Windows XP delete file problem..

Hi,

I have an annoying problem with an empty folder which I cannot delete. Windows XP gives me an error message along these lines:

"It is not possible to delete the file/folder. The path could not be found. Please verify that the path is correct."

The folder I'm trying to delete is empty and very real. I can cut and paste it around but not delete it permanently. Putting it in the trashcan gives the same error message when emptying it.

I tried KillBox, but it seems like that cannot remove it either. Any help is appreciated :)

Have you tried removing it while in SafeMode?

Weird.

I'm just in the process of cleaning up my system and found I can't back up my F: drive because half of the contents of the program files somehow became encrypted. Funny that, as I never set any encryption

So now i'm busy copying what I can across to a spare partition on my newest drive, and will format the old drive.

And possibly sell it to the CEX shop.

[edit]

plus I dont really need almost 1TB of storage space...

Yes, SafeMode doesn't help. Same error message.

What about trying to delete via MSDos?
Other than that, Unlocker may help.
Maybe Turbo Navigator is worth a shot too.

@Fred, I've had this as well, apparently (Though It wasnt an expert who told me), its due to windows partitioning off a bit of the disk drive that got a bit corrupted during a delete/power off.

I backedup and reformated, and reinstalled

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=320081

try renaming the folder to 'bugs' and then deleting it.

maybe there some processes running that need that folder...

Is the directories full path too long? I've seen this happen a couple of times. Windows lets you create the file/directory then doesn't let you delete it because the path is too long. Re-naming some of the directories before it to shorter names does the trick.

Sounds like the filesystem has become corrupted. Run
chkdsk /f
... will probably want to reboot.

Hi Fredborg...I had that problem (in fact a bit different, with ghost shortcuts and few files with 0 bytes), anyway, I fix that by downloading demo version of System Mechanic, and thing removed everything properly..sooo...this is not advertising or something, just a way how I clean things when i got really frustrated with them..

I've ran into a very similar problem in the past, where windows explorer would not let me delete certain files and folders...

First of all, run a checkdisk with repair enabled, since there's a good chance that your problem is caused by a minor corruption in your filesystem.

If that does not fix it, try the following:
(worked for me in the past with folders that windows "couldn't find", so give it a shot...)

1) Open CMD.EXE (command prompt)
2) Navigate to the folder below the one you're trying to remove
3) DIR /X
4) Look for the SHORT version of the name of the affected folder

(e.g. you can't remove 'some random folder', you also see an alternative name of 'somera~1' in the previous column)

5) Remove the folder using the short name: RD somera~1 /S

(the /S will tell it to remove all subdirectories under it as well)

Thanks guys, found a solution:

rd "\\?\C:\complete path to folder "

The problem was that the directory had a trailing space, which is apparently not allowed in Windows.

Thanks for the tips!

if it happens again theres a freeware program that can rename it for you it also unlocks files that windows thinks maybe in use so stops you deleteing them

http://ccollomb.free.fr/unlocker/

Glad you got it worked out.

I have occasionally had files that did not want to delete, and my tool for the job is a little tool called "pocket killbox" Sorry I don't have a link, but it should come up in a basic search. I've never had it fail to delete something, so it gets a thumbs up here. Also works great for when you have to clear nasty malware files off the in-laws computer