Windows 11 update reportedly creates a mysterious folder on your system
drive, which is certainly confusing but ultimately harmless

Date:
Thu, 10 Apr 2025 09:41:19 +0000

Description:
Scratching your head about a mysterious folder thats appeared on your drive after installing the latest Windows 11 update? Heres whats happened.

FULL STORY ======================================================================The monthly patch for Windows 11 24H2 reportedly has a bug that creates an enigmatic folder This inetpub folder appears in the system drive but its
empty Its harmless, and you can seemingly delete it safely though there appears to be a history of inetpub popping up on PCs

If youre scratching your head because a mysterious folder has appeared on
your system drive in Windows 11, you wouldnt be alone.

According to Windows Latest , the issue with the strange folder being
created pertains to the latest April update for Windows 11 24H2 .

After installing that upgrade, apparently a good many users, including
Windows Latest, have spotted that an empty folder called inetpub has been created on the drive that Windows 11 is installed on (the C: drive normally).

This folder is empty, and doesnt do anything, but its appearance may cause quite some bewilderment among Windows 11 users who open their drive for whatever reason and happen to notice the folder.

As Windows Latest explains, this appears to relate to IIS (Internet Information Services), which is Microsofts web server software for
developers. The inetpub folder is used to store the likes of web pages that a developer might be testing locally on the host PC.

If youre panicking at this point, thinking that this update has installed an entire piece of software you dont need on Windows 11 without your permission, then dont fret. Nothing has actually been installed, only the blank folder
has been mistakenly created.

In other words, theres no harm done as such. Windows Latest has deleted the folder as have others and reports that its quite safe to remove it from
your drive. Still, those who are more paranoid may just want to leave it (as its empty, and not doing anything unless its presence annoys you, of
course). (Image credit: Future / Jeremy Laird) Analysis: Folder whack-a-mole?

This is an odd quirk indeed, and yet another in a long line of weird bugs
with Windows 11. As to what causes it, as Windows Latest theorizes, we can presume that somewhere within the April cumulative update, Microsoft is
making some tweaks to IIS components. This process likely triggered the creation of the folder related to IIS storage errantly on machines that dont use the software but thats all that has happened.

So, this is a relatively benign bug, and more a source of confusion than anything else. However, the danger is that strange behavior on a PC like this may cause a Windows 11 user to believe that they have perhaps been hit by a virus. Mysterious things appearing on your drive are, of course, a telltale sign of a virus infection (along with your PC becoming a lot more sluggish,
or suffering from weird popups).

The bug also appears to be widespread, so quite a number of Windows 11 users may be annoyed, or bothered by, the folders appearance (if they notice it at all, that is). Windows Latest observes that it appeared on all of their Windows 11 machines, and there are a fair few reports from confused folks on Reddit, too.

At any rate, rest assured that nothing bad has happened to your system here, and hopefully Microsoft will be able to clean up this glitch relatively quickly. Running against that idea, though, is the fact that there are historical reports of the seemingly random appearance of this folder on
system drives, and that doesnt fill me with confidence that the software
giant will stamp this out.

So, even if you do go ahead and delete it as Windows Latest suggests (at your own risk, I might add) and that works fine theres no telling if at some point in the future, this folder might reappear on your Windows 11 drive.

It does indeed seem that some folks have been playing inetpub whack-a-mole
for some years now, and if that really is the case, its down to Microsoft to come up with a permanent solution. You may also like... Windows 11 users are getting fixes for some longstanding bugs in 24H2 today, including the cure
for a seriously annoying File Explorer glitch Windows 11 is getting a very handy change to the taskbar, as Microsoft takes a leaf from Apples Mac playbook Microsoft looks to be making a big change to how you install and log in to Windows 11 and Im not happy about it at all



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/computing/windows/windows-11-update-reportedly-creat es-a-mysterious-folder-on-your-system-drive-which-is-certainly-confusing-but-u ltimately-harmless


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