Unerasable zero kb files

L

Lil' Dave

Uninstall what?
What is/are the filename and extension of said zero byte files?
Sounds fishy, maybe a troll?
 
A

Abraham

How to delete some 0Kb files remained after an unistall?
They result not-erasable at all, even after attribute changing, even in pure
DOS.
Any magics to do it, before formatting ?

Thanks.
 
D

da_test

How to delete some 0Kb files remained after an unistall?
They result not-erasable at all, even after attribute changing, even in pure
DOS.
Any magics to do it, before formatting ?

Thanks.
Is it possible the files are open (perhaps by XP itself)
What folder are they in and what are the file names?
 
M

Mike Hall \(MS-MVP\)

Abraham

Why would you want to format just to get rid of a few 0kb files?.. just
forget about them..
 
A

Abraham

Is it possible the files are open (perhaps by XP itself)

No, I don't think, they have been moved to trash.
What folder are they in and what are the file names?

It was the "Plugins" folder of a < X-Setup > uninstall.
Their name are similar to < XQ TrueType Options 1.xpl >,
all with same extension.
To avoid dependence from the new X-Setup installed version,
the folder was renamed and moved to the recycle bin.
In vain.
Now it's impossible to empty the bin and even to defragment the disk.
At each reboot, ChkDsk starts, works, says all is ok, but nothing actually
changes.
The damned files are marked in blue.

Tks Abraham
 
D

da_test

No, I don't think, they have been moved to trash.


It was the "Plugins" folder of a < X-Setup > uninstall.
Their name are similar to < XQ TrueType Options 1.xpl >,
all with same extension.
To avoid dependence from the new X-Setup installed version,
the folder was renamed and moved to the recycle bin.
In vain.
Now it's impossible to empty the bin and even to defragment the disk.
At each reboot, ChkDsk starts, works, says all is ok, but nothing actually
changes.
The damned files are marked in blue.

Tks Abraham
Abraham,
when you tried to delete them in DOS, what's the response?
 
A

Abraham

Why would you want to format just to get rid of a few 0kb files?.. just
forget about them..

Impossible to forget them: their presence blocks defragmenting function.
Defrag stops immediately, saying something as "I can't defrag, there are
damaged files, please use first ChkDsk. It will autostart at next reboot".
Ok, ChkDsk starts at reboot, ends fine, but those files are alive yet .
Strange, isn't it ?

Ab.
 
A

Abraham

when you tried to delete them in DOS, what's the response?

Something like "Damaged files. Not readable. Not erasable."
But I DO read them.
Maybe are they listed in the FAT but really not on disk !?
:blush:O...
 
A

Abraham

Uninstall what?

X-Setup version 6.1 to reinstall ver. 6.6 .
What is/are the filename and extension of said zero byte files?
Sounds fishy, maybe a troll?

They are (were) X-Setup's plugins, similar to < XQ TrueType Options 1.xpl >,
all with same extension.
Troll who !?
;o)

Abraham
 
D

da_test

Something like "Damaged files. Not readable. Not erasable."
But I DO read them.
Maybe are they listed in the FAT but really not on disk !?
:blush:O...
Bootup to the recovery console and do chkdsk /r

Dave
 
M

Mike Hall \(MS-MVP\)

Abraham

We all have 0 kb files on our systems, but they are not necessarily the
cause of problems.. in my case, they are not the cause of any problems..

If the disk requires Chkdsk before a defrag, that suggests problems on the
drive for sure, but not 0 kb files particularly..

If you go to the drive manufacturer website, you cab download a test
program.. do that and run the NON-DESTRUCTIVE test on it..

--
Mike Hall
MVP - Windows Shell/User
 
A

Abraham

We all have 0 kb files on our systems, but they are not necessarily the
cause of problems.. in my case, they are not the cause of any problems..

If the disk requires Chkdsk before a defrag, that suggests problems on the
drive for sure, but not 0 kb files particularly..

You're right: I'm plenty of 0kb files too, none of them ever got a
problem.
But THESE are a problem indeed.
If you go to the drive manufacturer website, you cab download a test
program.. do that and run the NON-DESTRUCTIVE test on it..

Already extensively done, Mike, thanks.
Both Maxtor Powermax last utilities : the Win and the Dos ones were used
for a full scan of the disk surface.
Not a single damaged cluster, not a bit. Mother Maxtor said: you have no
problems on your disk.
THAT's my problem, you see.

AA
 
M

Mike Hall \(MS-MVP\)

Abraham

Mother Maxtor told me the same thing when I lost two 40gb drives over the
period of a day and a half.. I had heard that the firmware caused problems,
but one of the drives already had the updated level installed..

I ended up wrting zeros to both drives and starting over.. so far, they have
been ok..

--
Mike Hall
MVP - Windows Shell/User
 
A

Abraham

Mother Maxtor told me the same thing ...

Wow! I knew... never trust a mother too much...
;o)
I had heard that the firmware caused problems...

Never found any updated firmware on Maxtor's pages !
(psssst... tell me where could I look for it !)
But anything on my disks goes fine, beyond those strange files...
I ended up wrting zeros to both drives and starting over.. so far, they
have been ok..

Yes, I'm gloomily ready to do a straight deep reformatting, but, you can
understand me for sure, I'm trying to do the possible, first...
|:blush:\

I hope it could be just a FAT (file allocation table) problem, caused by a
sudden system's self-shut-off.
Just searching for a less dramatic way to solve the strange item.
Who knows ?
By the way, if you remember any trick more, please, tell me.

Thanks a lot.
Abraham Abulafia
 
M

Mike Hall \(MS-MVP\)

Abraham

I can't find the site anymore.. it was all in Russian anyway.. if you do a
Google search for 'Maxtor firmware', you will find may sites that have all
kinds of things to say.. reading through them all leaves you with the
problem that they have had problems.. not very conclusive at all.. one or
two offer the service of upgrading the firmware, but I doubt that would be
too cheap..

However, you drive has not failed thus far, and it may never.. then again..
if I was in your shoes right now, I may well be tempted to start over, and
if the problem occurred again, I would almost certainly relegate the drive
to slave status at best..

--
Mike Hall
MVP - Windows Shell/User
 
J

Jim Byrd

Hi Abraham - From my Blog, Defending Your Machine here:
http://defendingyourmachine.blogspot.com/ Try Delete Invalid File, below:



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

A program called Copylock, here, http://noeld.com/programs.asp?cat=misc can
aid in the process of "replacing, moving, renaming or deleting one or many
files which are currently in use (e.g. system files like comctl32.dll, or
virus/trojan files.)"

Another is Killbox, here: http://www.downloads.subratam.org/KillBox.zip

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."
 
A

Abraham

Thank you all,
but any tools succeed to wipe off those 0 bit files.
It's awful but true.
Chkdsk starts at any reboots, works but doesn't get the target.
Defrag can't work any more.
Maybe I'll be forced to reformat... aaaaaaaaaaaargh!

sighing Abraham
 

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