cannot delete empty folders - until 'later'

[Guest John John]

In other words you couldn't delete it until you logged off and back or

or until you rebooted the machine? Something must have had an open

handle on the folder.

 

John

 

legg wrote:

> Recent migration to W2K SP4 had me moving/sorting

> files and folders. After a folder was emptied, I

> could not delete it, as administrator, until the

> next day.

>

> What's going on?

>

> RL

[Guest Andrew Rossmann]

Re: cannot delete empty folders - until 'later'

 

In article <j5knt3hq9tgha41h9s3o8m3hmtmk10qtqg@4ax.com>,

legg@nospam.magma.ca says...

> I recall having the same problem with re-naming

> recently moved folders, hence the 'empty' ones

> with the wrong names, needing deletion.

>

> Same question.....what's going on?

 

How did you delete/rename? If you used a command prompt, did you close

the prompt or at least CD to another directory? As John John mentioned,

something was probably holding something in the directory, or the

directory itself, open. I've found Outlook can do that when you save or

read attatchments, especially if Word is your editor, and not just the

built-in editor.

 

There are several process explorer style programs you can use to check

open handles, and find out what program is blocking the directory or

file(s) from being deleted.

 

If you have a network share to your computer, you can look in Computer

Management to see what files are open on your shared directories.

 

--

If there is a no_junk in my address, please REMOVE it before replying!

All junk mail senders will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the

law!!

http://home.att.net/~andyross

[Guest legg]

cannot delete empty folders - until 'later'

 

Recent migration to W2K SP4 had me moving/sorting

files and folders. After a folder was emptied, I

could not delete it, as administrator, until the

next day.

 

What's going on?

 

RL

[Guest legg]

Re: cannot delete empty folders - until 'later'

 

I recall having the same problem with re-naming

recently moved folders, hence the 'empty' ones

with the wrong names, needing deletion.

 

Same question.....what's going on?

 

RL

[Guest John John]

Re: cannot delete empty folders - until 'later'

 

Adjust your clock, you're posting in the future.

 

As mentioned by Andrew, the application that you use to rename or delete

files may be keeping an open handle on the files or folders. Tools like

OH.exe, Handle or Process Explorer can reveal the handles.

 

Process Explorer for Windows v10.21

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/utilities/ProcessExplorer.mspx

 

Handle v3.20

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/ProcessesAndThreads/Handle.mspx

 

Open Handles (oh.exe): This command-line tool shows the handles of all

open windows. The tool can also be used to show only information that

relates to a specific process, object type, or object name. To download

this tool, click the following link:

http://download.microsoft.com/download/win2000platform/oh/1.00.0.1/nt5/en-us/oh_setup.exe

 

Windows Server 2003 Resource Kit Tools

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=9d467a69-57ff-4ae7-96ee-b18c4790cffd&displaylang=en

 

John

 

legg wrote:

> I recall having the same problem with re-naming

> recently moved folders, hence the 'empty' ones

> with the wrong names, needing deletion.

>

> Same question.....what's going on?

>

> RL

[Guest legg]

Re: cannot delete empty folders - until 'later'

 

On Sat, 15 Mar 2008 10:50:58 -0300, John John

<audetweld@nbnet.nb.ca> wrote:

>Adjust your clock, you're posting in the future.

 

Eastern Daylight Savings Time...seems to check out

from this end, and on all message time stamps.

>

>As mentioned by Andrew, the application that you use to rename or delete

>files may be keeping an open handle on the files or folders. Tools like

>OH.exe, Handle or Process Explorer can reveal the handles.

>

>Process Explorer for Windows v10.21

>http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/utilities/ProcessExplorer.mspx

>

>Handle v3.20

>http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/ProcessesAndThreads/Handle.mspx

>

>Open Handles (oh.exe): This command-line tool shows the handles of all

>open windows. The tool can also be used to show only information that

>relates to a specific process, object type, or object name. To download

>this tool, click the following link:

>http://download.microsoft.com/download/win2000platform/oh/1.00.0.1/nt5/en-us/oh_setup.exe

>

>Windows Server 2003 Resource Kit Tools

>http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=9d467a69-57ff-4ae7-96ee-b18c4790cffd&displaylang=en

>

 

No special processes being used. Just explorer.

 

Will give the recommended tools a try.

 

Checking permissions was the first thing I tried.

This thing is not yet on a network; there are no

users set up, save the administrator and no

sharing has been assigned.

 

No such trouble on the machine the files

originated from (via hard disk temporary

relocation), and in many specific cases these

were/are new folders and files created for

updating hardware drivers.

 

Thanks.

