I have multiple cmd.exe when I search 'cmd' in windows search

Posted by NightcoreSpectrum@reddit | sysadmin | View on Reddit | 11 comments

I am not sure if I am in the right subreddit (tell me which sub to post to).

The locations I found are:
1) C:\Windows\WinSxS\wow64_microsoft-windows-commandprompt_31bf3856ad364e35_10.0.22621.5262_none_7562a8f8ca3ea893

2) C:\Windows\WinSxS\wow64_microsoft-windows-commandprompt_31bf3856ad364e35_10.0.22621.5547_none_753fc6b8ca5949dd\r

3) C:\Windows\WinSxS\amd64_microsoft-windows-commandprompt_31bf3856ad364e35_10.0.22621.5547_none_6aeb1c6695f887e2

4) C:\Windows\WinSxS\amd64_microsoft-windows-commandprompt_31bf3856ad364e35_10.0.22621.5547_none_6aeb1c6695f887e2\r

5) C:\Windows\WinSxS\amd64_microsoft-windows-commandprompt_31bf3856ad364e35_10.0.22621.5547_none_6aeb1c6695f887e2\f

and more that says "in r" and "in f"
I am aware that syswow, system32 and winsxs has the original exe but I see a lot more of these

is there any way to clear them safely?

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alpha417@reddit

You are not in the right subreddit.

r/techsupport or r/lostredditors.

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MinidragPip@reddit

He isn't, but oh man... He's making trouble for himself :)

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NightcoreSpectrum@reddit (OP)

As long as it is safe, I dont have to worry about deleting them. But I just have a crazy obsession of looking through random files to make sure they are not any type of malware or junk file.

I encountered this as when I ran cmd from windows search and hit enter, it said "couldnt find cmd.exe...: so I tried many other options and they said the same thing except the "windows terminal exe" and "cmd.exe" from sys32, winsxs and syswow.

At this point I thought it might be junk but let me ask the professionals before doing something irreversible.

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BlackV@reddit

But I just have a crazy obsession of looking through random files to make sure they are not any type of malware or junk file.

Oh really, and how are you making this judgement on whats legitimate? just cause? toss a coin?

what if my malware is called cmd.exe does that pass ? what if i call it Deffo not Malware.exe does that pass ?

what you are doing is a fools errand, just hoping to come across malware in your system

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NightcoreSpectrum@reddit (OP)

I am not the one making the judgement, I research about it before doing anything. It also helps me learn more about the OS and how they work. It makes me question more.

about your malware being called cmd.exe, I couldnt find any information on what created the folder "amd64_microsoft-windows-commandprompt_31bf3856ad364e35_10.0.22621.5547_none_6aeb1c6695f887e2" so I looked it up, the only thing I found is that malwarebytes flagged it as a false positive. So it being a malware was out of my list

Now my question was, why doesnt a new system have it? which app created it? which is why I posted here on "how to clear it" because this exe doesnt even run it just shows an error. Which is why I thought it might be pointless crap which I can remove in a safe manner (if there is one)

tldr, its just my way of learning stuff

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Decaf_GT@reddit

Every single one of these questions can be answered by simply looking up what WinSXS is on Google...

Don't go removing "pointless crap" from system folders when you don't actually know what they do. Even trying to figure out what they do is a waste of time...

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BlackV@reddit

I couldnt find any information on what created the folder amd64_microsoft-windows-xxx

those folders are from the side by side installs (i.e. the WinSxS folders) for different windows apps and services, I'm really supirised nothing mentioned that rather important folder, unless you you searched for the exact string ?