Diaster! Unable to move or delete files.

[Don J]

While dragging a directory and all its subdirectories to a different
location I received the error message: "Cannot remove folders '<A specific
folder name>'. The filename or extension is too long". I clicked OK and the
original transfer operation ceased.

I then attempted to delete the moved directory. I was unable to do so.
Closer inspection revealed that all but a string of seven directories had
been deleted. The Nth directory in the remaining directories had as its
subdirectoy the (N+1)st directory. The sum of all the characters in all the
directory names was approximately "2 raised to the 8th power" which sounds
like a magic number for Windows XP. The last of the directories had the
name "<A specific folder name>" encountered in the previous message.

On moving to the last directory in the string I found a total of 23 files
having names similar to "ME89A6~5.pdf". With the exception of the extension
none of the names looked familiar. The extensions did match those of the
files I was trying to transfer.

I was unable to delete any of the files or move them to a different
location. Selection of either the "Open" or the "Open with Adobe Reader"
options on the right click menu did nothing. Dragging them to a different
folder and selecting "Move" also did nothing. Attempting to move the entire
folder to another location also did nothing.

Since I am unable to move the files to a different location it looks as
though the only way I can get rid of them is to copy all other folders on
the drive to a different drive, reformat the partition containing the
erroneous files, and recopy the the files to reconstituted original drive.
What is an even worse problem is avoiding the same problem in the future.
How did the problem occur? How can I avoid it in the future?


Don J

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[SingaporeWebDesign]

Hello,

Make a backup to an external media in case something goes wrong - there has
been recent reports of CHKDSK doing damage than solving it

Start > RUN > CHKDSK / F > Y > ENTER > OK

Restart your PC.

--
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Singapore Web Hosting
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[Don J]

Doesn't work! Entering the RUN instruction in the way specified reulted in
a message that said in effect "Was scheduling to run the next time
rebooted". So rebooted and nothing ran. Then entered: "Chkdsk / f m:",
where "m:" is the drive letter where the error took place. Chkdsk ran for a
very long time. There was no room for entry of "Y>ENTER>OK" when it
finished.

Was unable to delete the erroneous files or directories when it completed.


Don J

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hello,

Make a backup to an external media in case something goes wrong - there
has been recent reports of CHKDSK doing damage than solving it

Start > RUN > CHKDSK / F > Y > ENTER > OK

Restart your PC.

--
Singapore Website Design
http://www.bootstrike.com/Webdesign/
Singapore Web Hosting
http://www.bootstrike.com/WinXP/faq.html
Windows XP FAQ

 

[SingaporeWebDesign]

Hello,

See http://support.microsoft.com/kb/320081 (Cause 4, Resolution 2, 3 ,4..)

--
Singapore Website Design
http://www.bootstrike.com/Webdesign/
Singapore Web Hosting
http://www.bootstrike.com/WinXP/faq.html
Windows XP FAQ

Doesn't work! Entering the RUN instruction in the way specified reulted
in
a message that said in effect "Was scheduling to run the next time
rebooted". So rebooted and nothing ran. Then entered: "Chkdsk / f m:",
where "m:" is the drive letter where the error took place. Chkdsk ran for
a
very long time. There was no room for entry of "Y>ENTER>OK" when it
finished.

Was unable to delete the erroneous files or directories when it completed.


Don J

 

[Don J]

Cannot Rename a file. That leaves me with option 3 or 4. How do I map a
drive? How do create a network share?

Don J

 

[Jim Byrd]

Hi Don - Try this, particularly DelinvFile, from my Blog, addy below in my
Signature:



Sometimes the tools below will find files which they are unable to delete
because they are in use.

- A program called Locked Files Wizard (LFW), formerly CopyLock, here,
http://noeld.com/programs.asp?cat=misc "is a simple assistant that allows
you to either replace, move, delete or rename one or more files or folders
which are in use by the system or any running process. Additionally, you can
display and possibly stop the processes or services that lock a file, and
manage files flagged to be processed by the system on next reboot (e.g.
after an installation or an uninstallation.) The Locked Files Wizard can
also help to select some worms and trojans from the Registry and to quickly
remove them from the system." Copylock2 (now Locked Files Wizard) does
request a $12 registration fee in order to activate some additional _new
functions_ in the new version and/or for installation on multiple computers
or commercial usage. However, that version is available for download at the
link on that page without registration and with full utility of the original
capabilities of Copylock after installation without registration. If you
prefer, you can alternatively download the older v. 1.09 version which
involves no registration at all (but, of course doesn't include the
possibility of upgrade to the paid version) here:
http://copylock.noel-danjou.qarchive.org/_download2.html

- Another is Killbox by Option Explicit, Beta version available here:
http://www.killbox.net/downloads/beta/KillBox.exe
Overview directions are available here:
http://www.killbox.net/help.html#Top
Read carefully - this tool is quite powerful. A Beta version is also
available.

- A third which is a bit different but often very useful is Delete Invalid
File, here:
http://www.purgeie.com/delinv.htm
which handles invalid/UNC file/folder name deleting, rather than the in use
problem. The situation with Delete Invalid Files is similar to that with
Copylock. The latest version adds additional capabilities which are aimed at
the commercial marketplace (but would be useful to an individual user also.)
However, all of the _original file removal functions_ are still freely
available in the download version without registration or payment.

