The NProtect directory is used to store temporary copies of files that the user has deleted or modified. This feature supplements the Windows Recycle Bin, creating a temporary backup of certain types of files that the Windows Recycle Bin does not back up. The Norton Protected Recycle Bin allows the user to recover these protected files if they are accidentally deleted.

NProtect is hidden from the Windows FindFirst/FindNext APIs. Since the hidden directory is not visible to Windows, files in the directory might not be scanned during scheduled or manual virus scans. Files in the NProtect directory are scanned by on-access scanners like Symantec's Auto-Protect, and by the on-access scanners of other vendors' products.

When NProtect was first released, hiding its contents helped ensure that a user would not accidentally delete the files in the directory. In light of current techniques used by malicious attackers, Symantec has re-evaluated the value of hiding this directory. We have released an update that will make the NProtect directory visible inside the Windows Recycler directory. With this update, files within the NProtect directory will be scanned by scheduled and manual scans as well as by on-access scanners like Auto-Protect.

The NProtect directory will continue to function as it always has, and users will continue to have the ability to enable or disable the feature through the Norton Protected Recycle Bin user interface.