Deleting many files quickly

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Guest

I have a directory that has around 500,000 1 meg files in it. I need
to delete it. Using DEL commands works but is very slow, even if I run
muiltpul copies of it. It seems to only delete about 10 megs a minute.
Does anyone know of a Utility to delete a very large ammount of files
quickly?

Thanks,
Kevin
 
In
Kevin said:
I have a directory that has around 500,000 1 meg files in it. I need
to delete it. Using DEL commands works but is very slow, even if I
run muiltpul copies of it. It seems to only delete about 10 megs a
minute. Does anyone know of a Utility to delete a very large ammount
of files quickly?

Thanks,
Kevin
Click to expand...

If you want to delete the entire folder containing these files, try using rd
/s /q

(remove directory, including files & subfolders, in quiet mode)

So, if the folder is c:\data\behemoth, you could use

c:\data>rd behemoth /s /q
 
Well what you are doing right now is, post a question> wait for answer > try
that answer > if it doesn't help , wait again.

Don't you think deleting files with 10 meg/min will be faster than this.

--
Ayush [ Be ''?'' Happy ]
Click to expand...

For any query, search > www.Google.com
Want to know about a term > http://en.wikipedia.org


|I have a directory that has around 500,000 1 meg files in it. I need
| to delete it. Using DEL commands works but is very slow, even if I run
| muiltpul copies of it. It seems to only delete about 10 megs a minute.
| Does anyone know of a Utility to delete a very large ammount of files
| quickly?
|
| Thanks,
| Kevin
|
|
 
Kevin said:
I have a directory that has around 500,000 1 meg files in it. I need
to delete it. Using DEL commands works but is very slow, even if I run
muiltpul copies of it. It seems to only delete about 10 megs a minute.
Does anyone know of a Utility to delete a very large ammount of files
quickly?

Thanks,
Kevin
Click to expand...

Hope you are not going to post another thread under a different name.
Why cannot you use the ctrl just the once and delete the lot - or 'select
all' and delete, as one might do with %temp% folders and files.
Rgds
Antioch
 
Right now I am using del /s *.*
Is what your suggesting much different? Think it would run faster then what
I am getting now? I know what I am doing works, I just need something MUCH
faster, at this rate its gonna take a week.
 
I didn't realize I was posting to the same Newsgroup when I did it.

When I open explorer and browse to the directory, nothing ever shows up in
it, it just sits on a empty folder with the flashlight going back and forth.
 
Kevin said:
I didn't realize I was posting to the same Newsgroup when I did it.

When I open explorer and browse to the directory, nothing ever shows up in
it, it just sits on a empty folder with the flashlight going back and forth.
Click to expand...

What happens in Safe Mode?

Alias
 
That's why most newsgroups users think the web interface is crXp - its
slow - posts get lost or don't appear. Threads are out of sync etc.
You can use newsreader so stick with it and get away from the web.
Have you 'munged' your email though?
Rgds
Antioch
 
the del command is still running. I am really looking for a utility that may
be able to do muiltipul threads at the same time to help speed up the process.

Thanks for your help......

Ayush said:
Well what you are doing right now is, post a question> wait for answer > try
that answer > if it doesn't help , wait again.

Don't you think deleting files with 10 meg/min will be faster than this.

--
Ayush [ Be ''?'' Happy ]
Click to expand...

For any query, search > www.Google.com
Want to know about a term > http://en.wikipedia.org


|I have a directory that has around 500,000 1 meg files in it. I need
| to delete it. Using DEL commands works but is very slow, even if I run
| muiltpul copies of it. It seems to only delete about 10 megs a minute.
| Does anyone know of a Utility to delete a very large ammount of files
| quickly?
|
| Thanks,
| Kevin
|
|
Click to expand...
 
Kevin said:
I tried that, seems to give me the same performance I am seeing now.
Click to expand...

How long do you wait? I suggested Safe Mode because that way, you
wouldn't have background apps competing for processor and RAM.

Alias
 
Kevin said:
I tried that, seems to give me the same performance I am seeing now.
Click to expand...

If you have access to another computer, put the hard drive in as a slave
and see if you can delete it that way.