From http://www.purgeie.com/delinv/index.htm:

"As the "Free" version of DelinvFile had become so popular and has been
referenced on many download sites, web forums and newsgroups as being
"Free", the current version does not require a fee to access the original
program functions. The commercial version of DelinvFile makes available
additional functions which require licensing (registration) for them to
work. The additional functions include "Open With..", Renaming Files,
Renaming Folders, and Deleting Files and Folders at Boot."

- A fourth useful program is Unlocker, here:
http://ccollomb.free.fr/unlocker/
" Simply right click the folder or file and select Unlocker. If the folder
or file is locked, a window listing of lockers will appear. Simply select
the lockers and click Unlock and you are done!" Works as advertised and is
particularly helpful in identifying malware components which are
'protecting' each other.

- A fifth is FileASSASSIN, here:
http://www.malwarebytes.org/fileassassin.php
"FileASSASSIN can delete locked malware files on your system. It uses
advanced techniques to unload modules, close remote handles, and terminate
processes to allow the removal of the file."



--
Regards, Jim Byrd,
My Blog, Defending Your Machine,
http://defendingyourmachine2.blogspot.com/



In Don J <[email protected]> typed:
|| Cannot Rename a file. That leaves me with option 3 or 4. How do I
|| map a drive? How do create a network share?
||
|| Don J
||
|| -----------------------------------------------------------------------
||
||
|| message ||| Hello,
|||
||| See http://support.microsoft.com/kb/320081 (Cause 4, Resolution 2,
||| 3 ,4..)
|||
||| --
||| Singapore Website Design
||| http://www.bootstrike.com/Webdesign/
||| Singapore Web Hosting
||| http://www.bootstrike.com/WinXP/faq.html
||| Windows XP FAQ
|||
||| |||| Doesn't work! Entering the RUN instruction in the way specified
|||| reulted in
|||| a message that said in effect "Was scheduling to run the next time
|||| rebooted". So rebooted and nothing ran. Then entered: "Chkdsk /
|||| f m:",
|||| where "m:" is the drive letter where the error took place. Chkdsk
|||| ran for a
|||| very long time. There was no room for entry of "Y>ENTER>OK" when
|||| it finished.
||||
|||| Was unable to delete the erroneous files or directories when it
|||| completed.
||||
||||
|||| Don J
||||
|||| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
||||
||||
|||| in message ||||| Hello,
|||||
||||| Make a backup to an external media in case something goes wrong -
||||| there has been recent reports of CHKDSK doing damage than solving
||||| it
|||||
||||| Start > RUN > CHKDSK / F > Y > ENTER > OK
|||||
||||| Restart your PC.
|||||
||||| --
||||| Singapore Website Design
||||| http://www.bootstrike.com/Webdesign/
||||| Singapore Web Hosting
||||| http://www.bootstrike.com/WinXP/faq.html
||||| Windows XP FAQ
|||||
||||| |||||| While dragging a directory and all its subdirectories to a
|||||| different location I received the error message: "Cannot remove
|||||| folders '<A specific folder name>'. The filename or extension is
|||||| too long". I clicked OK and the original transfer operation
|||||| ceased.
||||||
|||||| I then attempted to delete the moved directory. I was unable to
|||||| do so. Closer inspection revealed that all but a string of seven
|||||| directories had been deleted. The Nth directory in the
|||||| remaining directories had as its subdirectoy the (N+1)st
|||||| directory. The sum of all the characters in all the directory
|||||| names was approximately "2 raised to the 8th power" which sounds
|||||| like a magic number for Windows XP. The last of the directories
|||||| had the name "<A specific folder name>" encountered in the
|||||| previous message.
||||||
|||||| On moving to the last directory in the string I found a total of
|||||| 23 files having names similar to "ME89A6~5.pdf". With the
|||||| exception of the extension none of the names looked familiar.
|||||| The extensions did match those of the files I was trying to
|||||| transfer.
||||||
|||||| I was unable to delete any of the files or move them to a
|||||| different location. Selection of either the "Open" or the
|||||| "Open with Adobe Reader" options on the right click menu did
|||||| nothing. Dragging them to a different folder and selecting
|||||| "Move" also did nothing. Attempting to move the entire folder
|||||| to another location also did nothing.
||||||
|||||| Since I am unable to move the files to a different location it
|||||| looks as though the only way I can get rid of them is to copy
|||||| all other folders on the drive to a different drive, reformat
|||||| the partition containing the erroneous files, and recopy the the
|||||| files to reconstituted original drive. What is an even worse
|||||| problem is avoiding the same problem in the future. How did the
|||||| problem occur? How can I avoid it in the future?
||||||
||||||
|||||| Don J
||||||
|||||| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[SingaporeWebDesign]

Hello,

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/subst.mspx
You will need to do this from the command prompt (start > run > cmd > ok)

Example - if the folder path is c:\abc\abc\abc\abc\abc then the command
should be
subst x: c:\abc\abc\abc\abc\abc

The folder will be mapped to a drive. Try deleting the file in the new
drive.

Also, what errors do you get when you rename a file?
--
Singapore Website Design
http://www.bootstrike.com/Webdesign/
Singapore Web Hosting
http://www.bootstrike.com/WinXP/faq.html
Windows XP FAQ