Need help deleting a non-existent file

[Skinkybob]

I've got two files on my hard drive that I cannot get rid of. I deleted them at some point, but they left behind this "ghost" file that can't be deleted because the item cannot be found. When I go to properties, it says that the file type is "File (.)" and it opens with "Windows Shell Common Dll". The files are 0 bytes. I've tried everything I can think of to get rid of the files and nothing works.

 

[bmcdevitt]

what are these files you are trying to get rid of?

 

[Skinkybob]

That's the thing... they are just "nothing". Initially they were .rar files, but now they're just these empty placeholders that serve no purpose and can not be moved, changed, or deleted.

 

[bmcdevitt]

have you tried any 3rd party uninstalling programs?

 

[mitchell65]

What is the path to these files? What is the actual file name. You say they are just nothing but clearly you can see them so they must say something! From your first post it sounds like these files may be system files so perhaps your original deletion has caused a problem. Why did you delete them in the first place?

 

[Skinkybob]

They are the remnants of a compressed .rar file that contained a show I was downloading for my brother. They are located in my "Videos" folder and I deleted them because I was finished with them. The file names are:

Avengers.Earths.Mightiest.Heroes.S01E01.Breakout.Part.1.HDTV.DivX-CP-www.gudz.org.1.
Avengers.Earths.Mightiest.Heroes.S01E01.Breakout.Part.1.HDTV.DivX-CP-www.gudz.org.2.

Those are the full file names, extensions and everything. They've been this way for months now. I deleted them, and then one day I check and there they are... except they aren't .rar files anymore. They are just "." files. And the computer won't delete them because it cannot find the file to delete.

 

[Skinkybob]

I've tried deleting them through Command Prompt and I've run CCleaner and Lockhunter to no avail.

 

[Golden]

Hi,

You could try this, but be careful that you do not delete any critical system files. You use this at your own risk.

FileASSASSIN: Malwarebytes

Regards,
Golden

 

[mitchell65]

The original file names were :
Avengers.Earths.Mightiest.Heroes.S01E01.Breakout.Part.1.HDTV.DivX-CP-www.gudz.org.1.avi
Avengers.Earths.Mightiest.Heroes.S01E01.Breakout.Part.1.HDTV.DivX-CP-www.gudz.org.2.avi

Try renaming the files back to the original. Just add avi at the end. Then try deleting them.
If that doesn't work try renaming them Sample1.avi and Sample2.avi then try deleting!
EDIT Another thought!
Perhaps we are in the realm of the file name being too long, just a thought.

 

[HammerHeart]

Hi,

You could try this, but be careful that you do not delete any critical system files. You use this at your own risk.

FileASSASSIN: Malwarebytes

Regards,
Golden

FileAssassin couldn't find the file in order to delete it.
I am having the same problem with a 'ghost' file that once was a .jpg file. Nothing seems to be able to find the file and properties shows it as 0 bytes with a file extension of (.) Properties also says:
Opens With: Windows Shell Commor (note it says Commor, not common). Any thoughts anyone?

 

[Boozad]

Copy out any files you want to keep then delete the parent folder. Then replace the folder and put your other stuff back.

 

[xunile]

I would see if your bittorrent application still has a lock on the files, sometimes if you delete the files but don't stop their torrent download the files won't fully delete.