Can't delete or open folder that end with a dot

[madmax2]

I extracted some RAR files and it created a folder with a name ended with a "."

foldername.


Now I can't open or delete that folder.
If I try, then it would give an error message.

Why does this happen?

How do I fix this?

Note:
Here are the errors for future reference

Open the folder

Delete the folder

Rename folder or remove the "." at the end

Update:
For anyone having the same problem..
This problem has been solved by doing this..

Open a cmd, preferably with Administrator access

Type this..

rd /q /s "\\?\[path]\Annoying Folder."

e.g.
rd /q /s "\\?\C:\Documents and Settings\User\Desktop\Annoying Folder."

 

[AddRAM]

Put in in another folder, try to delete that.

 

[madmax2]

Put in in another folder, try to delete that.

you cannot
-move it
-delete it
-open it

 

[Ztruker]

I've tried to create a folder name that ends in a . and I can't, system ignore it.

You may be able to delete it via a Command Prompt window. Change to the folder that foldername. is in then try

ren "foldername." "foldername" to get rid of the period then you can delete it as normal.

If that doesn't work try creating a Linux live CD/DVD or flash drive and boot that then delete the folder from there.

 

[UsernameIssues]

See this post:
Solved:

rd /s "\\?\C:\Documents and Settings\User\Desktop\Annoying Folder."

 

[madmax2]

See this post:
Solved:

rd /s "\\?\C:\Documents and Settings\User\Desktop\Annoying Folder."

Yes, I found a solution in this thread, which basically says same thing like you said.

windows - How to delete a folder that name ended with a dot(".") - Stack Overflow

Thanks for the url link..

It's pretty dumb that windows don't fix this...

Do you know why it allows a dot, when extracting rar, but gives a error, when you delete, open, or move it?

====
The whole mess started because of this..
my rar filename was
e.g.
aaa..rar

Then I using winrar
-extract each archive to separate folders
which produce the folder

aaa.

Now when you delete, open, or move the folder
or the delete/move the parent folder

Windows would give an error message.

 

[UsernameIssues]

> It's pretty dumb that windows don't fix this...

Microsoft (Windows) will not be fixing this because it is not broken. MS has file/folder naming rules/reasons. Other operating systems have their file/folder naming rules/reasons.



> Do you know why it allows a dot, when extracting rar,
> but gives a error, when you delete, open, or move it?

Microsoft (Windows) allows* files/folders to be written this way because the Windows operating system can be used to serve up files to computers that use other operating system. In other words, a computer running a Windows operating system can hold files used by a computer running one of Apple's operating systems.



> ...I [was] using winrar
When you used WinRAR to extract the files/folders, the WinRAR app knew that you were writing the files/folders to a computer that is using the Windows operating system. The WinRAR app might have even checked/known that the name was invalid for the Windows OS. But the WinRAR app had no way of knowing what operating system you would use to interact with these files/folders after extraction. (e.g. perhaps you were putting files on your Windows based computer, but you planned on using a Linux Virtual Machine to run those files.) So, the WinRAR app named the files/folders just as they were in the RAR file.




* Microsoft provides APIs (Application Programming Interfaces). An MS API usually has various checks built in to help programmers get things done the way that the Windows OS wants (needs?) them done. The authors of WinRAR probably opted not to use the MS APIs for writing files/folders. Or, the authors of WinRAR called the MS APIs in such a way as to avoid MS's file/folder naming rules. Either way, it was WinRAR that went around Microsoft's normal checks (and that is okay).

 

[AddRAM]

Excellent explanation UNI

 

[madmax2]

Thanks for the explanation UsernameIssues

I will keep a watchout for RAR that has two dots in it's filename.

e.g. AAA..rar.

I still think Winrar should fix this though.

Since it is a windows app, so it should comply with windows standard.

 

[Boozad]

I still think Winrar should fix this though.

There's nothing to fix. Just click on Extract files... and choose the name of the destination folder.

