Can't delete folder

[exfarmer]

Originally Posted by wmcb

have you tried this Disk Cleanup system utility

Yes, but I've just tried it again just i case. I also ran ccleaner and tuneup but they didn't remove it. Although tuneup cleared space on my pc, then ccleaner found another 400mb to clear and then the disk cleanup found another 163mb that the others didn't.

Originally Posted by wmcb

Eraser 6.0.10 choose erase on restart

Still there I tried using the program to delete it straight away and I got the message "complete but with errors" which basically meant it didn't work so I tried erase on restart but it didn't. It's still there.

[MrInBetween]

Originally Posted by TheBare

UNLOCKER 1.9.2

This sounds an excellent program, but the highest Windows version given on its home page is 7. Perhaps you could try some of the other utilities that the author has so generously given plugs to there.

It's surprising that neither the renaming through the command prompt or the moving to another folder technique has succeeded. Could it be that the folder has not only a malformed file name but some other problem as well?

You haven't said how this folder came about. Are you the 'owner' of it? In Windows 7 (hope 8 is the same), you can find out by right-clicking, selecting 'Properties' from the menu, then the 'Security' tab, then the 'Advanced' button, then the 'Owner' tab.

[exfarmer]

The folder was a download folder/location for a p2p program which I tried to delete the contents of. I now have the main folder, inside that I have two folders (downloading and complete) and inside those I have two empty folders that were the things I was downloading with the p2p prog. (the same two empty folders are in the downloading and complete folders)

So it's worked out that I have four empty folders inside two folders that are all inside one folder. It's all a bit confusing

[clowny]

I once had a problem removing Nero (burn program) from my PC, until a friend told me that a had to use General clean tool for nero to remove the Nero program. I think if you google the name of the p2p program (name p2p general clean tool, or clean tool) you might get lucky. If you're lucky it could be that you have to install the p2p program again and then remove it completely.

C .

[MrInBetween]

Which folder actually has the problem? Can you move the sub-folders freely? If you can, and you move them all to the same level - so you have seven folders in a row - can you delete any of them? I'm just thinking that a folder can't be deleted if something within can't be deleted, though I expect you've covered that already. And also, have you checked there aren't any hidden or system folders or files inside anything?

[exfarmer]

It let me move the downloading and complete folders out of the main folder and onto the desktop, but it won't let me move the contents of those two. I keep getting the folder doesn't exist message.

But, having moved those out it has let me delete the now empty main folder.

I've also uninstalled and re-installed the p2p program but it made no difference, possibly because I'd moved the download folder from it's default location while trying to delete it.

[MrInBetween]

So if I understand this correctly, you've now got two folders, Downloading and Complete, each of which has two second-level folders inside, making four second-level folders in all. Have you tried the solution mentioned in the YouTube video (that retroanalyst linked to in the second post) on one of those second-level folders?

[exfarmer]

I tried it on the main folder but not on the individual files inside of it. After it said it was deleting the folder but then didn't I gave up on it. Maybe the sensible thing to have done was to start with the second level folders and work my way up to the main folder. I'm not very sensible though. I'll give it another go in a few minutes, need to finish something else off first.

[a435843]

I've had issues with problematic directories in the past, hidden or otherwise, that took up hundreds of megabytes. What I did was boot the computer using a Live Linux USB drive, then open the file manager in Linux/Ubuntu, which is similar to Windows Explorer, go to the problematic drive, surf to the bad folder, and delete it. Since the Windows system isn't loaded, the hard drive isn't locked. You might have to know the total byte size of the drive in order to find it in Linux. Check this link to find how to make a USB drive that boots Linux (all of the info necessary is at this link, except for the fact that you'll have to download the Ubuntu ISO image first, about 800-900 MB, but the download is at the same site).

[bigbobnobody]

Hey.....is this folder you're having problems with, a receptacle folder for
Utorrent? It kinda sounds like it might be, after reading that there's one
for files in the process of being downloaded, and one for complete files.
Only reason I ask, is if it is, and Utorrent is open, it'll be in use and won't
be able to be deleted. Just wondering I'm not using Win 8, but doesn't
it still retain the restore point feature, where you could restore to an earlier
point in time also?