[SOLVED] Mystery folders

[fdoggrady]

Hi,
I've noticed that a ton of folders popped up on my second drive on my laptop. I don't know what they are or where they came from. Some of them have .file files, while some are empty. When I open the properties of them, I don't see anything helpful. They're really making organization a nightmare for me. Is there any way of figuring out where they're coming from?
Photos

 

[USAFRet]

Hi,
I've noticed that a ton of folders popped up on my second drive on my laptop. I don't know what they are or where they came from. Some of them have .file files, while some are empty. When I open the properties of them, I don't see anything helpful. They're really making organization a nightmare for me. Is there any way of figuring out where they're coming from?

Install and run either WinDirStat, or WizTree.

Run as Administrator, selecting only the drive in question.
Post a screencap here.

 

[fdoggrady]

Install and run either WinDirStat, or WizTree.

Run as Administrator, selecting only the drive in question.
Post a screencap here.

Here's what I got

Screen cap

 

[USAFRet]

In the top half of WinDirStat, can you locate those files/folders?

 

[fdoggrady]

In the top half of WinDirStat, can you locate those files/folders?

Yes. What do I do from here?

 

[USAFRet]

Yes. What do I do from here?

In the colored part, select one of them.
At the far bottom right, it will tell where those things are.

Also, what was the last thing you did before this started? Possible malware?

 

[fdoggrady]

In the colored part, select one of them.
At the far bottom right, it will tell where those things are.

Also, what was the last thing you did before this started? Possible malware?

In the colored part, select one of them.
At the far bottom right, it will tell where those things are.

Also, what was the last thing you did before this started? Possible malware?

I think I was trying to setup a virtual machine through Hyper-V, but I can't remember exactly what I was doing. It's been a couple of weeks since I first noticed it.
I don't see anything very helpful on windirstat.
Am I missing something?
screen cap

 

[USAFRet]

and oops...I meant far bottom left. Not right.

 

[USAFRet]

The one right below that is .crypt.
Either a WhatsApp encrypted file, or ransomware.
https://fileinfo.com/extension/crypt

I would suspect malware/ransomware.

 

[fdoggrady]

The one right below that is .crypt.
Either a WhatsApp encrypted file, or ransomware.
https://fileinfo.com/extension/crypt

I would suspect malware/ransomware.

Dang. Any advice?

 

[USAFRet]

Dang. Any advice?

Have you encountered any files that are inaccessible?
How long has this been happening?

 

[fdoggrady]

Have you encountered any files that are inaccessible?
How long has this been happening?

Nah. Everything seems normal. It's been about two weeks.

 

[USAFRet]

Nah. Everything seems normal. It's been about two weeks.

A true ransomware would have presented itself before now.

Monitor your Task Manager. See if anything weird is running.
Check the Windows error logs.