weird problem: NeroCheck.exe and CoverDesigner disappeared!!

[dodecahedron]

all of a sudden, NeroCheck.exe had disappeard from D:\WINDOWS\System32\. it is still in the registry startup entry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run.

also, the Cover Designer has disappeared too. D:\Program Files\Ahead\CoverDesigner is empty!!!

i haven't messed around with Nero, nor can i think of anyting i might have done to cause this.

????????????

Nero appears to work fine as usual.
Win XP (non SP1).

anybody experience this weird problem?
comments anyone?

[cfitz]

When is the last time you upgraded, and what version are you running now? Is there any chance that these disappeared during your last upgrade, and you just now noticed? Neither of these are critical for many people's burning tasks, so they might have gone AWOL, unnoticed, quite some time ago.

cfitz

[dodecahedron]

sorry, forgot:
Nero 5.5.10.15 OEM.

the upgrade wasn't done recently - a few weeks ago.
the "disappearance" of the files was NOT during the upgrade, i'm sure of that.

[cfitz]

Than that truly is mysterious. A virus perhaps? Or a drive going bad? I would check for both those possibilities, starting with an on-line virus check (e.g. http://housecall.antivirus.com/housecall/start_corp.asp) in case your normal virus software has already been compromised. Then do a full scan with the latest definitions from your anti-virus provider. Also run chkdsk and any proprietary diagnostics that came with your hard drive or can be downloaded from your drive manufacturer's web site.

If everything passes then I would just uninstall your existing Nero, clean out all the registry entries and directories, install the latest 5.5.10.20 version from scratch, and then keep an eye on it.

cfitz

[dodecahedron]

i run Norton AntiVirus regularly - at least once a week.
and update the virus database regularly - at least once a week, usually every day.
so i'm pretty sure my comp is virus-free.

i'll do scandisk etc., but it seems to me unlikely that some hardware problem with the hard drive, such a bad sectors, would wipe out exactly particular files, and an entire folder. the filesystem seems completely intact, just that those files aren't there anymore.

anyway, i'll probably just update to the new Nero...

[dodecahedron]

managed to restore all (most?) of the files from the Norton Recycle Bin / UnErase Wizard.

still can't figure out how/why they were erased...weird