I maintain a shared lab computer on automated equipment. It runs DOS 6.2 and no Windows. The system generates data files that many users, some unfamiliar with DOS, retrieve. Occasionally I find files with names that are also DOS commands, etc, that people have apparently accidentally created.
Now there appears a file whose name is several untypable characters - smiley face, card suites, and others, many of them ASCII characters whose byte values are lower than 32. The name looks the same whether I view it with the Norton Commander V4, or DOS DIR.
I can’t delete it using the Norton Commander, though I can select it. I can’t view it. Of course, I can’t delete it in DOS by typing its name. Don’t know if it is a real file with a weird name, or if the system is displaying a weird file name when there is no file behind it.
Not out of ideas yet - I can move a zillion other things out of that directory and DEL . there, or maybe a few other options. But I wonder if anyone knows from this description what’s afoot?
Try using wildcards. You can rename the other files so the wildcards won’t affect them and then rename them back. For example if the file has an avi extension, then make sure there are no more files with avi extension and then use del *.avi
You can type those weird characters in DOS, you just need to look at an ASCII Code Chart (Table II). You need to have the NumLock turned on, Hold down your Alt key and type the 3-digit decimal number of the desired character (if it only has a one or two digit decimal precede with a 0 or 00 to make it 3 digits). This may require some playing around.
You could take the HD and put it in another computer running Windows as a slave, then boot up Windows and delete it through Explorer.
Easiest way: do a DIR . /P. This stops on each file and allow you to confirm each file deleted. Just reply N to each file until you get to the oddball one. Reply Y to that one, then press Ctrl+C to break out of the command.
Use DossHell. It will let you delete files using a Graphical User Interface. Type DossHell (OK, it’s actually DosShell) and go to town. If you have windows, you can use FileManager (I like to call it FileMangler). Have fun!
Try the free DosNavigator 1.51 from Ritlabs, never had any problem erasing any file… From my point of view it was the best dos shell ever. Low footprint in memory & all.
Thanks, all. Some of these ideas won’t work because none of the characters are typable. The name is six characters long with no extension. But you’ve given me lots to work with.
What’s a “disk editor”? What was Norton’s called? What are some names of other ones?
>> none of the characters are typable. The name is six characters long with no extension.
Well, they are typable with Alt codes but it is not worth the trouble.
DIR *. will show files with no extensions. rename any other files adding an extension and then do DEL *. and that should delete all files with no extensions.
Napier… You need a DOS program called Qfiler. You can delete almost anything that appears on the menu. I can upload it to you. I will send you a mail with my email address so that you can give me your email if you desire to have this program.
Napier… Sorry, I could not send you an email due to your request not to receive any. You can address the issue of Qfiler by sending me an email at: robertmaria@att.net
I can’t see what the big deal is as I do this all the time. CD-ROMS from China have files with names not recognized by WIN9X in English. In Windows if you double click on the file name you get an error message “file not found”. So I start the computer in DOS mode, copy the file to the hard disk and rename it using wildcards. It is very simple and requires no special programs. Of course, if you feel like it you can type the special characters using the ALT combinations but there is no need for that
True, you can rename it with wildcards unless it’s a bogus file caused by a corrupted FAT (File Allocation Table). If that’s the case, run scandisk and see if it might correct the problem. If the file remains, you could try moving all the data files but that strange one to a different directory, then back out to the parent directory and type RMDIR <directory_name>. That should at least remove the file (along with the directory) from sight. Then MKDIR <directory_name> and move all your data files back to it. This could be very time consuming if your files don’t have characters in common with each other like the extension or the first couple of characters, and also if you have sub-directories inside the data directory (unless you’re handy with the XCOPY command).
This is all presuming you want to take care of this using strictly DOS commands and not one of the many programs suggested by other posters.