I'm looking for a program downloadable from the internet that will
allow me to delete folders and files from my computer: kind of like a
Super-Deleter. Free is obviously preferable, but I will buy the
software if I have to.
Why don't you just right click and select "delete," you ask? (I'm
using Windows XP). Because when I do, I get the following error
message about 15 seconds into the deletion process:
"Cannot delete [name of file]. The file name you specified is not
valid or too long. Specify a different file name."
I have a folder on my desktop, you see, that is kind of like a Chinese
box. Inside it are folders, inside those are more folders, and on and
on.
Anyhow, I want to delete the entire thing.
Unfortunately, some of these files go way back. Over the years some
of them have apparently acquired LONG FILE NAMES, and now Windows
won't delete the root folder.
I can't go inside and rename these files, since we're talking about
hundreds, and you can only re-name a bunch of documents inside of one
folder, not through the different levels, if you follow me.
So it's pretty amazing! Windows refuses to delete it because some of
the names are too long, and it would take hours and hours to go in
there and give all the offending files shorter names just so they
could be deleted.
A real pain in the neck.
Anyhow, is there some sort of small application out there that will
simply delete this folder out of existence without being so fussy?
NOTE: you also get the money if you can explain how to fix this
problem (without going in and renaming all the files individually, of
course). |
Request for Question Clarification by
sublime1-ga
on
26 Jul 2005 20:37 PDT
gnossie...
Have you tried deleting from a command prompt after booting
up in safe mode? If you need help in attempting this, just
let me know the location of the folder when viewed in Windows
Explorer.
Let me know where this takes you...
sublime1-ga
|
Clarification of Question by
gnossie-ga
on
26 Jul 2005 20:45 PDT
No, I don't know how to do this using command prompt. The folder's on
the desktop. It's called, let's say, "dgg"
|
Request for Question Clarification by
sublime1-ga
on
26 Jul 2005 20:50 PDT
Further research indicates this may be a problem with SP2
on XP. I'm guessing you're using Windows XP SP2? Do you
also have any Connectstor devices installed?
|
Request for Question Clarification by
sublime1-ga
on
26 Jul 2005 21:01 PDT
Okay...shut down your PC and reboot. When you get to the
black screen just before the Windows color boot screen,
press F8 for Windows boot options. Select Safe Mode with
Command Prompt.
When you get to the command prompt, type:
del C:\Documents and Settings\YourLogonName\Desktop\dgg\*.*
If it gives you any trouble locating the folder, you may
have to navigate to the folder first, by using the cd
(change directory) command:
C:\ cd Documents and Settings
C:\ cd YourLogonName
C:\ cd Desktop
C:\ cd dgg
Your command prompt should now read:
C:\Documents and Settings\YourLogonName\Desktop\dgg\
then just type:
del *.*
Then reboot normally. If you didn't get any error messages,
and it was successful, you should now have an empty dgg
folder on your desktop, and you should be able to delete
it normally.
Let me know where this takes you...
sublime1-ga
|
Clarification of Question by
gnossie-ga
on
27 Jul 2005 06:28 PDT
thanks for all your help, first of all.
I followed your instructions precisely, and though they seemed to
work, when I rebooted normally, the folder was there and taking up 3Gb
of space, as if nothing happened.
Now when I try to delete it by right-clicking, it says: Access denied
(to a specific file), even though I'm logged in as the admin!
|
Request for Question Clarification by
sublime1-ga
on
27 Jul 2005 13:19 PDT
Windows can be so rude!
Okay, so let's play with some of the options available with the
del command. Go back into safe mode with command prompt to run
it again. This time use the /F parameter, which forces the
deletion of read-only files. Also use the /S parameter, which
should make it print out every file that is deleted, so you'll
have some indication of whether it's done anything. So...
del /F /S C:\Documents and Settings\YourLogonName\Desktop\dgg
For good measure, you can also try the erase command:
erase /F /S C:\Documents and Settings\YourLogonName\Desktop\dgg
The *.* is really unnecessary, as it will automatically erase
any and all files in the specified directory.
If that doesn't work, we can try a third-party substitute for
Windows Explorer called Xplorer2 Lite, made by Nikos Bozinis:
http://zabkat.com/x2lite.htm
It has a delete function which is probably dependent on the
Windows function, but it also has a shred function in the
menu which may bypass Windows somehow. It's worth a try if
you're desperate, and an alternative to Windows Explorer is
always a good thing to have around.
Let me know where this takes you...
sublime1-ga
|
Request for Question Clarification by
sublime1-ga
on
27 Jul 2005 13:32 PDT
I just now noticed mister4u-ga's comments. The first two
programs won't be of any help, as they are essentially
duplicating what we're doing by rebooting into command
prompt. The last program may be of some use, since it
addresses files using both short and long names and
also using the UNC, or Universal Naming Convention.
It's worth a shot if what I've suggested doesn't work.
sublime1-ga
|
Clarification of Question by
gnossie-ga
on
28 Jul 2005 01:07 PDT
Thanks sublime, your second suggestion did indeed work.
That's a lot of typing for just 12 bucks, but you're welcome to it!
Thanks.
|
gnossie...
Given that we've resolved your problem, I'll go ahead
and post a formal answer, and post the highlights of
my previous contributions here, for the sake of future
readers.
Do let us know, for the record, what you did, specifically,
that finally resolved the problem.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Okay...shut down your PC and reboot. When you get to the
black screen just before the Windows color boot screen,
press F8 for Windows boot options. Select Safe Mode with
Command Prompt.
When you get to the command prompt, type:
del C:\Documents and Settings\YourLogonName\Desktop\dgg\*.*
If it gives you any trouble locating the folder, you may
have to navigate to the folder first, by using the cd
(change directory) command:
C:\ cd Documents and Settings
C:\ cd YourLogonName
C:\ cd Desktop
C:\ cd dgg
Your command prompt should now read:
C:\Documents and Settings\YourLogonName\Desktop\dgg\
then just type:
del *.*
Then reboot normally. If you didn't get any error messages,
and it was successful, you should now have an empty dgg
folder on your desktop, and you should be able to delete
it normally.
That having failed...
Okay, so let's play with some of the options available with the
del command. Go back into safe mode with command prompt to run
it again. This time use the /F parameter, which forces the
deletion of read-only files. Also use the /S parameter, which
should make it print out every file that is deleted, so you'll
have some indication of whether it's done anything. So...
del /F /S C:\Documents and Settings\YourLogonName\Desktop\dgg
For good measure, you can also try the erase command:
erase /F /S C:\Documents and Settings\YourLogonName\Desktop\dgg
The *.* is really unnecessary, as it will automatically erase
any and all files in the specified directory.
If that doesn't work, we can try a third-party substitute for
Windows Explorer called Xplorer2 Lite, made by Nikos Bozinis:
http://zabkat.com/x2lite.htm
It has a delete function which is probably dependent on the
Windows function, but it also has a shred function in the
menu which may bypass Windows somehow. It's worth a try if
you're desperate, and an alternative to Windows Explorer is
always a good thing to have around.
Best regards...
sublime1-ga |