[Guest John John]

Re: cannot delete empty folders - until 'later'

 

legg wrote:

> On Sat, 15 Mar 2008 10:50:58 -0300, John John

> <audetweld@nbnet.nb.ca> wrote:

>

>

>>Adjust your clock, you're posting in the future.

>

>

> Eastern Daylight Savings Time...seems to check out

> from this end, and on all message time stamps.

 

Hmmm. Looking at it from this ends it appears that Andrew and I have

replied to your posts before you even asked a question or reported a

problem! I replied to your 10:32AM post at 9:40AM and Andrew replied to

your 10:37AM post at 10:02AM, I may have to check my crystal ball to see

if it's cracked...

 

> No special processes being used. Just explorer.

>

> Will give the recommended tools a try.

>

> Checking permissions was the first thing I tried.

> This thing is not yet on a network; there are no

> users set up, save the administrator and no

> sharing has been assigned.

>

> No such trouble on the machine the files

> originated from (via hard disk temporary

> relocation), and in many specific cases these

> were/are new folders and files created for

> updating hardware drivers.

 

Checking the permissions was a good troubleshooting measure but being

that you can delete the folders after a reboot I don't think that this

is a permissions issue, your investigation seems to have confirmed this.

 

John

[Guest legg]

Re: cannot delete empty folders - until 'later'

 

On Sat, 15 Mar 2008 10:50:58 -0300, John John

<audetweld@nbnet.nb.ca> wrote:

>Adjust your clock, you're posting in the future.

>

>As mentioned by Andrew, the application that you use to rename or delete

>files may be keeping an open handle on the files or folders. Tools like

>OH.exe, Handle or Process Explorer can reveal the handles.

>

>Process Explorer for Windows v10.21

>http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/utilities/ProcessExplorer.mspx

>

>Handle v3.20

>http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/ProcessesAndThreads/Handle.mspx

>

>Open Handles (oh.exe): This command-line tool shows the handles of all

>open windows. The tool can also be used to show only information that

>relates to a specific process, object type, or object name. To download

>this tool, click the following link:

>http://download.microsoft.com/download/win2000platform/oh/1.00.0.1/nt5/en-us/oh_setup.exe

>

>Windows Server 2003 Resource Kit Tools

>http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=9d467a69-57ff-4ae7-96ee-b18c4790cffd&displaylang=en

>

I'd updated the time displayed, manually. Have

just run the DST patch. Perhaps this helps time

stamps. My news agent may have a mind of its own.

 

Running SysInternal's Process Explorer reveals no

handles.

 

Folders whose contents are emptied/transferred can

still not be deleted, until reboot.

 

I disabled some Seagate acronis disk imaging tools

that were hovering in the background, without

effect. Open processes are listed below.

 

RL

 

Process PID CPU Description Company

Name

System Idle Process 0 98.44

Interrupts n/a 1.56 Hardware

Interrupts

DPCs n/a Deferred Procedure Calls

System 8

SMSS.EXE 384 Windows NT Session

Manager Microsoft Corporation

CSRSS.EXE 412 Client Server

Runtime Process Microsoft Corporation

WINLOGON.EXE 432 Windows NT Logon

Application Microsoft Corporation

SERVICES.EXE 460 Services

and Controller app Microsoft Corporation

svchost.exe 648 Generic

Host Process for Win32 Services Microsoft

Corporation

spoolsv.exe 688 Spooler

SubSystem App Microsoft Corporation

schedul2.exe 716 Acronis

Scheduler 2 Acronis

svchost.exe 756 Generic

Host Process for Win32 Services Microsoft

Corporation

FormatM.exe 788 MacOpener

Mac Formatter DataViz Inc.

nod32krn.exe 812 NOD32

Kernel Service Eset

nvsvc32.exe 872 NVIDIA

Driver Helper Service, Version 91.48 NVIDIA

Corporation

PERSFW.exe 884 Kerio Personal

Firewall Engine Kerio Technologies

regsvc.exe 564 Remote Registry

Service Microsoft Corporation

mstask.exe 932 Task Scheduler

Engine Microsoft Corporation

WinMgmt.exe 996 Windows

Management Instrumentation Microsoft

Corporation

svchost.exe 1072 Generic

Host Process for Win32 Services Microsoft

Corporation

LSASS.EXE 472 LSA Executable and

Server DLL (Export Version) Microsoft

Corporation

procexp.exe 1324 Sysinternals

Process Explorer Sysinternals -

http://www.sysinternals.com

agent.exe 1680 Forte Agent Forte

Internet Software Inc.

explorer.exe 1292 Windows Explorer

Microsoft Corporation

[Guest John John]

Re: cannot delete empty folders - until 'later'

 

legg wrote:

> On Sat, 15 Mar 2008 10:50:58 -0300, John John

> <audetweld@nbnet.nb.ca> wrote:

>

>

>>Adjust your clock, you're posting in the future.

