Urgent Advice Needed

Hi, i know i'm probably posting in the the wrong place but i need some urgent and quick advice.

On my data partition local disk D, files are disappearing but folders are being left intact, sometimes i'm getting duplicate folders with the files inside, for example, codecs folder which is empty, then a codecs folder(2) which has the files that should be in that folder intact.

But now everytime i restart my computer i'm finding more and more folders that are empty with replacement folders that are empty also, nearly all folders now have a duplicate folder(02), the only thing that i've recently done is tried a new defrag program "UltimateDefrag".

Is this a failing hard drive, which has showed no sign of any problems, or could this new program have caused or damaged my hard drive, or is this some nasty virus, thanks for any advice.

 

The first thing that struck me was infection. There is a great site called TechSpot.com that has a Virus & Malware removal forum. In that forum is a sticky that is called 8 Steps. It has helped many, many people. If you choose to follow the 8 Steps then follow it implicitely. Don't skip any steps. Make sure when you are finished that you attach the 3 required logs.

You'll get great help.

Also, if you suspect your harddrive then find the make of your manufacturer and go to their website. Download their free diagnostic utility for harddrives. Sometimes they can even repair bad sectors, etc.