Impossible to delete file - possible corruption?

[mrwoberts]

@Sparky28

 

I'm wondering if this is a Unicode issue.

Install 7-zip on the server or install it on a client and open the 7-zip file manager.

Use the file manager like you would Windows Explorer, only it will be a different address depending on whether you are using the server...

D:\Shares\Teachers-Shared\Planning Archive\Computing\

or a client

\\serverIPaddress\D$\Shares\Teachers-Shared\Planning Archive\Computing\

 

Now try to delete that folder... [Evidence Video]

[Sparky28]

You've cracked it! Thank you so much! I installed 7-Zip and at first was unable to delete the file (nothing happened, no error of any kind) but was able to rename it. After renaming it, I was able to use 7-Zip to delete it.

 

Now, I'll copy the data out of the inaccessible folders - create new ones, copy the data back in and delete the old folder. The whole thing is very strange.

 

You mention this being a unicode issue. I'm going to look into unicode and how it works but any idea what could have caused this? Is it likely to be corruption on the drive?

 

Many, many thanks.

 

Mark

[mrwoberts]

Glad you sorted it. I would suggest checking the disk for file structure errors, using

CHKDSK D: /F /V

Make sure you have a solid, working backup. You would do this in the evening, when you can afford to reboot, should you need to... You could also use the above command to check the C: drive for good measure

Here are some Microsoft articles that relate to this kind of problem; although they don't say to use 7-zip I've found that the quickest way to resolve this kind of bug.

 

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa365247%28VS.85%29.aspx?f=255&MSPPError=-2147217396

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/320081/you-cannot-delete-a-file-or-a-folder-on-an-ntfs-file-system-volume

Edited October 13, 2017 by mrwoberts

[Sparky28]

Many thanks and thank you for everyone who has helped me out. Really appreciate it.

 

Mark

[Sparky28]

I'll give it a go. As the server is our domain controller - I'll have to schedule this in out of hours.

 

Is it safe to run a chkdsk without the /f, in read only mode while the server is running? Will this at least give me an idea if there are any bad sectors? Many thanks.

 

Mark

[mrwoberts]

It is safe to run CHKDSK without the /F and it will run a brief, read-only check of the file system. Unfortunately, to determine if there are bad sectors you'd need to use the /R switch, which needs to be run (offline), so don't use that unless you intend to reboot, and definitely make sure you have an up-to date bare-metal backup ready to roll.

 

Which RAID array are you using in this server.... How many disks, what type (RAID 1,5,6,10...)

How are you backing up at the moment?

[Sparky28]

We are using RAID 5. We have a messy backup at the moment:

 

All the data from the last 2 academic years is backed up offsite using RedStor Attix 5 supplied by SoftEgg. This is roughly 40GB of data and is run every evening at 7.00pm. We have up to 50GB allowance for our daily offsite back ups. This is not enough for photos and video files so these are not included in this backup.

 

All photos and videos are backed up every evening using some free software called Duplicati. This copies all photos and videos from our main server to our backup server. The 2 servers are in the same rack so not much use in case of fire.

 

Once a month, Duplicati backs up technical data: system image (although I've not checked this yet), installation software and Papercut backups to our onsite backup server.

 

Annually, we use Cobian 11 to back up all data from before the last 2 academic years to our backup server onsite.

 

Finally, Windows backup should take a system image containing all active directory details etc to D:\temp|WindowsImageBackup, daily at 4am.

 

The whole backup system seems a mess to me and I'm thinking there must be a better way...

 

Mark

[mrwoberts]

Yep, sounds slightly messy, but at least you have a good understanding of it all and if needs be you sound competent to recover the system. However, this is something Soft Egg should be supporting you with - presumably you are the customer and work for the school, so if you're not happy with something you need to let them know asap.

 

Might be best to start a new thread on the topic of a backup solution, which I would find useful too.

[Sparky28]

Thanks, will do. The back ups here are something I've never been really comfortable with. Thanks for all your help.

 

Mark

[craigcamacho]

Can you not try using something like a long file path name deleter? I know the names not the issue but I use it for all kinds of problems when I can't remove a file. Im not at work right now but I'm sure the one I use is this one.

https://en.softonic.com/download/long-path-eraser-free/windows

[Sparky28]

Hi Craig

 

Thanks for that, sounds like a handy piece of software. I managed to delete it using 7-Zip Manager in the end, just hoping I don't run into any more folders with issues.

 

Mark