Alias
 
Try a defrag first

Kevin said:
the del command is still running. I am really looking for a utility that may
be able to do muiltipul threads at the same time to help speed up the process.

Thanks for your help......

Ayush said:
Well what you are doing right now is, post a question> wait for answer > try
that answer > if it doesn't help , wait again.

Don't you think deleting files with 10 meg/min will be faster than this.

--
Ayush [ Be ''?'' Happy ]
Click to expand...

For any query, search > www.Google.com
Want to know about a term > http://en.wikipedia.org


|I have a directory that has around 500,000 1 meg files in it. I need
| to delete it. Using DEL commands works but is very slow, even if I run
| muiltpul copies of it. It seems to only delete about 10 megs a minute.
| Does anyone know of a Utility to delete a very large ammount of files
| quickly?
|
| Thanks,
| Kevin
|
|
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Right-click on the folder name (don't be in the folder), select Delete while
holding the Shift key down.
Then recreate the folder.
 
Kevin said:
I have a directory that has around 500,000 1 meg files in it. I need
to delete it. Using DEL commands works but is very slow, even if I run
muiltpul copies of it. It seems to only delete about 10 megs a minute.
Does anyone know of a Utility to delete a very large ammount of files
quickly?

Thanks,
Kevin
Click to expand...

Understand you want to delete the folder and its contents. If FAT32, try
the deltree command from a boot diskette using the latest msdos environment.

Another way, within XP, is to use the RD command with the proper switches.
For instance:
RD C:\BLAH /S /Q

You don't want to physically open a directory to delete its contents with
windows explorer with that many files on it. Windows explorer, by default,
will surmise many bits on each file for its size, date accessed, date of
creation and so forth. It may or may not display that information depending
on windows explorer's setup. Its also assessing the filesystem itself for
the file locations. It all adds up and creates a very slow environment for
windows explorer.
 
Kevin said:
I have a directory that has around 500,000 1 meg files in it. I need
to delete it. Using DEL commands works but is very slow, even if I run
muiltpul copies of it. It seems to only delete about 10 megs a minute.
Does anyone know of a Utility to delete a very large ammount of files
quickly?
Click to expand...

You already found it. VFAT and NTFS are just poor performing filesystems
when it comes to dealing with a large quantity of files or files of a large
size, and like molasses in January when it comes to dealing with a large
quantity of large files like you are.

If you're looking for faster filesystem performance, I suggest making a file
server out of a Linux box using ReiserFS or XFS filesystems (though even
the default ext3 blows the doors off NTFS or VFAT in terms of performance).
 
antioch said:
That's why most newsgroups users think the web interface is crXp - its
slow - posts get lost or don't appear. Threads are out of sync etc.
You can use newsreader so stick with it and get away from the web.
Click to expand...

That's the nature of the beast when it comes to usenet and email, no matter
what the interface, though, which is why good, conversational quoting
habits are important. People might not have yet received the previous
messages in the thread, previous messages may have been lost in delivery,
could have been filtered, or the reader is just dealing with an
extraordinary volume of electronic communication and needs the extra
context clues.

Your newsreader puts the cursor at the top of replies not because that's
where your reply is expected to go, but because most people edit their
replies from the top down. At best, top posting demonstrates ignorance.
At worst, it demonstrates malice against active users as it makes threads
harder to follow for the reasons listed above.

Please read http://ursine.ca/Top_Posting
Have you 'munged' your email though?
Click to expand...

Don't: Munging is considered harmful. It does nothing to combat spam and
only hinders legitimate replies. It's better to use more effective
anti-spam measures like using an email server that rejects spam based on
SpamAssassin (http://spamassassin.apache.org/) scores.

Please read http://www.interhack.net/pubs/munging-harmful/
 
Jonathan said:
Try a defrag first
Click to expand...

Defragging won't increase delete performance in the slightest. All you're
doing when you delete on VFAT or NTFS is removing the file handles, not the
actual file data. The actual file data doesn't go away until it's
overwritten by another file (either because something was saved to the same
blocks or a defrag moved another file into the "deleted" file's spot, etc).
 

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