>>

>>As mentioned by Andrew, the application that you use to rename or delete

>>files may be keeping an open handle on the files or folders. Tools like

>>OH.exe, Handle or Process Explorer can reveal the handles.

>>

>>Process Explorer for Windows v10.21

>>http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/utilities/ProcessExplorer.mspx

>>

>>Handle v3.20

>>http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/ProcessesAndThreads/Handle.mspx

>>

>>Open Handles (oh.exe): This command-line tool shows the handles of all

>>open windows. The tool can also be used to show only information that

>>relates to a specific process, object type, or object name. To download

>>this tool, click the following link:

>>http://download.microsoft.com/download/win2000platform/oh/1.00.0.1/nt5/en-us/oh_setup.exe

>>

>>Windows Server 2003 Resource Kit Tools

>>http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=9d467a69-57ff-4ae7-96ee-b18c4790cffd&displaylang=en

>>

>

> I'd updated the time displayed, manually. Have

> just run the DST patch. Perhaps this helps time

> stamps. My news agent may have a mind of its own.

>

> Running SysInternal's Process Explorer reveals no

> handles.

>

> Folders whose contents are emptied/transferred can

> still not be deleted, until reboot.

>

> I disabled some Seagate acronis disk imaging tools

> that were hovering in the background, without

> effect. Open processes are listed below.

>

> RL

>

> Process PID CPU Description Company

> Name

> System Idle Process 0 98.44

> Interrupts n/a 1.56 Hardware

> Interrupts

> DPCs n/a Deferred Procedure Calls

> System 8

> SMSS.EXE 384 Windows NT Session

> Manager Microsoft Corporation

> CSRSS.EXE 412 Client Server

> Runtime Process Microsoft Corporation

> WINLOGON.EXE 432 Windows NT Logon

> Application Microsoft Corporation

> SERVICES.EXE 460 Services

> and Controller app Microsoft Corporation

> svchost.exe 648 Generic

> Host Process for Win32 Services Microsoft

> Corporation

> spoolsv.exe 688 Spooler

> SubSystem App Microsoft Corporation

> schedul2.exe 716 Acronis

> Scheduler 2 Acronis

> svchost.exe 756 Generic

> Host Process for Win32 Services Microsoft

> Corporation

> FormatM.exe 788 MacOpener

> Mac Formatter DataViz Inc.

> nod32krn.exe 812 NOD32

> Kernel Service Eset

> nvsvc32.exe 872 NVIDIA

> Driver Helper Service, Version 91.48 NVIDIA

> Corporation

> PERSFW.exe 884 Kerio Personal

> Firewall Engine Kerio Technologies

> regsvc.exe 564 Remote Registry

> Service Microsoft Corporation

> mstask.exe 932 Task Scheduler

> Engine Microsoft Corporation

> WinMgmt.exe 996 Windows

> Management Instrumentation Microsoft

> Corporation

> svchost.exe 1072 Generic

> Host Process for Win32 Services Microsoft

> Corporation

> LSASS.EXE 472 LSA Executable and

> Server DLL (Export Version) Microsoft

> Corporation

> procexp.exe 1324 Sysinternals

> Process Explorer Sysinternals -

> http://www.sysinternals.com

> agent.exe 1680 Forte Agent Forte

> Internet Software Inc.

> explorer.exe 1292 Windows Explorer

> Microsoft Corporation

 

What are these undeletable folders? What error messages are you getting

when you try to delete them? How about the Event Viewer, are any errors

showing in the logs?

 

How are you deleting the files and folders, with Explorer.exe or with

another application? Can you use the RD command at the command prompt

to delete the folders? If no what does the RD command return?

 

Try using the Task Manager and Kill Explorer.exe and its process tree,

then, using the File | New Task menu, restart Explorer.exe again and see

if you can delete the folders.

 

Try the other Handle tools on the actual folders to make sure that there

are no handles on the folders, try using OH.exe on the actual folder

instead of querying processes.

 

John

[Guest legg]

Re: cannot delete empty folders - until 'later'

 

On Mon, 17 Mar 2008 16:53:14 -0300, John John

<audetweld@nbnet.nb.ca> wrote:

 

>

>What are these undeletable folders? What error messages are you getting

>when you try to delete them? How about the Event Viewer, are any errors

>showing in the logs?

