27

A friend sent a long a file (a .rar) he wanted me to check out for him before he installed it.

I downloaded it and unrared it with no problems, but it was full of .exe's instead of the intended contents (fonts) so I advised him to delete it immediately and not use.

I then proceeded to do the same, but the folder simply will not delete. Oddly the files went fine, and I never ran anything, but this is what I'm seeing:

Could not find this item

This is no longer located in C:\Users\This_User\Desktop. verify the item's
location and try again.

I've tried the following things with no help:

  • Using "Unlocker" to Unlock and delete
  • Using move on reboot and rebooting
  • Using PendMoves (from sysinternals) and rebooting Elevating a cmd line, doing a dir /x to get the short name of the folder, and then del 'shortna~1'
  • Moving the folder to a new folder and then trying to delete the parent folder

I'm on Windows 7 RTM, very fresh install. Any thoughts?

Update: Just to confirm, I've run Hijack this and half a dozen other malware detectors, and everything came back clean (no extra processes, no other obvious badness). Rebooting in safe mode didn't help either.

6
  • 4
    Some part of the NTFS filesystem is damaged. I've had this issue. Never was able to fix it without a reformat.
    – Fake Name
    Jun 30, 2010 at 5:39
  • if you have this issue, try Cale's suggestion - worked for me.
    – Mark Heath
    May 31, 2011 at 19:27
  • The problem here is that del doesn't work for folders. Correct syntax would be rd shortna~1 /s to remove the folder/subfolders/contents.
    – EKW
    Mar 19, 2012 at 18:27
  • I had this exact problem (once in my life). I had to reboot in my linux and delete it from there. No matter what I did from Windows 10 it didn't worked. From Linux I could do a normal delete. Feb 14, 2016 at 0:58
  • This was the folder name: "the 100 subtitles" (located on desktop) and was already empty. When looking into the security tab about the folder It was not accesible. Hope this info helps. Feb 14, 2016 at 1:05

16 Answers 16

23

I know you said that you tried deleting the shortname of the file and it didn't work for you, but it does work for some forms of this problem. It worked for me. So for the sake of completeness I am mentioning it here.

Step by step:

  1. press windows key + r
  2. type cmd.exe, press enter
  3. cd \to\the\folder\containing\the\problem\file
  4. dir /x
  5. Note the short filename of the problem file. It will look for example like BLAH~1.
  6. del BLAH~1
2
  • 1
    This did not work for me since I am using Windows 10, which does not save short filenames by default.
    – Jesse Webb
    Dec 21, 2017 at 19:21
  • Yes, unfortunately Windows 10 shows no short filenames.
    – Simon E.
    Jun 27, 2023 at 9:09
14

Try the DelinvFile tool. It worked for me perfectly when NOTHING worked before.

BR, galmeida

5
  • this worked for me
    – Pup
    Apr 1, 2011 at 18:23
  • Works great, shame it's not freeware - but anyway 3 actions are more than enough for me)
    – zbstof
    Mar 30, 2012 at 22:18
  • This is also worked for me when nothing else did
    – codaamok
    Dec 16, 2015 at 8:25
  • DelinvFile is working perfectly. Tested it with Windows 10 Jan 6, 2016 at 1:49
  • Worth mentioning that DelinvFile worked after everything else failed. The problem was so bad it caused blue screens during previous deletion attempts. So, definitely try it.
    – bryc
    Nov 19, 2021 at 23:19
7

Boot into a Linux live CD environment and delete it with NTFS-3G?

0
6

Ah ha!!! I did it!!! This was so annoying but after several hours... it dawned on me. Basically, you make a folder with the same name as the missing folder, then you drag the folder into the folder with the missing folder. Windows did not ask me to combine the folders, but after that, Windows knows where the folder is and you can delete it. I didn't try to copy and pasted I'm guessing that would work too.

3
  • This solution works on Windows 7. Please post if it works on previous versions.
    – Cale
    Mar 28, 2011 at 5:44
  • Genius! this works! I had the same problem after extracting a zip file (from Program Files\Visual Studio) into my user\downloads folder. It resulted in a weird folder containing files I couldn't access or delete. I followed this advice, Win 7 asked me to merge which I said yes to, and then it let me delete the folder with no fuss.
    – Mark Heath
    May 31, 2011 at 19:25
  • 1
    didn't work for me - I then somehow had 2 identically named folders in alongside eachother!
    – Shevek
    Jan 28, 2012 at 10:49
5

This worked for me :

1. press windows key + r
2. type cmd.exe, press enter
3. rd /s "\\?\D:\bad\folder\path "

Notice the space at the end of "\\?\D:\bad\folder\path "

2
  • This works for files that have bad characters in their name or are too long. I had files created by a linux server that windows was unable to delete by name. And in Powershell: Remove-Item -Recurse -Force "\\?\E:\Folder\Path\" with no space.
    – Cpt.Whale
    Feb 19, 2020 at 19:45
  • Interesting. For some reason rd /s "badFolder" did not work but rd /s "\\?\D:\badFolder" did work. Does anyone know why this is? What's with that question mark?
    – Simon E.
    Jun 27, 2023 at 9:12
2

Isn't there a special character in the name of the directory? Like an "empty" character that looks like a space but is not a space?

Have you tried a "Check Disk", as the directory entry for that directory or its parent might be corrupted?

2
  • no special characters. check disk reports nothing.
    – aronchick
    Sep 21, 2009 at 3:37
  • 2
    I have the same problem. In my case it is a space character that follows the folder name.
    – MSX
    Nov 12, 2014 at 17:22
1

Are you sure the folder is actually empty? There could be a file marked Hidden and Read-Only, or System in there. Windows could be blocking you from deleting because of the Hidden+RO or System file.

