Reproduce Behavior
NOTE: The following steps will delete all the data on your logical drive. Be sure to back up your drive before performing these steps.


 * 1) Run File Manager and select the [..] entry in a directory one level down from the root.
 * 2) From the File menu, choose Delete. Because [..] always refers to the parent directory, File Manager will interpret this as a request to delete everything on a logical drive, proceeding to delete all files and all subdirectories, and even IO.SYS and MSDOS.SYS if these exist.

Reasons for Behavior
This behavior can seemingly &quot;spontaneously&quot; happen if the following circumstances apply:


 * 1) [..] was inadvertently highlighted prior to exercising the Delete command.
 * 2) Confirm On Delete and Confirm On Subtree Delete are not selected in the dialog box that appears when you choose Confirmation from the Options menu.

File Manager would otherwise generate warnings about the deletions that would occur.

Safely Deleting All the Files in a Directory
From the File menu, choose Select All to select all of the files in a directory. This command will not select the [..] entry.

Additional query words: 3.00 3.00a double dots

Keywords :

Issue type :

Technology : kbWin3xSearch kbWin300 kbWin300a