Undeletable folder - advice please

Got an annoying situation with an NTFS 'D' drive in an XPPro system. An empty folder (sub-folder actually) refuses to be deleted. And believe me, I've tried.

Killbox won't do it. MoveOnBoot won't do it. Unlocker won't do it, citing 'No Locking Handle Found'.

I thought maybe a component might have become illegally labelled (ie, in terms of Window's naming protocols), and have just now tried 'Delete FXP Files' but that wouldn't work either. And the folder isn't deeply enough buried to get penalized by its path length - it's only about three levels down.

I also tried ERD Commander, thinking I might be able to delete it from the parent folder in ERD's semi-dos environment, but the drive is on a Promise IDE controller, so it's not seen in when ERD boots up. However, I guess I could always pull the drive and throw it into another pc, if that'd be effective.

As a pc tech I've had lots of similar problems in the past with undeletable stuff, but I've always managed to find a fix eventually. Up 'til now, that is; this one is a real doozy.

Advice would be very welcome !

 

Have you tried taking ownership of it?

How To Take Ownership of a File or Folder

And of course you have tried Safe Mode.

If none of that is the issue, it would be worth your while to get either a Knoppix System CD or else construct a BartPE boot CD. Either of those will allow read/write access to those NTFS files. I'd prefer the BartPE CD since it's much more user friendly.

 

Thanks, surferdude2 - good calls there.

No, I haven't tried the 'ownership' thing - file 'permissions' and 'ownership' have always confused the h*ll out of me. But I'll buckle down and to get to grips with it.

Re BartPE, I think I've got it somewhere, but, as I recall, BPE starts from a boot CD, so I don't think it'll be able to see this D drive for the same reason that ERD Commander won't find it - the drive is on a Promise IDE controller, and isn't seen without Windows.

Yep, tried Safe Mode.

Your response is much appreciated

 

surferdude2, success! 'Taking Ownership' of the file did the biz and allowed me to delete it.

Your tip is much appreciated And a large pineapple, with instructions on what to do with it, is on its way to William Gates.

 

Taking Ownership Rules !!

SurferDude2, Thanks also from myself. That was a headache staved off for a rainy day..
Beats rebooting into safe mode with boot disks and jumping through the hoops.
Thanks again.
ReCyke

 

Just a point in followup - I'm wondering about the possible repercussions of having disabled 'simple file sharing' on the one machine of my 5x pc network that had the problem (and which I've left in that state)

The other four machines remain in their original condition, with simple file sharing enabled.

I haven't noticed any difference in my LAN; is it likely that I will?

 

No, you won't likely notice any difference however I'm a great fan of putting things back as they were so if it were me, I'd turn it back on. Simple File Sharing is easiest to use and most people are satisfied with its capabilities.

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All the best.

 

Once again - thanks surferdude2.

May the WaveForce be with you