Path: news.eternal-september.org!eternal-september.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail
From: Lawrence D'Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid>
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.advocacy,alt.comp.os.windows-11
Subject: About That =?UTF-8?B?4oCcaW5ldHB1YuKAnQ==?= Folder ...
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2025 23:58:35 -0000 (UTC)
Organization: A noiseless patient Spider
Lines: 22
Message-ID: <1027sfb$qu5d$1@dont-email.me>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
Injection-Date: Tue, 10 Jun 2025 01:58:36 +0200 (CEST)
Injection-Info: dont-email.me; posting-host="a5518ee0c95f6b08e9d5fafdc8752f61";
	logging-data="882861"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@eternal-september.org";	posting-account="U2FsdGVkX186ahqUJ1JUF++3sQhszDcu"
User-Agent: Pan/0.162 (Pokrosvk)
Cancel-Lock: sha1:K/OzKeH6x59SbCDWm5pyfvxq5Hw=

Lately, a mysterious empty folder called “inetpub” has been appearing
on Windows machines after recent Microsoft security updates. Some were
old enough to remember that this folder was part of the installation
of Internet Information Server, which was Microsoft’s attempt to
compete with the open-source heavyweights in the web server world. It
was a product that was infamous for its security vulnerabilities, so
when people saw this familiar name reappear out of the dead past, it
was no surprise that some went “Aieeee! Security hole! Delete!
Delete!”.

But it turns out that this is no bug, it’s a feature! It is somehow a
required part of Microsoft’s current security mechanisms for Windows.
(How? Why? Nobody seems able to explain ...) And not only that, if you
delete it (accidentally or otherwise), you cannot simply fix things by
recreating a folder in the same location with the same name.

Instead, you have to go through the rigmarole of downloading and
running some PowerShell script that Microsoft helpfully provides
<https://www.tomshardware.com/software/windows/if-you-deleted-that-mysterious-windows-file-microsoft-told-you-not-to-theres-a-new-script-to-restore-it>.

Even running the script is not a straightforward process: it requires
the entry of several cumbersome and error-prone shell commands.