 

It doesn't seem to matter what the folder is, or

where. (C:\, other drives, floppy) If I move its

non-executable (pdf txt doc etc) contents to a

renamed folder, the emptied folder cannot be

deleted or renamed, using the standard windows

explorer GUI. I am not opening the 'windows

explorer' process, just using the standard desktop

GUI, which is the explorer process listed in the

SysInt report.

>

>How are you deleting the files and folders, with Explorer.exe or with

>another application? Can you use the RD command at the command prompt

>to delete the folders? If no what does the RD command return?

 

The error message is "Cannot delete <folder name>:

There has been a sharing violation. The source or

destination file may be in use."

 

If I then move the original contents back into the

original folder, I am prevented from deleting the

now-empty new folder. If I attempt to move the

now-empty new folder to a new directory, I get the

same error message, but, strangely, the move is

completed. The empty folder can then be deleted

without errors.

 

I have used no command instructions and am

basically ignorant of all but the simplest

functions used in performing tasks off a boot

floppy.

>

>Try using the Task Manager and Kill Explorer.exe and its process tree,

>then, using the File | New Task menu, restart Explorer.exe again and see

>if you can delete the folders.

>

>Try the other Handle tools on the actual folders to make sure that there

>are no handles on the folders, try using OH.exe on the actual folder

>instead of querying processes.

 

Attempts to use the OH.exe resulted in rapid

display and termination of the dos window that

were unreadable and left no identifiable log

results.

 

TaskInfo.exe, normally resident on this machine,

sees innumerable handles associated with each

process, previously listed. How would one handle

be identified as having relevance to file

deletion, relocation or renaming processes?

 

RL

[Guest legg]

Re: cannot delete empty folders - until 'later'

 

On Mon, 17 Mar 2008 16:53:14 -0300, John John

<audetweld@nbnet.nb.ca> wrote:

 

>

>What are these undeletable folders? What error messages are you getting

>when you try to delete them? How about the Event Viewer, are any errors

>showing in the logs?

 

I made a couple of failed folder manipulation

operations while composing the last message, but

there are no events listed by event viewer within

two hours of that time.

 

RL

[Guest John John]

Re: cannot delete empty folders - until 'later'

 

legg wrote:

 

> Attempts to use the OH.exe resulted in rapid

> display and termination of the dos window that

> were unreadable and left no identifiable log

> results.

 

Issue OH against the name of the file or folder, for example:

 

OH filename

 

or

 

OH Foldername

 

If there are spaces in the object name surround it with quotation marks:

 

OH "Folder Name"

 

You may find that SysInternals Handle works better than OH.exe, both are

used at the Command Prompt, Handle.exe handles fully qualified paths and

returns an easier to read output:

 

Handle C:\Foldername\filename

 

John

[Guest John John]

Re: cannot delete empty folders - until 'later'

 

legg wrote:

> I disabled some Seagate acronis disk imaging tools

> that were hovering in the background, without

> effect. Open processes are listed below.

> System Idle Process

> System

> SMSS.EXE

> CSRSS.EXE

> WINLOGON.EXE

> SERVICES.EXE

> svchost.exe

> spoolsv.exe

> schedul2.exe Acronis

> Scheduler 2 Acronis

> svchost.exe

> FormatM.exe MacOpener Mac Formatter DataViz Inc.

> nod32krn.exe NOD32 Kernel Service Eset

> nvsvc32.exe NVIDIA Driver Helper Service,

> PERSFW.exe Kerio Personal Firewall Engine

 

 

**********************************************

> regsvc.exe Remote Registry Service

 

Why do you have this running? Is your machine part of a domain or is it

administered remotely by another machine on a LAN? It most probably has

nothing to do with your folder deletion problem but this service should

not be running unless you have very good reasons to want it running, for

most parts it just presents an additional unwanted security risk.

 

 

*************************************************

> mstask.exe Task Scheduler

> WinMgmt.exe Windows Management Instrumentation

> svchost.exe Generic Host Process for Win32 Services

> LSASS.EXE LSA Executable and Server DLL

> procexp.exe Sysinternals Process Explorer

> agent.exe Forte Agent Forte

> explorer.exe Windows Explorer

[Guest legg]

Re: cannot delete empty folders - until 'later'

 

On Mon, 17 Mar 2008 21:31:21 -0300, John John <audetweld@nbnet.nb.ca>

wrote:

 

 

I ran handle.exe v3.3 from the command prompt on an undeletable folder,

created earlier, solely to illustrate the problem:

 

Handle C:\DOCS\BUSINESS\APPS080317

 

This returned 13 nearly identical entrys:

 

explorer.exe PID: 1292 XXX: C:\DOCS\BUSINESS\APPS080317

 

where XXX is

 

9C0

9F0

A40

A54

A5C

AC0

ACC

AD0

B04

B0C

B24

B48

B50

 

This empty folder;

IS currently in it's the original location as listed above;

WAS apparently relocated earlier into C:\DOCS\ (with warnings);

WAS deleted from that new location;

and

DOES currently appear in the recycle bin.

