# Can't Delete Folders/Files, can't empty recycle bin



## catgirlpink (Oct 6, 2007)

A few days ago I was copying some files to and from my portable drives. The progress bar sat frozen at a few instances, and I had to hit "cancel". Eventually I got my files to all copy to where I wanted them, but now I can't delete the folders and files that are still on my desktop.

I'm using a Toshiba Satellite laptop running Windows Vista Basic.

I tried to delete the folders and files, and it ran progress bars for over 12 hours that just flashed the blue bars across really fast while reading "Recycling 1 item (0 bytes)".

When I finally give up and hit "cancel", it flashes to "Recycling 24 items (251mb)" for a second as it is closing. But it just won't seem to delete these.

I also tried to empty the recycle bin, which now has 1.83gb of photo/video files to delete, but the "Calculating Time Remaining" bar just seems to flash on endlessly. 

Does anyone know what's wrong with it?


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## Go The Power (Mar 5, 2007)

Hello and welcome to TSF :wave:

Lets try this:

Click *Start* => *All Programs* => *Accessories* => *System Tools* => *Disc Cleanup*. Select your drive and press *OK*. Tick all the options then click *OK*, then click *Yes*. Just let it do its thing.

Lets hope this clears away the files.


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## ronz28 (Oct 9, 2007)

Using the cmd prompt has helped me out in a similar situation. Click Start>type cmd. Navigate to the directory containing your files and use the cmd "del filename" (without quotes). Should work.


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## catgirlpink (Oct 6, 2007)

Well, Disk Cleanup didn't seem to do anything at all. The folders and files are still there, and won't delete.

I'm not sure how to make the cmd del filename thing work. 
It just says "The system cannot find the file specified."


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## Go The Power (Mar 5, 2007)

What are the video and photo files, and where did you get them from?


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## catgirlpink (Oct 6, 2007)

The photo and video files are from my digital camera. It's a Kodak EasyShare Z760. I don't use the Kodak EasyShare software, it's a pain. I simply view the camera as an additional external drive, and drag the files to where I want them copied to. 

Never had a problem with it before this. But now Vista has been freezing up in the middle of file copying, and then on new attempts simply flashing it's progress bars rapidly without moving things anymore, and now this, where it can't delete the files I finally got copied to a different drive and want to get rid of from the computer's main drive.


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## papahbear (Oct 12, 2007)

It says the files cannot be found? Either way you have a corrupted file. there used to be a program called ckdsk that would scan your drive for errors in the file structures and data catalog. I'm not sure where the vista equivalent of it is but there is a way you can check the drive for errors, i'm just not sure if it performs the same functions if someone could clear that up for me. 

At the start menu click "computer" then right click on the hard drive you are having problems with and select properties. Click the tools tab. under error checking click "check now". make sure "automatically fix problems" is checked or it will simply report the errors. If problems persist you can repeat the test using "scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors". it will take much longer but will attempt to find and repair any physical problems with the drive. of course if you have the time you can do both at the same time.
If there are any problems


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## catgirlpink (Oct 6, 2007)

Actually, the files are found and function just fine. I can click on any of the videos it's been refusing to delete, and they play perfectly normally. They appear to be perfectly in-tact. I have no idea why they won't delete.

It was just the "cmd" "del filename" thing that couldn't find anything. I'm guessing I just don't know enough about old DOS stuff and pathways to make that sort of thing work. The run cmd thing isn't something I can work with on my own.

Oh, I completely forgot to mention that the Recycle Bin eventually did empty. Perhaps when I ran the Disk Cleanup. Not sure.

Anyway, it seems my only problem is that Vista keeps freezing up when I want to move files, refusing to either move them or delete them.


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## papahbear (Oct 12, 2007)

My thinking was that the problem could be related to bad information in the way the data is organized on your hard drive. Some tools can find it while others cant is one clue to this. The other problem of not being able to delete the files also makes me think that there are some bad pointers in the drive organization. This is why I recommended doing the scan. It will fix any errors on that level allowing you to then delete the files.
Another tool that I mentioned that does a great job of fixing problems like the one you are having is the *chkdsk * utility. Vista does have it after all but it requires running it from a command line like the *del* command. it isn't as hard as it sounds.

*Open a command shell*


> when you open the start menu there is a "*start search*" field at the very bottom of the menu. In that field type "*cmd*" and hit enter. this will open a black window with a command line prompt.


Below I will give instructions on how to use two methods of removing the file. First and easiest but by far the most time consuming is to run the ckdsk utility. This tool will repair any bad data associated with the file that may be preventing you from deleting it. 

*Fix file errors*


> In the black window that appeared simply type “*chkdsk /f*”. you will need to be logged in as an administrator to have permission to run the tool.



The other option is to use the “del” or delete command to remove the file as mentioned early in this thread. Doing this requires knowledge of a couple of other commands so that you can navigate to the folder where the file resides. 
The easiest thing would be to copy the file path from a window and paste it in to avoid having to know how to navigate the directory structure but I’ll provide information for both.

*remove the bad file without having to think much*


> Open the folder in vista where the file resides. If one isn’t open hitting *windowskey+e* will open one quickly or go to start and select “computer”.
> 
> At the top of that window to the left of the search field you will see the path to that file. Each folder in the hierarchy separated by a triangular arrow. Clicking any one of those arrows will open a drop down menu with navigation options but we need to convert this path to something we can use.
> Click on the little folder icon at the very beginning of that string of path names. This will convert the easily read path you are familiar with to a path that we can use. It will look something like this depending on where you are in the computer. *C:\Users\someguy\Documents\Bioshock*. It should already be highlighted.
> ...


A little more on how to find files without copying and pasting as I’ve described.

*getting around in the cmd shell to find your file*


> You can navigate through the hierarchy on the drive using the *cd* command and a few periods.
> Typing *cd ..* will take you back down one step in the path. In my example of C:\Users\someguy\Documents\Bioshock you would find yourself in the C:\Users\someguy\Documents folder instead.
> You can string them together to move more than backward only one at a time.
> *Cd ../..* will take you back two steps in the hierarchy. C:\Users\someguy
> ...


If you have any questions on this I’m more than happy to help. Typing all this stuff up always comes in handy when mom calls at 3am and can’t find solitare because she’s been experimenting and doesn’t understand what she’s done. She’s already managed to remove her entire program files directory. Just enough to be dangerous.


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