Help with deleting file

[xilluzionx]

I cannot delete a folder , windows give me the following error Cannot delete fole: Cannot read from the source file or disk. Thanks in advance.

 

[BigJimbo]

most likly soem kind of windows encryption where you are not the "creator" or "administrator" with some user rights...

 

[xilluzionx]

so what should i do?

 

[BigJimbo]

have you ever tryied to encrypt any files using windows encryption? if so only the creator/owner can open it inless you have a recovery key.....try cutting and movig the file to another folder...and make sure if it boots from startup that any startup link is disabled...reboot and try to delete...

 

[tjaisv]

If rebooting doesn't help then you can also try deleting it from the DOS command prompt in Windows (or you can boot into DOS with a DOS boot disk). If that doesn't work, then you can also boot into safe mode and try deleting it from there. But it sounds like the folder's already been deleted though, it's just for some reason Windows is still showing it.

 

[xilluzionx]

I tried it every way and it doesnt work , would disconnecting the ide cable from the drive would help? any other advice? thanks.

 

[acemcmac]

Whenever I get truly odd behavior like that, I always reformat at my next conveinance...

 

[xilluzionx]

i would reformat , but i did it about a few weeks ago and i dont want to do it again.

 

[Nithin]

i had the same problem too. Couldn't find a solution.

 

[WW]

I've had that problem with files because sometime explorer.exe gets ahold of it and won't let go might be the same for folders.

try this:

open a command prompt window (a dos window)

do a control alt del to pull up the processes running, and terminate explorer.exe

switch to the command prompt window, and remove directory (rd directoryname)

if it lets you, great.

go back to the windows task manager, the 'applications' tab, and hit the 'new task' button and type explorer.exe to bring back to normal

hope it works for you...otherwise did you do a full scandisk?

 

[lucky9]

boot into recovery console with the cd, that's what it's for. just drill down to that file and then delete it.

 

[olds]

Make sure there are no hidden files in the folder.
You can also try deleting it in safe mode.

 

[Aknosis]

What version of windows are you running? I had a similar problem in windows xp and I had to boot up a command prompt and cd all the way to it and delete it, it's a pain in the ass to move through folders in dos with all those spaces in the file names, damn windows.

 

[xilluzionx]

I am running xp pro , i tried to delete it in safe mode but that was a no go , i tried what WW said but that didnt work either , plus the folder has no name its just a folder that you cant rename or delete , the only thing i know about this folder is that its 76kb .

 

[Tal]

I'd try recovery console. do a deltree c:\foldername and it should be good.

 

[Jeff7]

chkdsk c: /f /r
Regular checkup and a surface scan. Slim possibility that it's the remnant of a folder that was partially deleted.

Edit: Ok, just saw that WW suggested that already.
Can you post an Explorer screenshot, or something about this folder. You say it has no name? Is it just an icon of the folder?
In Explorer, is it on the left half or the right half of the window? I seem to remember something about a "phantom folder" on the left panel. I think it had something to do with a bad registry entry, dealing with the Scheduler.

 

[tjaisv]

screw it man, it's only 76KB, i'd forget about it, there are much more important things in life to spend your time dealing with

 

[RhythmAddict]

Originally posted by: xilluzionx
i would reformat , but i did it about a few weeks ago and i dont want to do it again.

Next time put your OS on a separate HD or partition...It'll make it easier when you wanna do stuff like this..just an idea

 

[vailr]

I've got a similar problem [which is pertaining to MS pre-sp2 Hotfix updates] , fresh install of WinXP on an NTFS partition. There's 9 different folders on the C: drive, which have random jibberrish for names [example: "fjstklvshnz"] . Trying to delete them in Windows gives error "Access denied". Booted machine in Knoppix, and these folders each have sub-folders named "sp2/update/update.exe"; each "update.exe" file is 267kb in size. Knoppix cannot delete these files or folders. Also, the Windows program ZTREE cannot log the contents, with pop-up notice "access denied". Windows Explorer reports their size, as being zero bytes. Chkdsk reports: no errors.

 

[kylef]

Try this:

Go to www.sysinternals.com and download the absolutely cool utility called "Process Explorer v7.02". It's completely free, and is one of the most useful tools for system troubleshooting I've ever used.

Open it up (procexp.exe) and hit CTL-F, which will bring up the search box. Type in the FULL PATH to the folder or file you can't delete (e.g., c:\test\myfolder). Hit the "search" button.

The search window should populate with the name of the process who has an open handle to that file/folder, which is most likely preventing you from deleting it. Killing that process should allow you to delete the file/folder.

You can also search for substrings, if the full path didn't yield any results.

If this method doesn't work, you might have some uglier file system corruption going on...