 

What the hell is going on?

 

RL

[Guest legg]

Re: cannot delete empty folders - until 'later'

 

On Mon, 17 Mar 2008 22:16:41 -0300, John John <audetweld@nbnet.nb.ca>

wrote:

 

>

>**********************************************

>> regsvc.exe Remote Registry Service

>

>Why do you have this running? Is your machine part of a domain or is it

>administered remotely by another machine on a LAN? It most probably has

>nothing to do with your folder deletion problem but this service should

>not be running unless you have very good reasons to want it running, for

>most parts it just presents an additional unwanted security risk.

>

>

>*************************************************

 

The nearest it gets to a network is in sharing a NAT router.

 

There are a lot of processes I'd like to unload from start-up, but this

isn't one I can currently access through familiar methods.

 

RL

[Guest John John]

Re: cannot delete empty folders - until 'later'

 

legg wrote:

> On Mon, 17 Mar 2008 22:16:41 -0300, John John <audetweld@nbnet.nb.ca>

> wrote:

>

>

>

>>**********************************************

>>

>>>regsvc.exe Remote Registry Service

>>

>>Why do you have this running? Is your machine part of a domain or is it

>>administered remotely by another machine on a LAN? It most probably has

>>nothing to do with your folder deletion problem but this service should

>>not be running unless you have very good reasons to want it running, for

>>most parts it just presents an additional unwanted security risk.

>>

>>

>>*************************************************

>

>

> The nearest it gets to a network is in sharing a NAT router.

>

> There are a lot of processes I'd like to unload from start-up, but this

> isn't one I can currently access through familiar methods.

 

It can be disabled or set to Manual Start in the Services Management

Console, to open the console enter services.msc in the Start Menu Run box.

 

John

[Guest John John]

Re: cannot delete empty folders - until 'later'

 

legg wrote:

> On Mon, 17 Mar 2008 21:31:21 -0300, John John <audetweld@nbnet.nb.ca>

> wrote:

>

>

> I ran handle.exe v3.3 from the command prompt on an undeletable folder,

> created earlier, solely to illustrate the problem:

>

> Handle C:\DOCS\BUSINESS\APPS080317

>

> This returned 13 nearly identical entrys:

>

> explorer.exe PID: 1292 XXX: C:\DOCS\BUSINESS\APPS080317

>

> where XXX is

>

> 9C0

> 9F0

> A40

> A54

> A5C

> AC0

> ACC

> AD0

> B04

> B0C

> B24

> B48

> B50

 

Those are just handle ID's, normal but it seems that Explorer has a lot

of open handles on one empty folder. You can run the Handle command

against the process or PID to find out more about the handles:

 

handle -p 1292

 

The Explorer PID was obtained from the first output of the command or it

can be obtained from the Task Manager or TLIST command.

 

You can use the Handle command or Process Explorer to kill the handle

but beware the warning that killing handles may make the system unstable.

 

 

> This empty folder;

> IS currently in it's the original location as listed above;

> WAS apparently relocated earlier into C:\DOCS\ (with warnings);

> WAS deleted from that new location;

> and

> DOES currently appear in the recycle bin.

 

I'm not sure that I follow, "was apparently relocated" by whom or what?

 

> What the hell is going on?

 

I don't know, this is unusual behaviour. You say that this happens with

different folders in different locations? Is the machine free of virus

and other pests or spyware? Does this happen in Safe Mode?

 

John

[Guest legg]

Re: cannot delete empty folders - until 'later'

 

On Mon, 17 Mar 2008 23:16:30 -0300, John John <audetweld@nbnet.nb.ca>

wrote:

>legg wrote:

>

>> On Mon, 17 Mar 2008 22:16:41 -0300, John John <audetweld@nbnet.nb.ca>

>> wrote:

>>

>>

>>

>>>**********************************************

>>>

>>>>regsvc.exe Remote Registry Service

>>>

>>>Why do you have this running? Is your machine part of a domain or is it

>>>administered remotely by another machine on a LAN? It most probably has

>>>nothing to do with your folder deletion problem but this service should

>>>not be running unless you have very good reasons to want it running, for

>>>most parts it just presents an additional unwanted security risk.

>>>

>>>

>>>*************************************************

>>

>>

>> The nearest it gets to a network is in sharing a NAT router.

