SOLVED: Application Data.. repeating recursion
The directory name C:\Users\ username \AppData\Local\Application Data\Application Data\Application Data\Application Data\Application Data\Application Data\Application Data\Application Data\Application Data\Application Data\Application Data\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer is too long.
The insanity of it almost makes sense if you think about it, but don’t think too long or it hurts.
Based our investigation, here is what seems to have happened. In Vista and Windows 7, a Microsoft developer had the good intention of flattening the nested file folders. Regrettably, a folder shortcut, called a junction, was used and the consequences were not well thought out.
So, instead of a having an Application Data folder to write to, all applications are given this link as their folder location. There they would normally proceed to create Application Data\whatever. As the folder is not really a folder, it’s a link, the problem becomes recursive.
When the problem was caught, the programmer was unconvinced of a logic error regarding how older applications should be supported, so instead of fixing the problem, temporarily decided set the folder properties to DENY rights to List Folder for user Everyone. The problem was never revisited and the operating system is installed with this security property.
Now, along come folks who manually, or via some application, take control of their users’ folders. Some people do this to make sure their data is backed up so that certain backup programs do not end up access denied and find themselves S.O.L. without a backup of all their users’ data. The consequence is that you can now write into the AppData\Local\Application Data again and create the recursion effect.
Some of you may get a chuckle in many forums when told to check for a virus as the cause. This is not a virus problem, but I will interject a strong recommendation for Microsoft Security Essentials, one of the best products I have seen from Microsoft.
A further chuckle is that this junction was created to support older programs from the XP days. However, while folder aliases or links are common in Unix based operating systems, many popular Windows applications on the market do not recognize what a junction is nor understand how to traverse it. This can be said of many Microsoft products as well (e.g. IE), which may be why the access DENIED was issued to the folder list property.
Some have suggested leaving the Application Data junction there and setting DENY access to Everyone. How is that different from going to the C:\users\username\AppData\Local directory and deleting the Application Data folder? The glass is either half full or half empty on this one.
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Don’t you hate automated blog spam replies like the one above? Too bad for Zenithink that Google has already figured this out and doesn’t count this for page rank or anything.
I just encountered this bug after using Google Apps Email Sync for a few hours. I have 16 recursive directories. The Outlook PST file is only 18 MB in size.
Other programs that use the recursions are: Mindjet Mindmanager, Adobe Air, Nero Home, Apple software update, iTunes, QuickTime and Webkit.
Did you delete the first dupe folder? It wasn’t clear from your last para.
OK. Now, how do I delete this group of recursively defined directories?
Just thought I’d say thank you!! Crashplan Backup was having a problem after malware trashed my ACL’s. I fixed the ACL’s but I could not for the life of me figure out why it was recursing like it was…
THANKS!
Hello Folks.
I just wanted to let you know I am a support rep from a company whose users has hit this issue with a product. An enterprising user pointed out an open source program that was able to repair the junction point issue outlined here. I havent tested it myself yet, its called Junction Box. The fix is discussed in the forum thread here:
http://bit.ly/b2Shnr
I have verified with at least one user this did in fact fix their issue. I just thought I’d pass the knowledge on here as well.
and how I can repair it? Have 25x full folder structure of Documents and Settings/All Users/Application Data
Take ownership of the directory first and then delete it. I could also suggest my favorite folder and file tool – BeyondCompare by Scooter software
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“As the folder is not really a folder, it’s a link, the problem becomes recursive.”
That statement is not explanatory; the [therefore] part assumes knowledge that I lack.
I understand link; exactly what is the “problem”?
I understand recursion; why does it follow from a link?
What exactly seriously motivated you to create “SOLVED:
Application Data.. repeating recursion Wordlinks’ Blog”? I personallydefinitely liked the blog post! Thanks -Allan
I have just removed this entry: “DENY access to Everyone” from the folder/junction “C:\Users\USERNAMEofMine\Application Data” and recursion has disappeared at once.
where is the folder /junction ????
Sieć jest coraz ważniejszym kanałem lecz i jeśli chodzi rozrywkę, czy poszukiwanie informacji, ale również jeśli kroczy o sprzedaż i reklamę.
Coraz większa liczba ludzi posiada dostęp do sieci w ciągu dnia, zarówno w formie stacjonarnej, jak i formie mobilnej.
Jednocześnie coraz większa liczba osób nie boi się dokonywać zakupów produktów
oraz usług informatycznych drogą internetową,
co zwiększa skuteczność jaką ma kampania reklamowa.
