Cannot delete empty directory

[Ritter197]

I have an empty directory on my partioned F: drive which is called OLD.

I have tried to delete it and the empty directories under it under Safe mode
with command prompt, with CMD and the del OLD while in F: drive and nothing
works.

It says in Safe mode command prompt only when I try to delete:

"access denied"

How can I get rid of this nuisance?

I am using Windows XP, with SP #2

 

[Will Denny]

Hi

Please see if the following helps:

"How to take ownership of a file or folder in Windows XP"
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308421&Product=winxp

--


Will Denny
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User
Please reply to the News Groups

 

[Ritter197]

I read it and checked it. I have full control yet I can still not delete
it.The Folder "OLD"

 

[Will Denny]

Hi

Try renaming the folder via a command prompt and then deleting it.

--


Will Denny
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User
Please reply to the News Groups

 

[Ritter197]

I tried that earlier. Did not work.

I finally found out how to delete it. I was always signing on in Safe mode
as Administrator.

When that never worked in any mode, I finally signed on under my name, and
strangely, that worked.

Never thought about that earlier since Administrator always was supposed to
have the most authority. Will, you figure.

 

[Ritter197]

I spoke too soon!!!!!

I re-booted and the F:\OLD is back. The directory and all the directories
under it are empty, but neither the parent nor the "children" directories
(also all empty) can be deleted.

"Access denied"

 

[Will Denny]

Hi

Some program that you have installed is creating it. Have a look in
msconfig>startup to see if any entry there may point towards why.

--


Will Denny
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User
Please reply to the News Groups

 

[Ritter197]

Will, I wished it were so. But I went again to MSCONFIG and selected only a
very few for start-up. I still cannot DELETE that empty folder and the empty
sub-directories.

 

[Ritter197]

In Win.ini there is nothing with either "load" or "run".

It has:
checkmarks in these:
16 bit app
fonts
mci extensions
files
MCI Extensions,BAK
MSVCE
Advanced=O
Codepage=Unicode
Font=Arial
Status
Mail
MAPI 1.0 Time Zone


Within the + marks the is also no load or run command.

 

[~ FreeSpirit ~]

In Win.ini there is nothing with either "load" or "run".

It has:
checkmarks in these:
16 bit app
fonts
mci extensions
files
MCI Extensions,BAK
MSVCE
Advanced=O
Codepage=Unicode
Font=Arial
Status
Mail
MAPI 1.0 Time Zone


Within the + marks the is also no load or run command.

========================
And I was starting to think I was the only one who didn't have things on my
PC that were 'supposed' to be there.
--
FS~
Completely FREE software:
http://www.pricelessware.org
http://www.pricelesswarehome.org
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Armand X. G...]

The File Name be be too long. I am not talking about F:\OLD, But the
highest folder in the stack. Try deleting the highest folder first
then work down. If it fails to delete then reduce the file names.

I will go thru and name them 1, 2, 3, etc until I reach the highest
point. In the past this haas worked well for me.

Armand

 

[Ritter197]

The highest is NEWOLD, then OLD, then some directories under it. ALL of them
empty.

I must have looked at 100 or more responses, some of them the same
suggestions, but NONE worked.

It always says "access denied"

This is true in Safe mode, from CMD, closing all other programs, leaving
Task mgr. open etc etc. Nothing has worked -- so far.

 

[David Candy]

I can't see anywhere where you said the specifics. General questions get general answers. Perhaps you should stop wasting time and say what exactly the problem is.

 

[Ritter197]

You did not take time to read the beginning, apparently and just jump in.

Here is what I asked:

Deleting an empty folder problem.

Why can I not delete this, not in Safe mode either within windows xp.?

Under Applications, on my virtual F drive, a folder named "Renamed cdO" with
a number of folders under it.

Deleting the individual folders first does not work either.

Have tried to delete it via a Command prompt and it still does not work.

Any idea what this is? Using windows xp.SP #2



"David Candy" <.> wrote in message
I can't see anywhere where you said the specifics. General questions get
general answers. Perhaps you should stop wasting time and say what exactly
the problem is.

 

[Ronnie Vernon MVP]

The highest is NEWOLD, then OLD, then some directories under it. ALL
of them empty.

I must have looked at 100 or more responses, some of them the same
suggestions, but NONE worked.

It always says "access denied"

This is true in Safe mode, from CMD, closing all other programs,
leaving Task mgr. open etc etc. Nothing has worked -- so far.

Doing a bit of research on this, it looks like you have been posting about
this problem since August 2004. The only thing I could not find is a
description of what your "F:" drive is, how it was created and what it
contains, besides this NEWOLD folder?

It looks like you have tried just about every fix possible. If this is
simply a drive where you store data, why not just ignore the 'empty' folder?

 

[Ritter197]

The F: drive is a partitioned drive. I use Partition Magic to divide my 3
drives. C: for the Operating System WinXP,D: for Date,E: for Backup, F: for
Misc.

Altogether I have 240 GB because I also do graphics.

Yes, I could ignore it, and I may have to do it, BUT I am the curious kind
and like to know why it happens. Especially since all sub-directories and
the Folder itself are empty.

 

[David Candy]

What's the sprcifics.

 

[David Candy]

I expect precise details. The first thing I did was look for the path to count the characters. You neglected to post it. Then I would've checked each folder name to see if all were legal.

I don't know what a virtual F drive is. The first message is 2:57pm (+10 GMT) 6/1/05 (that's 6 jan). There are millions of things a virtual F could be.

 

[Ritter197]

I thought I just said that below.
Windows XP.
Folder on a partitioned drive F:
Nothing in directory, nothing in sub-directories.
"Access denied"
Even when I have total access to all folders to delete, rename, etc.
In fact, this folder (directory) is re-named now to NEWOLD, but delete still
does not work.


"David Candy" <.> wrote in message
What's the sprcifics.

 

[Ritter197]

It is not a virtual drive, If I said that, I am wrong. It is a partitioned
drive.

None of the characters are very long. None over 10 characters the most.

"David Candy" <.> wrote in message
I expect precise details. The first thing I did was look for the path to
count the characters. You neglected to post it. Then I would've checked each
folder name to see if all were legal.

I don't know what a virtual F drive is. The first message is 2:57pm (+10
GMT) 6/1/05 (that's 6 jan). There are millions of things a virtual F could
be.