>>

>> There are a lot of processes I'd like to unload from start-up, but this

>> isn't one I can currently access through familiar methods.

>

>It can be disabled or set to Manual Start in the Services Management

>Console, to open the console enter services.msc in the Start Menu Run box.

>

 

Perhaps I should have mentioned that this machine is involved in a

distributed computing initiative, running cancer and aids number crunching

as background activity, controlled by a World Community Grid BOINC Client.

This might have the need for the remote registry service, but regsvc.exe is

not open in a WXP machine running the same activity.

 

Regsvc.exe was terminated manually yesterday evening, without rebooting,

via TaskInfo. This A.M. it is running again.

 

Also this A.M. the BOINC client is erratic, squegging to 100% processor

use, then nothing at ~ 3second rep rate, and the machine's monitor is awake

and prevented from going into normal power saving routine (no screen saver

is used). Normally the display monitor self extinguished after 15minutes

without keyboard or mouse activity. Normally the BOINC activity

self-throttles at 80% when not at minimal use (during communication

events). I will be looking to the WCGrid for advice on this particular

issue, if it continues.

 

RL

[Guest legg]

Re: cannot delete empty folders - until 'later'

 

On Tue, 18 Mar 2008 00:25:28 -0300, John John <audetweld@nbnet.nb.ca>

wrote:

 

>

>Those are just handle ID's, normal but it seems that Explorer has a lot

>of open handles on one empty folder. You can run the Handle command

>against the process or PID to find out more about the handles:

>

>handle -p 1292

>

>The Explorer PID was obtained from the first output of the command or it

>can be obtained from the Task Manager or TLIST command.

>

>You can use the Handle command or Process Explorer to kill the handle

>but beware the warning that killing handles may make the system unstable.

 

There are around 240 explorer handles listed.

 

Apart from the 13 APS080317 folder handles, there are around 200 handles

applied to another empty folder that recently refused deletion:

 

L:\Component\passive 1\magnetic\articles mag\mag model\

 

and one or two handles referring to folders beside or below this one.

I note that this doesn't refer to the folder itself, but it's contents.

It has no contents. These were transferred to a pre-existing folder labeled

'magnetic model' in the same 'articles mag' directory.

 

There are ten or fifteen other handles that are not repeated.

 

I personally like this one:

 

1D8: Section \BaseNamedObjects\RotHintTable.

 

RL

[Guest John John]

Re: cannot delete empty folders - until 'later'

 

legg wrote:

> On Mon, 17 Mar 2008 23:16:30 -0300, John John <audetweld@nbnet.nb.ca>

> wrote:

>

>

>>legg wrote:

>>

>>

>>>On Mon, 17 Mar 2008 22:16:41 -0300, John John <audetweld@nbnet.nb.ca>

>>>wrote:

>>>

>>>

>>>

>>>

>>>>**********************************************

>>>>

>>>>

>>>>>regsvc.exe Remote Registry Service

>>>>

>>>>Why do you have this running? Is your machine part of a domain or is it

>>>>administered remotely by another machine on a LAN? It most probably has

>>>>nothing to do with your folder deletion problem but this service should

>>>>not be running unless you have very good reasons to want it running, for

>>>>most parts it just presents an additional unwanted security risk.

>>>>

>>>>

>>>>*************************************************

>>>

>>>

>>>The nearest it gets to a network is in sharing a NAT router.

>>>

>>>There are a lot of processes I'd like to unload from start-up, but this

>>>isn't one I can currently access through familiar methods.

>>

>>It can be disabled or set to Manual Start in the Services Management

>>Console, to open the console enter services.msc in the Start Menu Run box.

>>

>

>

> Perhaps I should have mentioned that this machine is involved in a

> distributed computing initiative, running cancer and aids number crunching

> as background activity, controlled by a World Community Grid BOINC Client.

> This might have the need for the remote registry service, but regsvc.exe is

> not open in a WXP machine running the same activity.

>

> Regsvc.exe was terminated manually yesterday evening, without rebooting,

> via TaskInfo. This A.M. it is running again.

>

> Also this A.M. the BOINC client is erratic, squegging to 100% processor

> use, then nothing at ~ 3second rep rate, and the machine's monitor is awake

> and prevented from going into normal power saving routine (no screen saver

> is used). Normally the display monitor self extinguished after 15minutes

> without keyboard or mouse activity. Normally the BOINC activity

> self-throttles at 80% when not at minimal use (during communication

> events). I will be looking to the WCGrid for advice on this particular

> issue, if it continues.

 

I'm pretty leery about this whole thing. Not the Cancer/AIDS number

crunching initiative, I think that is a very good use for idle computing

time, but that the effort or that BOINC would require the ability to

Remotely Edit your Registry for the number crunching to happen is a bit

specious to me! I understand that collaborating with these

collective/distributed computing initiatives requires that you give

someone or something a bit of control over your machine but I still

don't see why they would need to remotely edit your registry, and I

don't know why they would need to re-enable this service after you turn

it off! It may all be above board, but to me there is something fishy

going on.

 

With regards to your folder deletion problem I am now thinking that one

of these third party services or applications that you have running has

a hook into Explorer.exe or into the file system and that may be

preventing you from deleting the folders. I would disable some of these

services, or clean boot and add/re-enable them one at a time and do some

tests to see what is going on with these third party services. And from

this distance I haven't ruled out the possibility that virus/spyware

activity on your machine could be the cause of the problem.

 

John

[Guest legg]

Re: cannot delete empty folders - until 'later'

 

On Tue, 18 Mar 2008 09:31:32 -0300, John John <audetweld@nbnet.nb.ca>

wrote:

 

>> Also this A.M. the BOINC client is erratic, squegging to 100% processor

>> use, then nothing at ~ 3second rep rate, and the machine's monitor is awake

>> and prevented from going into normal power saving routine (no screen saver

>> is used). Normally the display monitor self extinguished after 15minutes

>> without keyboard or mouse activity. Normally the BOINC activity

>> self-throttles at 80% when not at minimal use (during communication

>> events). I will be looking to the WCGrid for advice on this particular

>> issue, if it continues.

>

>I'm pretty leery about this whole thing. Not the Cancer/AIDS number

>crunching initiative, I think that is a very good use for idle computing

>time, but that the effort or that BOINC would require the ability to

>Remotely Edit your Registry for the number crunching to happen is a bit

>specious to me! I understand that collaborating with these

>collective/distributed computing initiatives requires that you give

>someone or something a bit of control over your machine but I still

>don't see why they would need to remotely edit your registry, and I

>don't know why they would need to re-enable this service after you turn

>it off! It may all be above board, but to me there is something fishy

>going on.

>

>With regards to your folder deletion problem I am now thinking that one

>of these third party services or applications that you have running has

>a hook into Explorer.exe or into the file system and that may be

>preventing you from deleting the folders. I would disable some of these

>services, or clean boot and add/re-enable them one at a time and do some

>tests to see what is going on with these third party services. And from

>this distance I haven't ruled out the possibility that virus/spyware

>activity on your machine could be the cause of the problem.

 

I've been avoiding a reboot, so as not to lose immediate symptoms, but will

do so presently, and wait for a recurrence. It doesn't usually take long,

and Im still proceeding with file transfers into this affected system.

 

If I hear anything from BOINC, I'll report, but there's no real proof that

they're the culprit.

 

RL

[Guest John John]

Re: cannot delete empty folders - until 'later'

 

legg wrote:

> On Tue, 18 Mar 2008 00:25:28 -0300, John John <audetweld@nbnet.nb.ca>

> wrote:

>

>

>

>>Those are just handle ID's, normal but it seems that Explorer has a lot

>>of open handles on one empty folder. You can run the Handle command

>>against the process or PID to find out more about the handles:

>>

>>handle -p 1292

>>

>>The Explorer PID was obtained from the first output of the command or it

>>can be obtained from the Task Manager or TLIST command.

>>

>>You can use the Handle command or Process Explorer to kill the handle

>>but beware the warning that killing handles may make the system unstable.

>

>

> There are around 240 explorer handles listed.

>

> Apart from the 13 APS080317 folder handles, there are around 200 handles

> applied to another empty folder that recently refused deletion:

>

> L:\Component\passive 1\magnetic\articles mag\mag model\

 

I don't know, but seems like a lot of handles on an empty folder!

 

Use Task Manager and kill Explorer.exe and its Process Tree then restart

it and rerun the Handle command against it, (note that the Explorer PID

may be different after you restart it, the PID is shown in Task

Manager), when you kill the Process Tree all items spawned/started by

Explorer.exe will also be kiled. After you restart Explorer try to

delete the folders.

 

John

[Guest legg]

Re: cannot delete empty folders - until 'later'

 

On Tue, 18 Mar 2008 10:29:13 -0300, John John <audetweld@nbnet.nb.ca>

wrote:

>legg wrote:

>> On Tue, 18 Mar 2008 00:25:28 -0300, John John <audetweld@nbnet.nb.ca>

>> wrote:

>>

>>

>>

>>>Those are just handle ID's, normal but it seems that Explorer has a lot

>>>of open handles on one empty folder. You can run the Handle command

>>>against the process or PID to find out more about the handles:

>>>

>>>handle -p 1292

>>>

>>>The Explorer PID was obtained from the first output of the command or it

>>>can be obtained from the Task Manager or TLIST command.