Wielu klientów zauważa pozytywy jakie płyną z wariacje dokonywania
takich zakupów. Jednym z takich atutów jest możliwość zaoszczędzenia terminu
jaki konieczny by był aż do chodzenia po sklepach stacjonarnych.
W sieci możemy dodatkowo znaleźć niższe ceny, które wynikają
z niższych kosztów prowadzenia działalności Reklama Firmy w Internecie przez firmy jakie nie posiadają
stacjonarnych oddziałów. Innym plusem jest opcja szukania różnych ofert.
Z tego powodu konflikt zbrojny reklamowa jaka prowadzona wydaje się
w Internecie może rozniecić bardzo pozytywne rezultaty.
Plusem takich kampanii, jak firma na facebook widnieje możliwość szybkiego badania jej uzysków.
W ten sposób kompleksowo łatwiej jest dopasować
kampanię do konkretnych odbiorców. Dodatkowo możliwe jest stosowanie takich sposobów reklamowania
się, które niosą ze sobą rozmaite koszty. Dla przykładu firma na facebook akceptowalny
bardzo tanim sposobem także promowania się, jak i prowadzenia funkcjonowaniu promocyjnych.
Jest to rozwiązanie, choćby dla małych oraz średnich firm dla jakich tradycyjne formy reklamowania się mają prawo
być zbyt drogie. Jest to również rozwalenie jakie może znacznie rozpędzić się rynek i zakres oddziaływania firmy
na klientów.
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Retitle this article, it is not a solution to the problem, thus it isn’t “solved”. It is just a disclosure to the how the problem was born. It’s highly frustrating to have this article at the top of a search, when dealing with the difficulty of fixing the issue.
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It’s 2015. It was change-for-no-reason back then, and it’s still change-for-no-reason now. The technology pushers. Money 1st reliability 5th. All the money Bill Gates has was supposed to be spent on SOFTWARE TESTING.
This wiped it for me:
robocopy C:\purge C:\users\username\appfolder /purge
(create a purge folder that is empty)
German Afonso, please list this as a step by step process. Not sure where the command robocopy is entered and when and where do you create the purge folder? I think it should work but set it up as a step by step process. Thanks for your input
This worked for me. @Rick – robocopy is enter in the command prompt. THanks German Afonso!
I’ve been trying to solve a recursion problem with this junction but every time I try to delete it or change it’s permissions or take ownership. I get permission denied. How do I fix this recursive problem?
Some older programs were created when the “Application Data” folder was a real folder. Since then, Microsoft changed things and the files that used to go under “Application Data” go under “C:\Users\[user]\AppData\Roaming”, and Microsoft created a symbolic link called “Application Data” that points to the new “AppData\Roaming” folder. This makes is possible for old and new programs to run without errors.
If you delete the Application Data folder (symbolic link), you will break older programs that expect to find/use the “Application Data” folder. You should fix the issue by setting the permissions and attributes to the “Application Data” symbolic link, instead of simply deleting it. Then the recursion will not happen. I wrote an answer to this question on Super User (https://superuser.com/a/1410141/162011). If you are not a techie person, then make sure you ask a techie person to help you.
This is an update for Windows 11 for the advice above from the SuperUser link, which I verified works.
Apply to each user on the account that the full user folder is being backed up, including App Data folder.
1. Open Windows Explorer
2. Go to (…) then Options, then click the View tab
3. Disable the option to [ ] Hide protected operating system files, and enable the option to (x) Show hidden files, folders, or drives.
4. Navigate to C:\Users\[user]\AppData\Local
5. Right-click Application Data symbolic link and choose Properties (make sure it’s the symbolic link and not a real folder — it should have a shortcut arrow as an overlay on top of a folder icon)
6. Click the Security tab, then Advanced, then Add
7. For Add:
• Principal: Everyone
• Type: Deny
• Apply To = This folder only (<-this is important)
• Show advanced permissions
• Uncheck all except List folder / read data (<- this stops recursion)
8. Click OK
9. Click OK and then click Yes to warning
10. Click OK again to apply the changes
11. Undo changes for #3 above
its also worth pointing out that LITERALLY ALL OF MICROSOFT suggests Appdata/local as the lowest an trust hierarchy of centralized installation folders.
thus this is the folder that you are *supposed to* use for installing, for lack of a better word “Rando apps” (Nirsoft, download managers, game mods, quick-fix productivity tools….. any application that is still incredibly useful but hasnt been developed in 14 years, that kind of thing)
IE: security hierarchy: %programfiles% > %programfiles(86)% > %appdata% > %localappdata%
Portable apps? The desktop, *any* directory that even vaguely carries along the “library” baggage in the users folder…. Root C? NONE OF THEM can be used reliably except for Appdata local.