Cannot delete more than 1.4mil files

[MoAv]

I've got hold of Wikepedia offline html pages which is about 12 millions files(200Gigs) and when I try to delete them it stops discovering files and just freezes there, so had to cancel. Any ideas why?

 

[torrentg]

You're overloading the system.

Delete subfolders a little at a time.

 

[Qdos]

The faster way to deal with multiple deletions on this scale is not to use Windows Explorer or the recycle bin at all - use something like M$ SyncToy (freeware) and set it to reverse sync the directory(ies) to a USB stick or another folder so that when it does not find them mirrored in the alternate location it will delete them from your first location.

Your deletions will all be handled in a few seconds on this basis

 

[torrentg]

That actually sounds like a cool idea. +rep

 

[Qdos]

It saves a huge amount of time...

Thank you for the rep point

 

[MoAv]

I tried SyncToy but it doesn't delete anything for me, what options do I need to choose ?

 

[MoAv]

Well, beside removing folder at a time (don't have a spare day) and SyncToy, which was unsuccessful, any other option in mind ? like deleting it in DOS or something would help ?

 

[TGSoldier]

Err.. Umm..

Shift + Delete?

 

[MoAv]

Err.. Umm..

Shift + Delete?

That's witchcraft ! Windows 7 doesn't support removing millions of files with this special feature.

 

[Qdos]

I don't use SyncToy, it was suggested as it's freeware. I have a more sophisticated program called SyncBackPro. However, what you need to do is set the program to mirror two folders (they can be on the same partition, or different partitions) so that whatever is in the leading folder is copied to the target folder, and anything already in the target folder which isn't present in the leading folder will be deleted during a sync' run.

It's pure childs play to do this, not sure why you're having difficulty

 

[bc3tech]

Well, beside removing folder at a time (don't have a spare day) and SyncToy, which was unsuccessful, any other option in mind ? like deleting it in DOS or something would help ?

rmdir /s <directory>

I, for one, would like to hear from an MS developer on wtf "discovering files" is doing, why it showed up in vista, why it takes so damn long, and why it can't be deleting/copying/moving AS it's discovering them.

I've resorted to almost strictly Command Prompt usage when i'm dealing w/ large file sets now... it really is ridiculous.