D
David Tong
After a software crash I'm left with a strange object that I can't delete.
After the crash, XP recommended running chkdsk, which I did. It found some
damaged files and I suspect the item is some kind of fragment that's
reappeared in a strange form. Can anyone advise how I might be able to get
rid of it?
The object appears in Explorer as 'Type: file folder' and with a folder
icon. However its name is 'filename.doc' where 'filename' is the name of an
old Word file that I think I deleted a week or two previously. The problem
surfaced when I tried to run a routine backup copying process. Any attempt
to copy or delete the object gives the error message 'Cannot delete
filename.doc: The directory name is invalid'.
More information.
(1) The file system is NTFS in XP Pro/SP2.
(2) The item appears in Explorer in green (presumably to imply
'encrypted'),
and when I check Properties, the encryption box is ticked. Yet I've never
used encryption. Even if I untick 'encryption' and click OK, it reappears
with encryption ticked when I next look.
(3) According to Properties, I have full rights under my user name (My
user name has full administrator rights).
(4) In Properties the 'Hidden' box is ticked, but is greyed out.
(5) I can rename the object, and also move it, but only to somewhere else
on the same drive.
A search in Google and Google Groups for 'The directory name is invalid'
found several very similar events, but all seem unresolved. Things I've
tried include:
(1) Running Chkdsk several times. No change.
(2) Deleting the object in Safe Mode, and also from a command prompt with
and without Explorer running. No success.
(3) MS document Q320081 ('You cannot delete a file or a folder on an NTFS
file system volume') suggests that, if due to file corruption, Chkdsk should
solve it, but it hasn't. I've tried deleting using the 8.3 name but results
are the same. Nothing else in this document seems relevant.
Thanks in advance for any help.
After the crash, XP recommended running chkdsk, which I did. It found some
damaged files and I suspect the item is some kind of fragment that's
reappeared in a strange form. Can anyone advise how I might be able to get
rid of it?
The object appears in Explorer as 'Type: file folder' and with a folder
icon. However its name is 'filename.doc' where 'filename' is the name of an
old Word file that I think I deleted a week or two previously. The problem
surfaced when I tried to run a routine backup copying process. Any attempt
to copy or delete the object gives the error message 'Cannot delete
filename.doc: The directory name is invalid'.
More information.
(1) The file system is NTFS in XP Pro/SP2.
(2) The item appears in Explorer in green (presumably to imply
'encrypted'),
and when I check Properties, the encryption box is ticked. Yet I've never
used encryption. Even if I untick 'encryption' and click OK, it reappears
with encryption ticked when I next look.
(3) According to Properties, I have full rights under my user name (My
user name has full administrator rights).
(4) In Properties the 'Hidden' box is ticked, but is greyed out.
(5) I can rename the object, and also move it, but only to somewhere else
on the same drive.
A search in Google and Google Groups for 'The directory name is invalid'
found several very similar events, but all seem unresolved. Things I've
tried include:
(1) Running Chkdsk several times. No change.
(2) Deleting the object in Safe Mode, and also from a command prompt with
and without Explorer running. No success.
(3) MS document Q320081 ('You cannot delete a file or a folder on an NTFS
file system volume') suggests that, if due to file corruption, Chkdsk should
solve it, but it hasn't. I've tried deleting using the 8.3 name but results
are the same. Nothing else in this document seems relevant.
Thanks in advance for any help.