enjay Posted July 24, 2017 Posted July 24, 2017 I'm trying to delete some leavers, and can't get rid of one because there are lots of folders where "the source file names are larger than is supported by the file system". I know I could map a drive letter to a folder further down the tree and delete, repeating this a few times, but that's tedious are there are quite a few folders affected. Is there another way?
timbo343 Posted July 24, 2017 Posted July 24, 2017 Use Filexile. Its great for killing folder paths that are huge. https://sourceforge.net/projects/filexile/
Squelch Posted July 24, 2017 Posted July 24, 2017 Alternatively, you could try https://long-path-eraser-free.en.softonic.com/
enjay Posted July 24, 2017 Author Posted July 24, 2017 Use Filexile. Its great for killing folder paths that are huge. https://sourceforge.net/projects/filexile/ Looks good. Need .Net Framework though, which I don't particularly want to install on our file server, I like to keep it as just that if I can.
enjay Posted July 24, 2017 Author Posted July 24, 2017 Alternatively, you could try https://long-path-eraser-free.en.softonic.com/ Claims to have done it, but the folder is still there.
Squelch Posted July 24, 2017 Posted July 24, 2017 Might need to refresh the view? It cleared over 20,000 files for me when I tried it a few months back without issue.
enjay Posted July 24, 2017 Author Posted July 24, 2017 Might need to refresh the view? It cleared over 20,000 files for me when I tried it a few months back without issue. Logged out of the server and back in. Files are definitely still there. First time I ran it, it claimed to delete 110 files. Now it says 0 files.
pantscat Posted July 24, 2017 Posted July 24, 2017 You can do this using robocopy... robocopy C:\newly-created-empy-folder c:\target-folder-with-long-subfolders /purge 1
timbo343 Posted July 24, 2017 Posted July 24, 2017 Try unlocker Download Unlocker - MajorGeeks will delete folders and files too even though it says about unlocking files.
enjay Posted July 24, 2017 Author Posted July 24, 2017 You can do this using robocopy... robocopy C:\newly-created-empy-folder c:\target-folder-with-long-subfolders /purge Lots of "access denied" errors there. Is that robocopy mis-reporting the reason for failure, or do I have two problems here?
enjay Posted July 25, 2017 Author Posted July 25, 2017 Still not deleting. Windows seems to think the folder is empty, too. Robocopy, Long File Eraser and even right-click-properties all say no files and 0 bytes. I've renamed the folder so if another user of the same name later joins the school, they won't get the old profile folder. Not sure there's anything else I can do...
Arthur Posted July 25, 2017 Posted July 25, 2017 Not sure there's anything else I can do... The 7-Zip File Manager method has always worked for me in the past. Use this to rename the folders with a shorter name and then delete the folder.
jthompson Posted July 25, 2017 Posted July 25, 2017 (edited) I have two options that have worked for me in the past (a third would be 7-Zip File Manager, which @Arthur has already suggested): rmdir rmdir /S /Q /S Removes the specified directory and all subdirectories including any files. /Q Runs rmdir in quiet mode. Deletes directories without confirmation. FastCopy If the rmdir command doesn't work, try using FastCopy. Select Delete All from the dropdown, and ensure that you've chosen your source path carefully and double-checked it! Edited July 25, 2017 by jthompson
TIOAOA Posted July 25, 2017 Posted July 25, 2017 The 7-Zip File Manager method has always worked for me in the past. Use this to rename the folders with a shorter name and then delete the folder. That's how I do it too a pain if there are a lot of folders but a solution all the same
enjay Posted July 25, 2017 Author Posted July 25, 2017 The 7-Zip File Manager method has always worked for me in the past. Use this to rename the folders with a shorter name and then delete the folder. Can you do that in bulk? I've just tried it manually and was able to delete the folders, but that would be tedious to do to every folder by hand.
jthompson Posted July 25, 2017 Posted July 25, 2017 Can you do that in bulk? I've just tried it manually and was able to delete the folders, but that would be tedious to do to every folder by hand. Try FastCopy. I'm pretty sure I found it after coming across your exact problem.
Arthur Posted July 25, 2017 Posted July 25, 2017 Can you do that in bulk? Unfortunately not. 7zFM.exe doesn't appear to have any command-line options. You could try @localzuk's suggestion. That will also work.
ADMaster Posted July 25, 2017 Posted July 25, 2017 To the Robocop error 1 run as admin 2 exclude junctions Iirc I had to do this because the system somehow had a loop of junctions Just allowing the system to follow them made an ever growing path.
tinca492 Posted July 25, 2017 Posted July 25, 2017 Had this problem the other day and solved it by creating c:\emptydir then using robocopy to mirror the empty directory to the problem one. worked like a dream 1. create empty directory eg mkdir c:\emptydir 2. robocopy c:\emptydir "problem dir" /s /mir 3. delete the ,now empty, problem dir also sorted several permission errors on deeply nested links
sted Posted July 31, 2017 Posted July 31, 2017 i just go partway down the path and copy the address then go to a command prompt subst z: path then go to z: and try again to delete (its also often worth renaming folders to something short like a)
enjay Posted August 4, 2017 Author Posted August 4, 2017 Interesting - two posts from brand-new members both suggesting the same product...
ADMaster Posted August 4, 2017 Posted August 4, 2017 I've seen two threads this week that were resurrected from years ago. The new post is a new member with links to a product. I reported them both. 1
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