Re: "Undeletable" File

Thanks for responding. I hadn't tried FileASSASSAIN but,
like the other apps you mention, that too failed. Each
of its three deletion methods elicited the error message
"The file you have specified does not exist or is not
visible to FileASSASSAIN. Please select another file."

Your other method is plausible but, stupid as it sounds,
I don't know the file name. Explorer displays the name
"avp.09.03_08:35_1e16.ALL", FileASSASSAIN showed
"avp.09.03_08:35_1e16.ALL.log" and another app saw an
even longer name which continued with a space and some
more garbage which I don't recall.


ju.c wrote:
These are the best apps for file deletion, all free.
(You can't delete a folder if you have it opened)

Unlocker 1.8.7 237 KB
Info: http://ccollomb.free.fr/unlocker/
Download: http://ccollomb.free.fr/unlocker/unlocker1.8.7.exe

KillBox 90 KB
Info: http://www.killbox.net/
Download: http://www.killbox.net/downloads/KillBox.exe

FileASSASSIN 1.06 163 KB
Info: http://www.malwarebytes.org/fileassassin.php
Download: http://www.malwarebytes.org/fa-setup.exe

DelinvFile - Delete Invalid Files and Folders
Info: http://www.purgeie.com/delinv/index.htm
Download: http://www.purgeie.com/dl/divfinst.exe


This is a trick to delete an undeletable file by restoring a file over it with a file
created with the same name using a drive imaging program.

Instructions:

1. Create a text file and write in it a couple of letters.
2. Save that file in your root drive (C: for example) with the
same exact name and extension as the file you want to delete.
3. Now make a backup your new file (I used Acronis True Image).
4. Open your backup program and restore the file you created to
the folder where the undeletable file is, overwriting it.
4. Now you can delete it!
5. Run chkdsk


ju.c


"*** K" <not@xxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:ONk8uGPPJHA.5080@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I'd be grateful for assistance in getting rid of an
"undeletable" file on a Windows XP MCE laptop with an
NTFS file system.

"c:\AVP8\avp.09.03_08:35_1e16.ALL" is the fully
qualified filename. (The folder "AVP8" originally
appeared in and was subsequently moved from
"...\All Users\Application Data\Kaspersky Lab").

In File Properties the file size is shown as 0 bytes
and the only tab displayed is "General", though my
admin account has full control of the folder "AVP8".

The problem surfaced when Disk Defragmenter reported
that the file could not be defragmented and occupied
45MB in 59 fragments.

Attempts to delete the file in Explorer failed with
the message "Cannot delete file: Cannot read from the
source file or disk". "Copy" and "Rename" failed in a
similar fashion.

Attempts to delete the file with "unlocker" and EMCO
"moveonboot" were ineffective, as was running
"chkdsk /f /r", which reported that the volume was
clean.

An attempt to delete the file in the command console
using the command "del \\?\c:\AVP8\*.*" failed with
the error message "The system cannot find the file
specified".

Having cloned the disk an attempt to restore it from
a Ghost 2003 image failed with an "inconsistency".
Luckily an Acronis image restored successfully.

If possible I'd like to avoid going back to a clone
which predates the creation of the offending file.
.