Guest tedbaab@gmail.com Posted August 28, 2007 Posted August 28, 2007 Hi everyone, I have an unusual problem: I have a directory that I cannot delete that was created by an accidental backup routine. I have a folder on my K drive called "K: \projects 2007" with about 89mb (3 folders) in in, which was copied by my automated backup (Cobian Backup) into its own directory "K: \projects 2007", creating a loop that nested "projects 2007" folders into themselves, presumably with about 89mb in each tier. Creating: K:\projects 2007\projects 2007\projects 2007\projects 2007\projects 2007\projects 2007... I do not know how deep the directory structure goes, but by the space left on my disk, it looks to be about 433 directories deep (for a total disk usage of about 39GB)! My goal is to delete the whole thing. I cannot delete, it says "Cannot Delete File or Folder, Cannot Delete File:". I have tried: 1) Going down as far as I can and trying to delete that folder. Same problem, presumably because I am only like 18 levels down, which barely scratches the surface! Explorer will only let me browse that far. 2) Terminating explorer and browsing from within Nero to delete the folder, or a deeper one within it. It only lets me browse down to like 18 tiers anyway. 3) using the Command Prompt, after having terminated explorer, and from safe mode to rmdir /s the directory. I have also tried the rd command. Both successfully bury through an impressive number of directories, but return lots of errors like "Maximum Path Length Exceeded", "The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process" (even from safe mode), "The directory is not empty", etc etc 4) Browsing down as far as I could go (again, like 18 tiers), then mapping that folder to a new virtual drive, then browsing down in that virtual drive, then mapping a deeper drive, etc. I used all 26 letters and was able to browse deeper, but I get the same error when I try to delete a folder. 5) I have tried numerous "Delete on Boot" programs to attempt to delete the folder on reboot, when nothing was accessing it. Any thoughts or suggestions short of clearing off the drive and formatting, would be much appreciated! Thanks again Ted
Guest John John Posted August 28, 2007 Posted August 28, 2007 Re: Cannot delete very deep directory tree Try using the SUBST command to shorten the path or map it to a network share then try to delete it. John tedbaab@gmail.com wrote: > Hi everyone, I have an unusual problem: > > I have a directory that I cannot delete that was created by an > accidental backup routine. I have a folder on my K drive called "K: > \projects 2007" with about 89mb (3 folders) in in, which was copied by > my automated backup (Cobian Backup) into its own directory "K: > \projects 2007", creating a loop that nested "projects 2007" folders > into themselves, presumably with about 89mb in each tier. Creating: > > K:\projects 2007\projects 2007\projects 2007\projects 2007\projects > 2007\projects 2007... > > I do not know how deep the directory structure goes, but by the space > left on my disk, it looks to be about 433 directories deep (for a > total disk usage of about 39GB)! My goal is to delete the whole thing. > > I cannot delete, it says "Cannot Delete File or Folder, Cannot Delete > File:". > > I have tried: > > 1) Going down as far as I can and trying to delete that folder. Same > problem, presumably because I am only like 18 levels down, which > barely scratches the surface! Explorer will only let me browse that > far. > > 2) Terminating explorer and browsing from within Nero to delete the > folder, or a deeper one within it. It only lets me browse down to like > 18 tiers anyway. > > 3) using the Command Prompt, after having terminated explorer, and > from safe mode to rmdir /s the directory. I have also tried the rd > command. Both successfully bury through an impressive number of > directories, but return lots of errors like "Maximum Path Length > Exceeded", "The process cannot access the file because it is being > used by another process" (even from safe mode), "The directory is not > empty", etc etc > > 4) Browsing down as far as I could go (again, like 18 tiers), then > mapping that folder to a new virtual drive, then browsing down in that > virtual drive, then mapping a deeper drive, etc. I used all 26 letters > and was able to browse deeper, but I get the same error when I try to > delete a folder. > > 5) I have tried numerous "Delete on Boot" programs to attempt to > delete the folder on reboot, when nothing was accessing it. > > Any thoughts or suggestions short of clearing off the drive and > formatting, would be much appreciated! > > Thanks again > > Ted >
Guest jjjdavidson Posted August 28, 2007 Posted August 28, 2007 RE: Cannot delete very deep directory tree Can you rename the folders? If so, you could try a batch job like: set kren=k: :loop-awhile rename "%kren%\projects 2007" "%kren%\k" set kren=%kren%\k goto loop-awhile This might eventually shorten the total path name enough that Windows can deal with it. "tedbaab@gmail.com" wrote: > Hi everyone, I have an unusual problem: > > I have a directory that I cannot delete that was created by an > accidental backup routine. I have a folder on my K drive called "K: > \projects 2007" with about 89mb (3 folders) in in, which was copied by > my automated backup (Cobian Backup) into its own directory "K: > \projects 2007", creating a loop that nested "projects 2007" folders > into themselves, presumably with about 89mb in each tier. Creating: > > K:\projects 2007\projects 2007\projects 2007\projects 2007\projects > 2007\projects 2007... > > I do not know how deep the directory structure goes, but by the space > left on my disk, it looks to be about 433 directories deep (for a > total disk usage of about 39GB)! My goal is to delete the whole thing. > > I cannot delete, it says "Cannot Delete File or Folder, Cannot Delete > File:". > > I have tried: > > 1) Going down as far as I can and trying to delete that folder. Same > problem, presumably because I am only like 18 levels down, which > barely scratches the surface! Explorer will only let me browse that > far. > > 2) Terminating explorer and browsing from within Nero to delete the > folder, or a deeper one within it. It only lets me browse down to like > 18 tiers anyway. > > 3) using the Command Prompt, after having terminated explorer, and > from safe mode to rmdir /s the directory. I have also tried the rd > command. Both successfully bury through an impressive number of > directories, but return lots of errors like "Maximum Path Length > Exceeded", "The process cannot access the file because it is being > used by another process" (even from safe mode), "The directory is not > empty", etc etc > > 4) Browsing down as far as I could go (again, like 18 tiers), then > mapping that folder to a new virtual drive, then browsing down in that > virtual drive, then mapping a deeper drive, etc. I used all 26 letters > and was able to browse deeper, but I get the same error when I try to > delete a folder. > > 5) I have tried numerous "Delete on Boot" programs to attempt to > delete the folder on reboot, when nothing was accessing it. > > Any thoughts or suggestions short of clearing off the drive and > formatting, would be much appreciated! > > Thanks again > > Ted > >
Guest tedbaab@gmail.com Posted August 28, 2007 Posted August 28, 2007 Re: Cannot delete very deep directory tree On Aug 28, 3:36 pm, jjjdavidson <jjjdavid...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote: > Can you rename the folders? If so, you could try a batch job like: > > set kren=k: > :loop-awhile > rename "%kren%\projects 2007" "%kren%\k" > set kren=%kren%\k > goto loop-awhile > > This might eventually shorten the total path name enough that Windows can > deal with it. > > "tedb...@gmail.com" wrote: > > Hi everyone, I have an unusual problem: > davidson, that sounds like a great strategy. how would i go about doing that? I am not so knowledgeable about batch files. I would also need to run this either from safe mode, or from cmd with explorer shut down since it says the folder is being used/accessed when i try to rename a folder from explorer...
Guest jjjdavidson Posted August 28, 2007 Posted August 28, 2007 Re: Cannot delete very deep directory tree Just copy and paste the code into a file named temp.bat or temp.cmd, then run the file from the command line. Here's a slightly better version of the script, with error checking. set kren=k: :loop-awhile rename "%kren%\projects 2007" "%kren%\k" if errorlevel 1 exit /b set kren=%kren%\k goto loop-awhile If this works, but doesn't get you far enough, do a SUBST command and change the K: in the first SET command to whatever letter you assign. Good luck! "tedbaab@gmail.com" wrote: > On Aug 28, 3:36 pm, jjjdavidson > <jjjdavid...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote: > > Can you rename the folders? If so, you could try a batch job like: > > > > set kren=k: > > :loop-awhile > > rename "%kren%\projects 2007" "%kren%\k" > > set kren=%kren%\k > > goto loop-awhile > > > > This might eventually shorten the total path name enough that Windows can > > deal with it. > > > > "tedb...@gmail.com" wrote: > > > Hi everyone, I have an unusual problem: > > > > davidson, that sounds like a great strategy. how would i go about > doing that? I am not so knowledgeable about batch files. I would also > need to run this either from safe mode, or from cmd with explorer shut > down since it says the folder is being used/accessed when i try to > rename a folder from explorer... > > > > >
Guest tedbaab@gmail.com Posted August 28, 2007 Posted August 28, 2007 Re: Cannot delete very deep directory tree On Aug 28, 4:22 pm, jjjdavidson <jjjdavid...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote: > Just copy and paste the code into a file named temp.bat or temp.cmd, then run > the file from the command line. Here's a slightly better version of the > script, with error checking. > > set kren=k: > :loop-awhile > rename "%kren%\projects 2007" "%kren%\k" > if errorlevel 1 exit /b > set kren=%kren%\k > goto loop-awhile > > If this works, but doesn't get you far enough, do a SUBST command and change > the K: in the first SET command to whatever letter you assign. > > Good luck! > > "tedb...@gmail.com" wrote: > > On Aug 28, 3:36 pm, jjjdavidson > > <jjjdavid...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote: > > > Can you rename the folders? If so, you could try a batch job like: > > > > set kren=k: > > > :loop-awhile > > > rename "%kren%\projects 2007" "%kren%\k" > > > set kren=%kren%\k > > > goto loop-awhile > > > > This might eventually shorten the total path name enough that Windows can > > > deal with it. > > > > "tedb...@gmail.com" wrote: > > > > Hi everyone, I have an unusual problem: > > > davidson, that sounds like a great strategy. how would i go about > > doing that? I am not so knowledgeable about batch files. I would also > > need to run this either from safe mode, or from cmd with explorer shut > > down since it says the folder is being used/accessed when i try to > > rename a folder from explorer... davidson, thanks for your quick reply and your explanation. I tried the first script (without the error checking), and it did it for a while (2033 times actually), before saying the input was too large. But that at least means there are 2033 or more nested directories. But for some reason, none of the directories that I can browse from explorer had the names changed. When I used your new script, it errored out immediately, and did not complete one iteration. am I stuck then? Thanks again, you've been very helpful!
Guest db ´¯`·.. > Posted August 28, 2007 Posted August 28, 2007 Re: Cannot delete very deep directory tree you might try uninstalling cobian then trying to delete that directory n files. or try the delete them via safemode. or simply move out whatever you can from the k partition. then delete the partition and recreate it if you still need it. -- db ·´¯`·.¸. , . ..·´¯`·..><)))º>`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·...¸><)))º>¸. ><)))º>·´¯`·.¸. , . .·´¯`·.. > ><)))º>`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·...¸><)))º> .. <tedbaab@gmail.com> wrote in message news:1188326835.922564.12250@y42g2000hsy.googlegroups.com... > Hi everyone, I have an unusual problem: > > I have a directory that I cannot delete that was > created by an > accidental backup routine. I have a folder on my K > drive called "K: > \projects 2007" with about 89mb (3 folders) in in, > which was copied by > my automated backup (Cobian Backup) into its own > directory "K: > \projects 2007", creating a loop that nested > "projects 2007" folders > into themselves, presumably with about 89mb in each > tier. Creating: > > K:\projects 2007\projects 2007\projects 2007\projects > 2007\projects > 2007\projects 2007... > > I do not know how deep the directory structure goes, > but by the space > left on my disk, it looks to be about 433 directories > deep (for a > total disk usage of about 39GB)! My goal is to delete > the whole thing. > > I cannot delete, it says "Cannot Delete File or > Folder, Cannot Delete > File:". > > I have tried: > > 1) Going down as far as I can and trying to delete > that folder. Same > problem, presumably because I am only like 18 levels > down, which > barely scratches the surface! Explorer will only let > me browse that > far. > > 2) Terminating explorer and browsing from within Nero > to delete the > folder, or a deeper one within it. It only lets me > browse down to like > 18 tiers anyway. > > 3) using the Command Prompt, after having terminated > explorer, and > from safe mode to rmdir /s the directory. I have also > tried the rd > command. Both successfully bury through an impressive > number of > directories, but return lots of errors like "Maximum > Path Length > Exceeded", "The process cannot access the file > because it is being > used by another process" (even from safe mode), "The > directory is not > empty", etc etc > > 4) Browsing down as far as I could go (again, like 18 > tiers), then > mapping that folder to a new virtual drive, then > browsing down in that > virtual drive, then mapping a deeper drive, etc. I > used all 26 letters > and was able to browse deeper, but I get the same > error when I try to > delete a folder. > > 5) I have tried numerous "Delete on Boot" programs to > attempt to > delete the folder on reboot, when nothing was > accessing it. > > Any thoughts or suggestions short of clearing off the > drive and > formatting, would be much appreciated! > > Thanks again > > Ted >
Guest jjjdavidson Posted August 28, 2007 Posted August 28, 2007 Re: Cannot delete very deep directory tree The first version errored out when the command string got too long for DOS to manage, not when it ran out of folders to rename; that's why I added the error check. Toward the end, were you getting "system cannot find the path" or "filename is too long"? The second version errored out immediately because it assumes the first path is still named "projects 2007" and (hopefully) some of the upper levels had already been renamed. Either that, or my original RENAME command was bad. Check that the folder name is spelled correctly, and such like. Does the original folder still appear when you type DIR K:\ at the command prompt? If the original "projects 2007" folder still exists, there was a problem with the original rename. If it's been renamed to K:\K, then at least the upper-level renames worked. If the top-level folder is still there, can you rename it manually? "tedbaab@gmail.com" wrote: > On Aug 28, 4:22 pm, jjjdavidson > <jjjdavid...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote: > > Just copy and paste the code into a file named temp.bat or temp.cmd, then run > > the file from the command line. Here's a slightly better version of the > > script, with error checking. > > > > set kren=k: > > :loop-awhile > > rename "%kren%\projects 2007" "%kren%\k" > > if errorlevel 1 exit /b > > set kren=%kren%\k > > goto loop-awhile > > > > If this works, but doesn't get you far enough, do a SUBST command and change > > the K: in the first SET command to whatever letter you assign. > > > > Good luck! > > > > "tedb...@gmail.com" wrote: > > > On Aug 28, 3:36 pm, jjjdavidson > > > <jjjdavid...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote: > > > > Can you rename the folders? If so, you could try a batch job like: > > > > > > set kren=k: > > > > :loop-awhile > > > > rename "%kren%\projects 2007" "%kren%\k" > > > > set kren=%kren%\k > > > > goto loop-awhile > > > > > > This might eventually shorten the total path name enough that Windows can > > > > deal with it. > > > > > > "tedb...@gmail.com" wrote: > > > > > Hi everyone, I have an unusual problem: > > > > > davidson, that sounds like a great strategy. how would i go about > > > doing that? I am not so knowledgeable about batch files. I would also > > > need to run this either from safe mode, or from cmd with explorer shut > > > down since it says the folder is being used/accessed when i try to > > > rename a folder from explorer... > > davidson, > thanks for your quick reply and your explanation. > > I tried the first script (without the error checking), and it did it > for a while (2033 times actually), before saying the input was too > large. But that at least means there are 2033 or more nested > directories. But for some reason, none of the directories that I can > browse from explorer had the names changed. > > When I used your new script, it errored out immediately, and did not > complete one iteration. > > am I stuck then? > > Thanks again, you've been very helpful! > >
Guest Poprivet Posted August 28, 2007 Posted August 28, 2007 Re: Cannot delete very deep directory tree tedbaab@gmail.com wrote: > Hi everyone, I have an unusual problem: > > I have a directory that I cannot delete that was created by an > accidental backup routine. I have a folder on my K drive called "K: > \projects 2007" with about 89mb (3 folders) in in, which was copied by > my automated backup (Cobian Backup) into its own directory "K: > \projects 2007", creating a loop that nested "projects 2007" folders > into themselves, presumably with about 89mb in each tier. Creating: > > K:\projects 2007\projects 2007\projects 2007\projects 2007\projects > 2007\projects 2007... > > I do not know how deep the directory structure goes, but by the space > left on my disk, it looks to be about 433 directories deep (for a > total disk usage of about 39GB)! My goal is to delete the whole thing. > > I cannot delete, it says "Cannot Delete File or Folder, Cannot Delete > File:". > > I have tried: > > 1) Going down as far as I can and trying to delete that folder. Same > problem, presumably because I am only like 18 levels down, which > barely scratches the surface! Explorer will only let me browse that > far. > > 2) Terminating explorer and browsing from within Nero to delete the > folder, or a deeper one within it. It only lets me browse down to like > 18 tiers anyway. > > 3) using the Command Prompt, after having terminated explorer, and > from safe mode to rmdir /s the directory. I have also tried the rd > command. Both successfully bury through an impressive number of > directories, but return lots of errors like "Maximum Path Length > Exceeded", "The process cannot access the file because it is being > used by another process" (even from safe mode), "The directory is not > empty", etc etc > > 4) Browsing down as far as I could go (again, like 18 tiers), then > mapping that folder to a new virtual drive, then browsing down in that > virtual drive, then mapping a deeper drive, etc. I used all 26 letters > and was able to browse deeper, but I get the same error when I try to > delete a folder. > > 5) I have tried numerous "Delete on Boot" programs to attempt to > delete the folder on reboot, when nothing was accessing it. > > Any thoughts or suggestions short of clearing off the drive and > formatting, would be much appreciated! > > Thanks again > > Ted Since this is K drive, presumably NOT your boot drive, then just copy everything BUT that folder set to another drive. Then kill, recreate the partition, and put things back. Done, quicker, and more efficiently. AND, if that program can't handle recursing itself, I'd get rid of it and install one that can! That's an unforgiveable bug, IMO. Any good app knows not to recurse itself. If you're doing that with batch files, XXCOPY will handle that sort of recursivity very well and easily. It's at xxcopy.com. Very similar to xcopy but much more powerful. Oh, and it's free but I found it so useful I paid for it. Only difference between paid/free is a license, which stops certain nags and turns on a few very powerful features. It'll also clone a drive; has both backup and clone features. NOT for backing up system drives; you need to use shadowcopy for that. It's all in their FAQs. HTH Pop`
Guest Plato Posted August 29, 2007 Posted August 29, 2007 Re: Cannot delete very deep directory tree tedbaab@gmail.com wrote: > > I have a directory that I cannot delete that was created by an > accidental backup routine. I have a folder on my K drive called "K: http://www.bootdisk.com/utility.htm GENERAL FILE UTILITIES Stubborn File Deleters
Recommended Posts