​

 

[AddRAM]

Good point Gav, always create a folder to extract to, don`t just let a folder extract.

 

[Ztruker]

I wonder how 7-Zip handles this?

Edit: 7-Zip handles it correctly.

 

[UsernameIssues]

I still think Winrar should fix this though.

There's nothing to fix. Just click on Extract files... and choose the name of the destination folder.

View attachment 360094​

I must not be following your instructions correctly.

Starting with the sample RAR that I've attached to this post...
...I selected Extract files... from the context menu.


Doing that, offered me this:

Notice that the period after "new" has automatically been removed by WinRAR.

Clicking OK in the screen shown above gets me this:


Going inside of "new" shows me this:

A folder with a problematic name for Windows.

I wonder how 7-Zip handles this?

Edit: 7-Zip handles it correctly.

Selecting Extract...


...offers* me this:

Notice that the period is there... but it is ignored. The resulting folder will not have a period on the end. However, 7ZIP modifies the names of "invalid" folders, sub-folders and file names as it extracts/writes the contents of the RAR. Such renaming would be a nightmare for my Mac users. Server admins might want to stick with WinRAR - which correctly names things exactly as they exist inside the RAR. I use a Windows based computer to remote into Windows based file server and use WinRAR to extract files to be used by Mac users

*oddly enough, I was only offered that path one time. After that, the path was simply C:\Temp

 

[Ztruker]

I get:

D:\temp\new.rar
D:\temp\new
D:\temp\new\new_
D:\temp\new\new_\test_
D:\temp\new\new_\test_\test.txt_

so it looks like 7-ZIp replaces . with _. Not sure if that's good or bad.

 

[UsernameIssues]

The "new." folder had one dot.
The "test.." folder had two dots.
I don't recall how many dots the file had.

Interesting choice by 7ZIP

 

[madmax2]

View attachment 360202

I get:

D:\temp\new.rar
D:\temp\new
D:\temp\new\new_
D:\temp\new\new_\test_
D:\temp\new\new_\test_\test.txt_

so it looks like 7-ZIp replaces . with _. Not sure if that's good or bad.

I think that is good.
Cos if it was extract on windows, there would be no way to open, delete or move that folder

There would be no way for you to read test.txt, since you can't open that folder.

 

[madmax2]

For people wondering how to get this same problem...

You need to have more than one rar file.

With one of the rar file with the offending name..,
e.g.

-aaa..rar
-b.rar

Extracted.

===
Winrar will happily create folder "aaa."

7z - There's no way to create the aaa. because it does not have that same menu item like winrar.

===

I have attached some sample files, for anyone that wants to test this..

 

[GokAy]

Madmax2, your screenshots are not shown. Would you re-upload them pleas?

 

[madmax2]

Madmax2, your screenshots are not shown. Would you re-upload them pleas?

which one?

Here is the direct link

http://i.imgur.com/LCpwP53.png

I can see it on my own computer...

Try refresh the page?

==
if you can't see the image then the instruction is



Select both files RAR files
-aaa..rar
-b.rar

Right click > extract each archive to separate folder

 

[UsernameIssues]

View attachment 360202

I get:

D:\temp\new.rar
D:\temp\new
D:\temp\new\new_
D:\temp\new\new_\test_
D:\temp\new\new_\test_\test.txt_

so it looks like 7-ZIp replaces . with _. Not sure if that's good or bad.

I think that is good.
Cos if it was extract on windows, there would be no way to open, delete or move that folder

There would be no way for you to read test.txt, since you can't open that folder.

But it is bad if the application on the Linux box was expecting the files on the Windows file server to be in folders with specific names. Renaming Program Files folder to Program Files_ won't work so well for you on your Windows based computer.

There are lots of companies that use Windows based file servers to serve up files to users on different platforms (e.g. Microsoft OS, Apple OS, Linux/Unix). Even home users have mixed platforms.