Re: Corrupt Directory?

• Previous message: Jerold Schulman: "Re: login script"
• In reply to: R. C. White: "Re: Corrupt Directory?"
• Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ]

Date: Fri, 7 May 2004 14:42:01 -0400

The original name was "FOUND.001" or something similar (might have been
.002).

By "You said you could rename it to "foo", but "Anything else causes an
error."" I mean that I can rename it to anything I want without a problem,
but trying to delete it with RD (or DEL, which, with /S, should work if I
put it in D:\Test and type DEL /s D:\Test) gives an error.

I guess I need to hunt down some sort of low-level NTFS utility that can go
figure out what is wrong with the directory and fix it up.

"R. C. White" <RCWhite@msn.com> wrote in message
news:%23kBJM3FNEHA.2640@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
> Hi, Brian.
>
> > --I tried deleting "D:\test" using a command prompt (rmdir /s
test)--after
> > answering the prompt (Are you sure?), received the error: test\foo -
The
> > directory name is invalid.
>
> This works fine for me. (Don't you just love messages like that?)
>
> > --Attempted to get the short file name with dir /x. There is none
listed.
>
> Yeah. Me, too. But, of course, my "foo" was just created from my typing,
> so I already know there were no strange characters in it. If the name had
> been created by some other process, who knows what might have appeared.
>
> > I suppose the short file name could be a space or tab or something and I
> > would not know, of course, but I do not think that you can put a
> > non-visible
> > character in a SFN.
>
> Spaces don't show up. Characters (visible or not) that are not allowed in
> an 8.3 filename are automatically converted to ASCII.
>
> I've run out of ideas down that rd <SFN> road, I'm afraid. Let's back up
a
> couple of steps.
>
> What was the directory name before you changed it? FOUND.001? Or
something
> similar - or quite different? HOW did you rename it to "foo": Command
> prompt? Windows Explorer? You said you could rename it to "foo", but
> "Anything else causes an error." What error? All these symptoms seem
very
> strange to me. Are you sure you don't have a virus or other malware?
>
> I upgraded from Win2K to WinXP on the day it came out, but they should
> behave the same in this regard. I studied FAT in depth back when hard
> drives were new and undependable, and rebuilt my share of FATs and
> directories, byte by byte, using Norton's DiskEdit, but haven't had to
learn
> NTFS that well.
>
> RC
> --
> R. C. White, CPA
> San Marcos, TX
> rc@corridor.net
> Microsoft Windows MVP
>
> "Brian Kelly" <bkelly@speedfactory.net> wrote in message
> news:aeCdnXOQXqEGLgbdRVn-uw@speedfactory.net...
> > Thanks for the suggestions. I have actually gone down these roads, but
> > was
> > trying to keep the problem description simple in the hopes of a quick
> > answer
> > without having to post a novel.
> >
> > Anyway, here are the results to the various other approaches
> >
> > --I realize the directory created by checkdsk is worthless; I am just
> > trying
> > to kill it.
> >
> > --I placed "foo" in D:\test and tried deleting D:\test from Windows
> > Explorer--received same error as previously: Cannot delete foo. The
> > directory name is invalid.
> >
> > --I tried deleting "D:\test" using a command prompt (rmdir /s
test)--after
> > answering the prompt (Are you sure?), received the error: test\foo -
The
> > directory name is invalid.
> >
> > --Attempted to get the short file name with dir /x. There is none
listed.
> > I suppose the short file name could be a space or tab or something and I
> > would not know, of course, but I do not think that you can put a
> > non-visible
> > character in a SFN.
> >
> > As further information, this is a Win2K Pro box with NTFS file system.
> >
> > Thanks for your continued ideas,
> > Brian
> >
> > "R. C. White" <RCWhite@msn.com> wrote in message
> > news:urltdmENEHA.3712@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...
> >> Hi, Brian.
> >>
> >> When ChkDsk finds a "lost chain" that looks like a directory, it gives
> >> the
> >> lost chain the name FOUND.001; later such lost chains are named
> >> FOUND.002,
> >> etc. If you recognize the filenames in FOUND.001, you may be able to
> > rename
> >> the directory and then Move it back into the parent directory where it
> >> belongs. In most cases, though, the information is incomplete or
wrong -
> > in
> >> other words, useless. It may be salvageable, but at such a high cost
of
> >> time and effort that it should be considered a total loss. Since
ChkDsk
> > has
> >> already give it its best shot, further iterations of ChkDsk are not
> >> likely
> >> to do any good.
> >>
> >> From the Command prompt, type: dir foo*.* /x. The /x switch should
> > produce
> >> an extra column in the directory listing, showing the Short File Name
> > (SFN),
> >> also known as the 8.3 filename, before the LFN. Even short filenames
are
> >> considered LFNs if they contain any characters (including spaces) that
> >> are
> >> not allowed in a valid MS-DOS filename. Then Remove the SFN.
> >>
> >> Remember that Del deletes FILES; rd (or rmdir) removes DIRECTORIES. So
> > the
> >> proper command is: rd foo
> >>
> >> If that doesn't work, then isolate this directory in a parent directory
> > that
> >> contains nothing else. Either Move foo or, if you can't to that, then
> > move
> >> everything except foo from that directory to a temporary directory.
Then
> >> remove foo's parent directory completely with: rd <parent of foo> /s.
> > The
> >> /s switch for rd removes the named directory and everything within it:
> >> subdirectories, files and all - including foo.
> >>
> >> In the "DOS" window, you can see a mini-Help file showing the switches
> >> available for each command by typing the command followed by /?. So,
> >> type
> >> dir /? or rd /? to see the switches and what each one does.
> >>
> >> If that doesn't work for you, please post back with details of what you
> >> tried and what results you saw.
> >>
> >> RC
> >>
> >> "Brian Kelly" <bkelly@speedfactory.net> wrote in message
> >> news:HZOdnUL-R6-GAAbd4p2dnA@speedfactory.net...
> >> >I have a directory entry that appears to have somehow become corrupted
> > and
> >> > cannot be deleted or other wise affected.
> >> >
> >> > It was created by CheckDsk at some point. The only thing I can do to
> >> > it
> >> > is
> >> > rename it (which I have, to "foo"). Anything else causes an error.
> >> >
> >> > --Trying to delete in Windows Explorer returns: "Cannot delete foo:
> > The
> >> > directory name is invalid."
> >> > --Trying to delete from a command prompt returns: "The directory
name
> > is
> >> > invalid."
> >> > --Trying to access the directory in Windows Explorer returns:
"D:\foo
> > is
> >> > not accessible. The directory name is invalid."
> >> > --Trying to change to the directory via command prompt (CD) returns:
> > "The
> >> > directory name is invalid."
> >> >
> >> > I have run another check disk, to no avail.
> >> >
> >> > Any thoughts?
> >> >
> >> > Thanks,
> >> > Brian
>

• Previous message: Jerold Schulman: "Re: login script"
• In reply to: R. C. White: "Re: Corrupt Directory?"
• Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ]