What are `Zone.Identifier` files?

windows file-io filesystems smb network-drive
Benjamin picture Benjamin · Dec 21, 2010 · Viewed 68.7k times · Source

I often see files named 'blabla.exe:Zone.Identifier' when monitoring I/O with Process Monitor.
The files are seen on network-drives.

alt text

  • What are Zone.Identifier files?
  • What does the colon mean in the filename?

Is the colon related the file's extended attributes?

Answer

Zabba picture Zabba · Dec 21, 2010

The text after the colon is an identifier for an "Alternate Data Stream". ADS is used to store meta-information about the file. For example, the Zone identifier stores whether the file was downloaded from the internet.

Some specific info: About URL Security Zones, Zone.Identifier Stream Name

Best is to google around for more information. Eg. this, this and this.

Finally, here's Streams, the Sysinternals tool for ADS.

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