Haven't got a Windows 7 machine handy here, but in Vista you'd make sure that you can see all the files by opening Explorer, clicking "Organize", selecting "Folder and Search Options", then clicking the "View" tab. If you scroll down that screen you would see a "Hidden files and folders" option, make sure they're shown, then scroll down a little more to where it says "Hide protected operating system files" and make sure that isn't selected.

Now have a look at the folder and see if there's anything more in it.

Alternatively open a command window in the folder and type attrib see if any files show up (probably with SH or HR flags set on them).

1
  • Nope, nothing there.
    – aronchick
    Oct 22, 2009 at 18:00
0

Before you do anything else, run some anti-virus and malware tools to make sure your machine is not infected with anything. You did open an unknown or possible untrusted rar.

Clean up infected computer from viruses

https://superuser.com/questions/20895/best-adware-removing-software-thats-free

5
  • Will do.... but can [mal|ad]ware spread just by extracting an archive? Not by running anything, just extracting?
    – aronchick
    Aug 24, 2009 at 17:47
  • 1
    Was it a self-extracting rar? If so, those could potentialy be dangerous.
    – Troggy
    Aug 24, 2009 at 17:49
  • Nope, just used "ExtractNow" to expand it, and that was it. No joy on the anti-malware tool... nothing found, and it's still undeletable.
    – aronchick
    Aug 24, 2009 at 17:58
  • What happened when a current virus scanner looked at the files in that rar?
    – Troggy
    Aug 24, 2009 at 18:08
  • Unfortunately, deleted the archive when it was clear it was filled with badness.
    – aronchick
    Aug 24, 2009 at 18:10
0

Safe Mode is also something to try. That or if it's already too late, see if you can identify the process name, and use Hijack This to get rid of it.

2
  • it doesn't appear to be a process of any kind. and nothing is coming up on malware.
    – aronchick
    Aug 24, 2009 at 19:01
  • Safe mode didn't help - Hijack this didn't report anything.
    – aronchick
    Aug 26, 2009 at 20:21
0

Try hitting F5 after you delete. It may be that it actually has been deleted but the view hasn't automatically refreshed. I had the same problem. Also newly created folders or renamed files wouldn't show up without refreshing. Unselecting the two navigation pane checkboxes under the general tab in folder options seem to fix it.

1
  • 1
    Nope, not a refresh issue...
    – aronchick
    Mar 5, 2010 at 7:25
0

Could it be that the full path of this directory is too long (>255 characters)? If so, try renaming the directory to something shorter and then deleting it.

1
  • Nope, renamed it to something short, still no go.
    – aronchick
    Mar 5, 2010 at 7:25
0

This is a problem with the desktop not being able to auto refresh. Like others have said, try pressing F5 to refresh because the file may already be deleted. Here's a thread on the same problem: http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7desktop/thread/249f4794-13c8-4fc5-939c-b3d1fe6433fb The problem usually has to do with some program like WinRAR that copies files onto the desktop instead of Windows Exlporer.

1
  • Sorry, restarted, refreshed, etc many many times. No go.
    – aronchick
    Mar 5, 2010 at 7:24
0

I had a similar issue, attempting to remove files I had copied across a networked bridge from an installed virtual machine. It seemed nothing I did would remove these: I tried the "Take Ownership Registry Hack", and the even more powerful "AccessGain MiniFilter Driver" (http://www.hobeanu.com/blog/) Which in Windows 7 64-bit requires quite a concerted effort (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa906338.aspx). Inside the Windows 7 64-bit GUI, it seemed nothing would remove these files - I was stymied across every approach.

Finally, I reached into my quiver for an old trusted friend.

The Command Prompt

I was still booted in the "disabled driver signature enforcement session," that I mentioned above. The "AccessGain MiniFilter Driver" (http://www.hobeanu.com/blog/accessgain-tool/) was installed and was giving me a superuser 'God-like' control over anything on my drive. At this point:

  1. I fired up an "Administrative Rights enabled Command Prompt," (http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/enable-the-hidden-administrator-account-on-windows-vista/)
  2. Navigated to my Desktop. I used the command: "cd c:\Users\superuser\Desktop"
  3. (Note: Change the term "superuser" to your account name.)
  4. Looked to see if the files were present. I used the command "dir backup"
  5. (Note: All my files had the word "backup" in them. If different for you, replace term)
  6. Then I simply deleted the files. I used the delete command: "del backup"

When all else fails, pull up your sleeves and get your hands dirty with the trusted old command prompt... Hope this helps some of you. I was pulling my hair out on this one, and when I resolved it, thought it might be worth sharing.

Cheers!

1
  • This is interesting, but it's not a command prompt issue. I should have tried to boot into disable drive signature enforcement session.
    – aronchick
    Mar 21, 2010 at 21:50
0

I was having the same problem. using delinv i was able to delete the folder(s)

0

This problem (folders in Windows 7 containing executable files being inaccessible) is not a permission issue, nor an open-handle issue. It happens when the Application Experience service is disabled. Set the service to manual to resolve it:

Run dialog (or command prompt):

  > sc config AeLookupSvc start= demand
0

I'm not sure if Windows 7 has Command Prompt. But you can delete it from Command Prompt. Go to the said directory and then use the command del against the file name.

  1. Go to Command Prompt "Windows + R"
  2. cd C:\Users\This_User\Desktop
  3. del "filename.abc"

This should work.

1
  • It's not a file, it's a directory - and as mentioned command line doesn't help.
    – aronchick
    Sep 21, 2009 at 3:41

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