# Folders refusing to be deleted (windows XP) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 26, 2003, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folders-refusing-to-be-deleted-windows-xp/203924 "2003-09-26T06:37:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2003, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folders-refusing-to-be-deleted-windows-xp/203924/1 "2003-09-26T06:37:09Z")
So I foolishly forgot to close my ftp port, and also left my ftp server running. A week later I close the ftp port and bring down the server. As I’m about to delete the directory which the ftp pointed to, I notice that some people have gotten into it and made a mess of it. There’s hundreds of folders all nested up. It’s a mess. The problem now is that windows refuses to let me delete the folders! When I try to delete the parent folder I get a “Folder is not empty” error. When I start at the bottom I get a “Cannot read from source file or disk” error. What can I do to delete those folders? ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2003, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folders-refusing-to-be-deleted-windows-xp/203924/2 "2003-09-26T06:50:21Z")
Try deleting them from the command prompt. Ir try rebooting and see if that helps. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2003, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folders-refusing-to-be-deleted-windows-xp/203924/3 "2003-09-26T06:57:04Z")
I don’t think command prompt will work in XP, it’s too imtimately linked to the OS. However you might wnat to try using a DOS boot disk. That should allow you to delete it without any restrictions. ---
**Author:** ![Cillasi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@Cillasi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cillasi)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2003, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folders-refusing-to-be-deleted-windows-xp/203924/4 "2003-09-26T10:13:06Z")
Sounds like you have hidden files in the folder. Try changing your settings to show ALL files, even hidden ones, like dlls. Then you can delete the files and the folder. ---
**Author:** ![kirk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f9ae1b/32.png) [@kirk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kirk)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2003, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folders-refusing-to-be-deleted-windows-xp/203924/5 "2003-09-26T10:27:27Z")
When I’ve had problems like this, I’ve had to rename the folder, restart the pc and then I could delete the folder. ---
**Author:** ![missing\_link](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@missing\_link](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missing_link)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2003, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folders-refusing-to-be-deleted-windows-xp/203924/6 "2003-09-26T11:24:56Z")
A DOS boot disk won’t work if you use NTFS on your hard drive. I would definitely give the command line a try. I usually succeed in deleting files and folders it wouldn’t let me delete in the Explorer. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2003, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folders-refusing-to-be-deleted-windows-xp/203924/7 "2003-09-26T14:40:46Z")
You can use a dos boot disk with XP, it’s called NTSFDOS. I think that it’s free on the net. ---
**Author:** ![missing\_link](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@missing\_link](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missing_link)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2003, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folders-refusing-to-be-deleted-windows-xp/203924/8 "2003-09-27T00:05:15Z")
As far as I know, you can only read NTFS formatted hard disks with the freeware version of NTFSDOS. To be able to delete files I think you have to buy the full version. ---
**Author:** ![Nightsong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nightsong/32/3083_2.png) [@Nightsong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightsong)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2003, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folders-refusing-to-be-deleted-windows-xp/203924/9 "2003-09-27T00:38:21Z")
Another thing that may (or may not) work: boot into Safe Mode, then try to delete the offending folders. Can you move the directories elsewhere? If you can, just shove them onto a floppy or Zip disk, and format the disk. If not, try doing it in Safe Mode. (I’d also reccomend scanning those folders for icky things like a virus, spyware, etc. ) * * * \<\< To err is human, to really foul things up requires a computer. \>\> ---
**Author:** ![Rex\_Fenestrarum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rex_fenestrarum/32/7265_2.png) [@Rex\_Fenestrarum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rex_Fenestrarum)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2003, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folders-refusing-to-be-deleted-windows-xp/203924/10 "2003-09-27T01:26:08Z")
Who has ownership of the files\folders? ---
**Author:** ![DarrenS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/977dab/32.png) [@DarrenS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarrenS)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2003, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folders-refusing-to-be-deleted-windows-xp/203924/11 "2003-09-27T04:29:43Z")
WARNING: potentially dangerous command ahead. From the Command Prompt, try RD /S C:\MyFTPDirectory where MyFTPDirectory is the place where the files are stored. If you get the wrong directory, this command will happily nuke a whole directory structure so use with caution. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2003, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/folders-refusing-to-be-deleted-windows-xp/203924/12 "2003-09-27T04:56:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Blake \* > \*\*I don’t think command prompt will work in XP, it’s too imtimately linked to the OS. However you might wnat to try using a DOS boot disk. That should allow you to delete it without any restrictions. \*\* Curiously enough, the command prompt DOES work for SOME files in XP. Usually when media player or something dies without unlocking the file. Explorer refuses to delete it but cmd.exe is quite happy to.