One folder with files, inside a number of empty folders

Melita said:

Thank you for taking all this trouble. I will await your response.

Best regards.

I forgot that the cmd prompt needs to be open in my earlier post. The following should solve the problem.

1. Open an elevated cmd prompt (see post #9 in this thread)
2. Go to the drive and the directory where the file or folder is located
(as I recall folders need to be empty before they can be deleted)
3. To delete a file, type this: del filename.xxx
(don’t forget the .xxx file extension, for example; .doc)
4. Don't hit enter yet, first open task manager (cntrl+shift+esc) go to process tab than right click on “explorer.exe” choose and click on "end process now" and your desktop will be closed. Go back to the "cmd" window and hit enter.

Now the file is deleted. Go back to the task manager and click on "file" on the upper left corner then on new task then type in "explorer.exe" and you are done.
(Please note; if the file or folder name has spaces use quotes to enclose it, for example; "Program Files")

PS: In most cases “LockHunter” will work for deleting files or folders that are locked by explorer by requesting a restart which stops "explorer.exe" and removes the file during the boot process. However, there are times when this doesn't work for some unknown reason.

HTH

Melita said:

Most disappointing and strange too. It didn't work either! I tried the complete procedure 3 times, with new command prompts each time I re-opened explorer.exe. Please see PNG-5 of my last attempt. I tried closing explorer.exe from the start menu ('addictive tips' method) and also from the task manager. Had the process explorer also open. Both these showed the explorer.exe closed. Got the same answer from the CMD as yesterday.

I also rechecked the the process using process explorer and there is no doubt about the process that is using the folders.

I used the RD /S /Q entry and not 'del' as you suggested in your message. Before posting this, I tried 'del' as you will see from PNG-4. The system added an asterisk to my entry and asked "whether I am sure". I did not proceed because I was concerned that the entire "Users\MELITA\My Documents\ALL OTHER\PERMNENT FILES\PERMNENT FILES\FILMS",was going to be removed!! This, I did with explorer.exe running. What could this be? This happened only when I entered 'del', instead of RD /S /Q.

To clarify matters, all the folders are empty - no files. Files are saved in another library.

Regards.

The asterisk is used to indicate wildcards or more commonly "anything". So, if I have files like; Jim.jpg, Bob.jpg, Sally.jpg, etc., then all the names preceeding the .jpg will be removed from that folder.

If the folders are empty, then delete them. Use the "del" command to do so.

HTH

Melita said:

They are as stubborn as a mules. CMD prompt shows as if they were deleted but they are still there. See screen shot.

There's nothing more I can suggest, I've run out of ideas. I guess, the good news is, from what you have stated, it is only a cosmetic issue.

Melita said:

The redeeming feature is that you stayed with me all this while and gave me so much of your time. I also learned much. Your help is very much appreciated.

My best regards. :)

Thank you.

Melita said:

Hello Sir George,

A pleasant surprise. The folders got deleted. The wayward ways of Windows 7.

A few minutes ago, I was saving some web pages to My documents. On the spur of the moment, I right clicked and clicked 'delete' on the offending folder and to my amazement it disappeared, taking with it, the other three inside of it! Looked in the Recycle Bin and it is there. The files I removed from them are safe where I put them.

Since my last attempt, I did nothing to attribute this to. Only unusual thing is that I restarted the computer after some windows updates yesterday. This was the first time the computer was switched off since this exercise began. Whether this had any effect, I know not.

Best regards.

.

Good news, I am glad it finally got sorted out. I will add "restart" to the steps for future reference and see if that works to remove the entries.