>>>

>>>You can use the Handle command or Process Explorer to kill the handle

>>>but beware the warning that killing handles may make the system unstable.

>>

>>

>> There are around 240 explorer handles listed.

>>

>> Apart from the 13 APS080317 folder handles, there are around 200 handles

>> applied to another empty folder that recently refused deletion:

>>

>> L:\Component\passive 1\magnetic\articles mag\mag model\

>

>I don't know, but seems like a lot of handles on an empty folder!

>

>Use Task Manager and kill Explorer.exe and its Process Tree then restart

>it and rerun the Handle command against it, (note that the Explorer PID

>may be different after you restart it, the PID is shown in Task

>Manager), when you kill the Process Tree all items spawned/started by

>Explorer.exe will also be kiled. After you restart Explorer try to

>delete the folders.

 

I rebooted before reading this post, but will follow the recommendation in

the next instance of an undeletable empty folder, with abnormal handle

counts.

 

By the way, the Regsvc.exe process self-started immediately after

termination, not after some interval of time, as previously reported. I've

set it to 'manual' as suggested. Previously 'automatic'.

 

RL

[Guest John John]

Re: cannot delete empty folders - until 'later'

 

legg wrote:

> On Tue, 18 Mar 2008 10:29:13 -0300, John John <audetweld@nbnet.nb.ca>

> wrote:

>

>

>>legg wrote:

>>

>>>On Tue, 18 Mar 2008 00:25:28 -0300, John John <audetweld@nbnet.nb.ca>

>>>wrote:

>>>

>>>

>>>

>>>

>>>>Those are just handle ID's, normal but it seems that Explorer has a lot

>>>>of open handles on one empty folder. You can run the Handle command

>>>>against the process or PID to find out more about the handles:

>>>>

>>>>handle -p 1292

>>>>

>>>>The Explorer PID was obtained from the first output of the command or it

>>>>can be obtained from the Task Manager or TLIST command.

>>>>

>>>>You can use the Handle command or Process Explorer to kill the handle

>>>>but beware the warning that killing handles may make the system unstable.

>>>

>>>

>>>There are around 240 explorer handles listed.

>>>

>>>Apart from the 13 APS080317 folder handles, there are around 200 handles

>>>applied to another empty folder that recently refused deletion:

>>>

>>>L:\Component\passive 1\magnetic\articles mag\mag model\

>>

>>I don't know, but seems like a lot of handles on an empty folder!

>>

>>Use Task Manager and kill Explorer.exe and its Process Tree then restart

>>it and rerun the Handle command against it, (note that the Explorer PID

>>may be different after you restart it, the PID is shown in Task

>>Manager), when you kill the Process Tree all items spawned/started by

>>Explorer.exe will also be kiled. After you restart Explorer try to

>>delete the folders.

>

>

> I rebooted before reading this post, but will follow the recommendation in

> the next instance of an undeletable empty folder, with abnormal handle

> counts.

>

> By the way, the Regsvc.exe process self-started immediately after

> termination, not after some interval of time, as previously reported. I've

> set it to 'manual' as suggested. Previously 'automatic'.

 

Something is going on with the service. I can't see why this service

needs to run and I don't know what would cause it to restart when you

turn it off. I am wondering if this is even the real bona fide

Microsoft Remote Registry Service, some virus mascarade as this service.

Do a search on your hard drive for Regsvc.exe and note the various

locations of the file.

 

John

[Guest legg]

Re: cannot delete empty folders - until 'later'

 

On Tue, 18 Mar 2008 09:46:47 -0400, legg <legg@nospam.magma.ca> wrote:

 

Well, that didn't take long.

 

First folder emptied of 6 jpg files, created by

some goofy SW installer, would not delete. Usual message.

 

C:\DOCS\Demo Album

 

Would not delete.

 

handle.exe doesn't recognize the file name with or without quotes from a

command prompt.

 

Per TaskInfo, Explore has a million handles , none of them referring to

this folder.

 

Opening a discrete instance of explorer.exe from the start menu, gets the

same response from a select/file/delete mouse sequence in the GUI.

 

The folder has security properties grayed/checked for all operations for

both me as administrator and for another identity 'everyone'.

 

The "allow inheritable permissions from parent....." check box is ticked.

 

running handle -p 1384 shows fewer explorer handles ~40.

 

5 of those apply to the folder Demo Album, all reading

 

xxx: File <RW-> C:\DOCS\Demo Album

 

RL