How to delete a file that contains a backslash in the name under Windows 7?

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How to force Windows XP to rename a file with a special character?
how to delete (invalid) files with colon in their name under windows

I want to delete a file named workspaces\google-gson-1.7.1-release.zip Yep, it contains a backslash in the name.

Here it is:

G:\>dir Z_DRIVE
 Volume in drive G is samsung
 Volume Serial Number is 48B9-7E1D

 Directory of G:\Z_DRIVE

04/06/2012  08:09 PM    <DIR>          .
04/06/2012  08:09 PM    <DIR>          ..
05/01/2011  02:21 PM           528,016 workspaces\google-gson-1.7.1-release.zip
           1 File(s)        528,016 bytes
           2 Dir(s)  88,400,478,208 bytes free

The first attempt is to just delete it from the Windows Explorer, but it says it can't find the file.

Then, I tried from the command line:

G:\>del Z_DRIVE\workspaces\google-gson-1.7.1-release.zip
The system cannot find the file specified.

And, after researching a bit in the internets, I also tried the following, with no luck:

G:\>del \\?\G:\Z_DRIVE\workspaces\google-gson-1.7.1-release.zip
The system cannot find the file specified.

Other than booting from some Linux CD, is there a way to get rid of this file?

Update on 6 April 2012: also tried the following combinations, but the error is the same:

G:\>del "\\?\G:\Z_DRIVE\workspaces\google-gson-1.7.1-release.zip"
G:\Z_DRIVE>del workspaces\google-gson-1.7.1-release.zip
G:\Z_DRIVE>del "workspaces\google-gson-1.7.1-release.zip"
G:\Z_DRIVE>del workspaces*google-gson-1.7.1-release.zip

Update on 7 April 2012: Before I go ahead and try from Linux, here's an screenshot that shows some of the attempts based on the answers here. I'm not sure this will be easy to reproduce, and removing the friggin' file from Linux or using Cygwin feels like cheating :)

Some of the removal attempts

Is there anything else in there that starts with workspaces? — Joshua Drake, Apr 06 '12 at 18:42
Have you tried renaming it to something else and then deleting it? — Alex, Apr 06 '12 at 18:42
How did you get such a file? It's a good trick to annoy someone :-) — nalply, Apr 06 '12 at 22:11
nalply: They should be creatable with the native APIs of Windows, but I don't have a DDK here to test whether that would work from user mode, too. — Joey, Apr 07 '12 at 12:36
@espinchi add the possible duplicate link to your question and explain why it is trickier and not a duplicate. — Moab, Apr 07 '12 at 17:05
@nalply I don't remember how I created it! I'd say it was created by 7zip from a Windows Server 2008, but how the hell did it manage? — espinchi, Apr 07 '12 at 20:22
It's even more fun when you have file names that contain "*" or "?", because even the WIN32API methods use those characters for file name globing :). — crazy2be, Apr 07 '12 at 22:03
I have created such file in freebsd, then archived and tried to unpack with 7zip in windows, but 7zip can't create such file. — crea7or, Apr 07 '12 at 22:05
Also see: [How to force Windows XP to rename a file with a special character?](http://superuser.com/questions/31587/how-to-force-windows-xp-to-rename-a-file-with-a-special-character) — Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007, Apr 07 '12 at 23:26
Hey, do you have [this option](http://support.microsoft.com/kb/121007) as 0 or 1? — crea7or, Apr 08 '12 at 10:38
I had a system with dual boot. (linux and windows). While i'm in linux I created a huge file in windows partition with a filename that contains a slash. When in windows, it's impossible to do anything with it. It just stays there, using your disk space. solution I found was to do a drive scan while windows boots up. — John Eipe, Apr 08 '12 at 13:31
I had similar issues deleting files: [How to delete files and folders that cannot be deleted?](http://superuser.com/questions/229563/how-to-delete-files-and-folders-that-cannot-be-deleted). — glenneroo, Apr 10 '12 at 19:05
@nalply, Just boot into linux to create such files. For example, you can burn puppylinux to a cd, boot from cd, then do a copy file "asd" to a file called "asd\asd" since that's a backslash not a front slash. — Pacerier, Mar 11 '17 at 10:58

