cant delete file

I cant delete rename or do anything to this folder on my computer do any of you know what it is




here is a screenshot


the file is called U

Please restart your windows and try to delete it again... it could be that file is being used.

What was the extension?

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... it could be that file is being used.

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he would get an error, cannot delete file because it is being used by another program...

is the folder empty ? check if there are any hidden system files in it....did you try the deltree comand in DOS ?

example ...


To delete a folder in DOS you will have to use the "Deltree" command, for example to delete the windows directory you type:

DELTREE C:\WINDOWS

You will then be prompted for a Y or N answer

http://www.windowsreinstall.com/inst...der_and_it.htm


and why the heck do you guys have the same avatar ????? some people here dont look at usernames, i recognize members by avatras, i though u double posted....some people may neg one of you ....

i think if u haven't been benifited by above suggestion then u restart ur PC in dos mod and delete the file.i think it should work.

XP does not have DOS mode... This was stopped from ME on.

When you restart while booting press F8 to get extra boot options...

Safe Mode with Command Prompt (SAFEBOOT_OPTION=Minimal(AlternateShell)): This option is the same as Safe mode, except that Cmd.exe starts instead of Windows Explorer.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=315222

Or you can just boot into normal Safe mode, it starts with only the basic services and programs it needs to run the computer,so you probably will be able to delete the folder then.

see grunt i think u got ur answer

there are many "variations" of DOS mode...depend what you mean ...

A Command.com session within Windows GUI (Graphic User Interface)?
DOS mode, as per "Use with current..."
DOS mode, as per "Specify a new..."?
DOS mode, as per F8 menu, "Command Prompt Only"?
DOS mode, as per F8 menu, "Safe Mode Command Prompt Only"?
DOS mode, via BootGUI=0, or as consequence of failure to start Windows?
Previous version of MS-DOS, as per F8 menu?
Anything that booted off a diskette or CD?
Windows in DOS Compatibility Mode, which is Windows really?
All of these fall into one of three categories; an emulated DOS environment within Windows, a true DOS mode using the DOS that is packaged with Windows, or a previous version of DOS (typically that over which Windows was installed).

description of the above...

http://users.iafrica.com/c/cq/cquirke/whatdos.htm

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Originally posted here by sforce
see grunt i think u got ur answer

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Grunt didn't ask a question and DOS has been gone since Win95 and was never a part of the NT line.

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I see from your screen shot that you are running WinXP, and it depends on whether or not you are using NTFS.

I suspect WinXP has locked the file for some reason, so you can try booting in safe mode (hit F8 or hold down CTRL at boot time), and try deleting it ..

If you are using NTFS, you will not be able to use any type of DOS boot, so another option here is to boot the recovery console, which you can do from the WinXP CD, which gives you a DOS like environment.

If you are not familiar with this try this link: http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;EN-US;314058, and use the DEL and/or RD command to get rid of things.

99% of the time it's explorer.exe that's preventing you from deleting it. To fix it open a command prompt (start-run-cmd) then open task manager while the command prompt is still open and close explorer.exe. Once explorer is closed you should be able to browse to the file you want with the command prompt and delete it. Then go back to task manager and restart explorer (file-run-explorer)

i looked at it's properties and it has no extention at all

the command prompt says the samething its like it thinks its not there

Hi,

I have come across this sort of thing with files/folders that had corrupted headers. Older versions of windows though.

Can you open the folder? has it got anything in it?

You might try scandisk and defragment, but I am afraid that is rather cluching at straws?

Interesting.......

Wild thought here, I don't see a filename so why don't you try renaming the file then deleting it (And give it an extension).

EDIT: Try going here http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;320081

i cant rename it every time i try to rename it it says the same error

and i can open it and there is nothing inside

Can you move it?

If you can move it take a floppy, insert it into your drive open the floppy drag the file by right clicking instead of left clicking, and let go of the right click when you drag it to the floppy then click "Move here" then format the floppy and it should be gone.

no this comes up

Try going here see if it helps: http://www.experts-exchange.com/Oper..._20716124.html

I've seen this error message before on my school's computers. If you refresh (hit F5), it should be gone. At least that works on those computers (they're running XP as well).

mjk

1. Close all open programs.
2. Open a command prompt(type cmd on run).
3. Right-click the taskbar, and select Task Manager.
4. On the Processes tab, select Explorer.exe, and click the End Process button.
5. Minimise Task Manager, but do not close it.
6. At the command prompt, use the Delete command to remove the file, and close the command prompt.
7. In Task Manager, go to File | New Task (Run).
8. In the Create New Task dialog box, enter Explorer.exe, and click OK.
9. Close Task Manager.

Yea that should work. Try that.

disturb

Been reading all the posts and this file has definitely got my interest up as well. mmkhan's process should smoke it out of there. Please post back with the results because I have encounter that before as well. Thanks.

cheers

I am with Relyt there,

Only come across it when I could use DOS.............how to do it in XP/2K would be most interesting..........

Cheers

I came across a very similar situation last week. File name of C though. The problem was generated by an "Ad-click" trojan. ( a trojan that runs minimized every time you access the Internet and hits pay-by-click ads) I scaned all system files to remove the other infected executeables on the system first. Then I was able to delete the file by booting into the XP command prompt, (logged in as Local administrator), and delete the file manually. Then applied all the Windows updates. The user needed 29 updates. UGH!

Hope this helps.

#wELL I got an easy and sure way to delete it. Start your Computer using a bootable disk
then cd to c: drive and delete the particular file by either del command or used deltree
but if you use deltree you need to have deltree.exe and deltree.mod in the dir you want to delete the folder. this will surely solve your problem

Disturb,

I think it can be because u are currently using a file in the directory( but u told the directory is empty ) ..
Try to make it sure...
In dos,
C:\> dir u* /s

Are u sure its empty ?

Well in Win, Can u drag and drop files into this folder ?
If so... Wow! ... Its a New Hiding phenmenon !! I'm too much interested :)
Hope u can now see the dragged and dropped file by,
C:\>dir u* /s

Device a method to retrieve them too... :p
In dos, when u type dir, does the folder have any extesion ??

I've noticed one thing... In your screenshot , there is a small blank space after the letter u. That can mean that there is some ascii code, which is unaccessible by windows. The folder might have been created in dos... (Try searching for the drag and dropped file using window search ?? Is it accessible ?) ... Mostly May Not Be...
I'm not getting more ideas... Hope ppl around will supplement.

XNikon,

I am afraid that he is using WinXP so DOS is not available.

If you boot into safe mode, it is unlikely that anything in the folder is locked. I would guess that the folder has a corrupt header, so Windows cannot "see" it to do anything with?

I wild shot might be to run Chkdsk with a surface scan then defrag in safe mode. An old trick, but it does sometimes work.

Just a thought

I usually use this ute to delete my Cookies index.dat file. Works in XP. Miight want to give it a try. Just want to add that it does delete more than your cookies index! LOL

Dr Delete

Hi to all
after reading all your excellent dos explanation :-) try this :
copylock.exe
goto http://www.noeld.com/ and download it.
greetings skarsatai

another thing you could try to use is a windows xp version of Bart PE -- you can make the default version of it and then you can do ANYTHING to the hard drive... if you have problems with it, hang tight -- i am in the process of writing a tutorial for it :-D