my computer has  a file on it called 2f2b03b96b565e3831c4b4e061aba48e.
This file is password protected. I did not load it and cannot access
it. What is it? Is it a virus, spyware? It makes me uncomfortable that
there is a file on my own machine that I cannot access.

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Request for Question Clarification by aht-ga on 13 Apr 2004 21:59 PDT

Can you please clarify what you mean when you say that the file is
password protected? How do you know this, and what methods have you
already tried to remove this file?

Regards,

aht-ga
Google Answers Researcher

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Clarification of Question by tigershark313-ga on 14 Apr 2004 04:58 PDT

To clarify, this file, or actually folder, is at the root of my C
drive. When I try to open it is says "access denied".

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Request for Question Clarification by aht-ga on 14 Apr 2004 08:24 PDT

This item is most likely a system file and should not be deleted. The
reason you are getting "Access Denied" is because the file is either
in use by the system, or has permissions set higher than your user
account is allowed.

Unless you are noticing symtoms of a virus, it is probably not.
2f2b03b96b565e3831c4b4e061aba48e sounds like a GUID (Globally Unique
IDentifier), and therefore it is probably a system file.

DO NOT DELETE THE FILE MANUALLY UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE!!!! 

The file may be in binary format, which would make it unreadable to
humans, or turn it into a load of gibberish.  If you are using
Microsoft Windows, you should download the free AVG Antivirus.

AVG Antivirus: http://www.grisoft.com/us/us_dwnl_free.php

And it just goes to show, you can't judge a virus by it's cover (er., filename).