EBGreen · Answer 1 · 2012-04-09T13:40:24.460

30

I would try using short 8.3 naming:

del worksp~1.zip

since that does not seem to work for this specific file, the next thing that I would try is to open a Powershell command prompt then do:

Get-ChildItem G:\Z_Drive\* | Where-Object{$_.Name -Like 'workspaces*'} | Remove-Item -WhatIf

Be sure to play around with the pattern so that you are only matching that one file (not sure if there are other files in there or not). Once you see that it would only try to delete the one file, remove the -WhatIf

edited Apr 09 '12 at 13:40

answered Apr 06 '12 at 18:43

EBGreen

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8.3_filename – Andrew Lambert Apr 06 '12 at 21:23
1

dir /X shows shortnames with the directory listing. – Rob Apr 06 '12 at 23:15
3

That's a great suggestion, I was convinced it would work... but it does not! As @Rob has suggested, I've used _dir /x_ to find out the short name but... the short name is **the same** as the long name. Can't believe it! – espinchi Apr 07 '12 at 02:46
Care to explain how this works? – Ivo Flipse Apr 07 '12 at 08:54
In windows, if a filename is longer than 11 characters (I think), it has a unique SHORTNAME you can use (which is the first 6 characters followed by a ~ and the number that the file is in alphabetical order) – Rob Apr 07 '12 at 11:53
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You *might* be able to set the short name for the file manually: `fsutil file setshortname G:\workspaces\google-gson-1.7.1-release.zip google.zip`. See: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc788058%28v=ws.10%29.aspx – Andrew Lambert Apr 07 '12 at 17:47
@Amazed fsutil does not manage either: it returns the error "The system cannot find the path specified" – espinchi Apr 07 '12 at 20:26
@espinchi It was a longshot :\ – Andrew Lambert Apr 08 '12 at 00:46
ShortName is NOT mandatory in NTFS, it is optional and you can disable it in registry. – Dennis C Apr 10 '12 at 11:08
I have a file with a forward slash ('/') in it. `dir /X` shows it has a short name, but `cmd.exe` tells me the directory is corrupt and to run chkdsk when I try to delete it via that name. Powershell doesn't see the file at all. – Cameron Jun 05 '17 at 15:06

score 9 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 06 '12 at 18:48

9

open a cmd, do dir/x and find the short name of the file, and delete that.

answered Apr 06 '12 at 18:48

johnshen64

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Believe it or not, the output of _dir /x_ is _ workspaces\google-gson-1.7.1-release.zip_. I was convinced that this answer (which coincides with @EBGreen's) would work, though! – espinchi Apr 07 '12 at 02:48
Really weird, other than trying to delete the parent dir recursively if you have not tried yet, I am totally stumped. If you can boot a Linux live cd and still see the file, probably you can delete from there. You may have to mount it rw as sometimes mtgs is only mounted ro. Very interesting and I wish I could get to it myself to try. Finally you may have to call Microsoft if all fails. – johnshen64 Apr 07 '12 at 04:14
Yeah, it's really weird. I did try deleting the parent folder, it was actually my original objective. – espinchi Apr 08 '12 at 10:14

score 8 · Accepted Answer · edited Mar 20 '17 at 10:16

8

How about running CHKDSK?

There was a similar question here: How to force Windows to rename a file with a special character?, one of the answers to which demonstrated that CHKDSK deletes files with invalid characters in their name.

edited Mar 20 '17 at 10:16

Community

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answered Apr 07 '12 at 08:54

Anton

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A `chkdsk /F` fixed it! It basically deleted the file :) – espinchi Apr 10 '12 at 23:43
Had a file with a forward slash in it (was supposed to be a dash but a bit got flipped somewhere). Couldn't delete with explorer, cmd, short name, powershell, or cygwin, but chkdsk removed it from the index then automatically restored it with the correct name. Yay! – Cameron Jun 05 '17 at 15:27

Lucas · Answer 4 · 2012-04-24T02:29:41.790

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did you try with powershell? if not, try :

