win8 Can't Delete A File - It Says it's "no longer located there&#34

[soldier1st]

I've had this issue as well. It sounds like a bug which MS refuses to fix. My only solution is to save everything that you want saved and format the partition in question.

[n_K]

I've had similiar problems with W7, but it's always been with files/folders made using linux...

In windows, the total number of characters allowed in the whole path which includes drive letter, folders and file names (file, "F:\bob\file" is 11 characters) cannot exceed 255 characters or windows can't do anything with it.

Yes : isn't allowed in file/folder names as are a lot of other characters, these are restrictions placed by windows to stop confusion with say F:\bo:b\file messing things up, under linux you can create files and folders with most of the disallowed characters, again if you do this you are not able to delete the file/folder from windows.

I'd say either the file wasn't made on windows, or some random bug's occured, or the drive's became corrupt, keep trying to get linux working and see if you can delete/rename it in that!

EDIT: linux not booting? Sure you've got a UEFI enabled disc? Try arch linux live ISO if you're unsure, that definately has UEFI and BIOS boot methods enabled on the disc.

EDIT2: Also if you still can't get linux working then any program that can access the drive not using windows API should be able to delete it, i.e. winhex when run as administrator and set to use 'alternative disk mode access'

Edited December 15, 2012 by n_K

[MikeChipshop Member]

My guess would be the length of the file/folder names.

See if you can rename each level one by one then delete, either that or try moving.

[+DonC Subscriber²]

Have you tried chkdsk?

[UncleSpellbinder]

As I said, the file in question cannot be renamed. The folders can and I have. Still no luck.

And now, hitting ESC, F8, F10 or F11 upon boot have no effect. I'm starting to wonder now if there isn't a problem with this computer. The boot is so quick, it goes straight to the HP quickly along with the spinning dots indication Windows is starting. I try hitting F8 immediately after pressing the power button, but it goes to Windows.

:angry:

[AstareGod]

Are you trying to delete an entire folder and its contents?

You could try, from Command Prompt:

First navigate to the folder you'd like to delete, and enter:

"del /s *"

That should delete all of the files in all subdirectories of the directory you've navigated to - possibly even ones that Windows cannot delete itself. Good luck!

[zhangm Supervisor]

What happens when you try to delete using the short name?

[n_K]

None of you are listening, if it's got special characters in the file name, you cannot delete it using command line, explorer, or any tool that uses windows API!

TRY WINHEX running as administrator with 'alternative disk access' enabled.

[Detection]

As I said, the file in question cannot be renamed. The folders can and I have. Still no luck.

And now, hitting ESC, F8, F10 or F11 upon boot have no effect. I'm starting to wonder now if there isn't a problem with this computer. The boot is so quick, it goes straight to the HP quickly along with the spinning dots indication Windows is starting. I try hitting F8 immediately after pressing the power button, but it goes to Windows.

:angry:

Just had a thought, hit 'Restart' instead of shutdown if that's what you have been doing, I know on my laptop, Windows 8's quick boot removes POST completely, the BIOS POST screen that usually shows is only half that of a reboot

You can also turn off fast boot from Win 8's Control Panel > Power Options > Choose what power buttons do (Left panel)

[Farstrider]

Boot the PC with a live Linux disk, go to the location and delete, easy peasy! (I'm not sure if anyone has suggested this yet?)

[Detection]

Boot the PC with a live Linux disk, go to the location and delete, easy peasy! (I'm not sure if anyone has suggested this yet?)

:laugh: Yea its been suggested and is what we're trying to help with

[Farstrider]

:laugh: Yea its been suggested and is what we're trying to help with

Hee hee sorry, thanks!

Edit: Was being a lazy sod, did not read the entire thread, been sitting in front of this PC for about 12 hours already. :D

[UncleSpellbinder]

None of you are listening, if it's got special characters in the file name, you cannot delete it using command line, explorer, or any tool that uses windows API!

TRY WINHEX running as administrator with 'alternative disk access' enabled.

I got WinHex from CNET Download.com. I see nothing about 'alternative disk access' anywhere.

As far as loading Linux, still no go. Though I haven't tried to the "enable legacy boot" selection in the BIOS (or UEFI) yet.

[n_K]

It's under settings, the top left checkbox, then close it and reopen it.

[Hum]

I've had success getting rid of stubborn files, using File Shredder.

http://www.fileshredder.org/

It basically zeros out the file/folder into non-existence. :ninja:

[UncleSpellbinder]

It's under settings, the top left checkbox, then close it and reopen it.

Nope. Options > General Options > Lower left is "Alternative Disk Access Method 3"

I suppose that would be it?

[Newinko]

If I am not mistaken, the problem does not lie in the path length (it's well within the Win32 255-character limit), but in the colon ( : ) in the file name. The colon is a forbidden character within a file path under Windows; try putting a colon when renaming a file and you'll see Windows won't even let you type it.

Since files with forbidden names are considered corrupt, running chkdsk (using a command line, run chkdsk F: /f /v) is your best bet to solve the problem. It'll rename or delete the file, depending on the situation.

There are other solutions here if you want to rename a file with a forbidden name without risking chkdsk deleting it:

http://superuser.com...ecial-character

EDIT: saw other posts suggested running chkdsk as well but without explaining why it'll work. It will. Try it.

[The Teej]

If push comes to shove surely you can just manually disconnect the hard drive from the motherboard itself, wouldn't that bypass the issue of not being able to liveboot? :p

[UncleSpellbinder]

... saw other posts suggested running chkdsk as well but without explaining why it'll work. It will. Try it.

I'll give it a shot. But It'll probably take quite some time. It's and 3TB external drive with 252,000+ mp3s.

Thanks for the help with this guys. I'll post back the results when chkdsk is done. As for the live boot issue, I'll start a proper thread for that issue if I can't figure it out.

[UncleSpellbinder]

chkdsk went quickly and worked well. Thanks again guys!

[djcbs34]

I have had the same problem and before I saw that chkdsk worked I had found a way of deleting the files.  From memory and some notes I took this is what I did:

Right click the file name of the file that won't delete,

Accept displayed option to open in notepad++,

notepad responds "fname doesn't exist. Create it?"  yes,

in notepad save the created file,

right click fn (in Windows Explorer) and delete,

Success  :)

 

 

[xendrome]

Run a chkdsk /f yet on it, then reboot and let it check the fle structure? Then try to delete it.

[zhangm Supervisor]

This thread is from 2012, so it is not likely that the issue persists. Closing it up.