First move to the folder, then start powershell (typing powershell, enter) then copy it:

ls | ?{$_.name -like "*\*"} | %{$_.delete()}

edited Apr 24 '12 at 02:29

answered Apr 06 '12 at 22:54

Lucas

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That regex is invalid. And PowerShell has *less* support than `cmd` for certain NTFS features (e.g. ADS). I wouldn't expect that to work. – Joey Apr 07 '12 at 09:21
You are right! Fixed :). – Lucas Apr 24 '12 at 02:31

score 4 · Answer 5 · answered Apr 07 '12 at 08:05

4

Could you try renaming it?

rename *.zip tmp.zip

answered Apr 07 '12 at 08:05

Ross Aiken

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Or see if something like fileassassin would do the trick... – Ross Aiken Apr 07 '12 at 08:06
Nop, it says "The system cannot find the path specified". Good idea, though – espinchi Apr 07 '12 at 20:23

score 3 · Answer 6 · answered Apr 07 '12 at 01:47

3

Can you type the first part of the filename and do a tab autocomplete? This often formats the filename in whatever specific way the system requires (double slashes, triple quotes, etc.)

answered Apr 07 '12 at 01:47

BobT

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Good suggestion. I've used auto-complete everytime it was possible, to avoid typos. – espinchi Apr 07 '12 at 20:23

oleschri · Answer 7 · 2012-04-07T10:14:59.780

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Install cygwin tools from http://cygwin.com

Then ...

rm filename

That should do the trick.

An installation guide is here: http://www.mobilefish.com/developer/cygwin/cygwin.html

edited Apr 07 '12 at 10:14

answered Apr 07 '12 at 10:09

oleschri

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It doesn't work either! I tried both with "\\" (as it appears in ls) and with single backslash and quotes. – espinchi Apr 07 '12 at 20:46

score 2 · Answer 8 · answered Apr 06 '12 at 18:28

2

Try surrounding the file name in double quotes (").

answered Apr 06 '12 at 18:28

Traveling Tech Guy

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and if that doesn't work alone, use the double quotes at the end and only escape the single slash. – Joshua Drake Apr 06 '12 at 18:35
Tried that, but no luck. I updated the original question with this suggestion. Good try, anyway :) – espinchi Apr 06 '12 at 18:41

Marcx · Answer 9 · 2012-04-06T18:49:00.840

2

try:

del workspaces*google-gson-1.7.1-release.zip

* is a special char that means everything so using this command you will delete

workspaces\google-gson-1.7.1-release.zip
workspacesagoogle-gson-1.7.1-release.zip
workspacesaeiougoogle-gson-1.7.1-release.zip
and so on..

EDIT:

if possibile, move all the files and folder out from Z_DRIVE and then remove directly the directory... then create a new Z_DRIVE and move back the previously moved...

edited Apr 06 '12 at 18:49

answered Apr 06 '12 at 18:36

Marcx

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Tried that, but no luck. I updated the original question with this. Good try, anyway :) – espinchi Apr 06 '12 at 18:40
updated my answer with a workaround, is not exactly what you want to do, but the final result should be the same... – Marcx Apr 06 '12 at 18:49

score 2 · Answer 10 · answered Apr 07 '12 at 03:46

These types of oddly name files, I believe can only be created and removed from script, application, etc. So, you could create a windows script with WSH and use it there MS reference has the perfect example.

// JScript.
Shell = new ActiveXObject("WScript.Shell");
FSO = new ActiveXObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject");
DesktopPath = Shell.SpecialFolders("Desktop");
FSO.DeleteFile(DesktopPath + "\\test.lnk")

' VBScript.
Set Shell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
Set FSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
DesktopPath = Shell.SpecialFolders("Desktop")
FSO.DeleteFile DesktopPath & "\test.lnk"

score 2 · Answer 11 · answered Apr 07 '12 at 11:33

to solve the files there is a working way, install linux-ubuntu or use it with live cd, then go and delete the file... this thing happen to me when i make files with "xxx" on fat drive when i try to open rename or delete it on windows never allow, hope this help

PhilJ · Answer 12 · 2012-04-07T11:31:23.380

Believe it or not, the output of dir /x is _ workspaces\google-gson-1.7.1-release.zip_

Sorry, I think you're looking at the wrong column of the output. The "dir /x" command should display the alternative name for any files with more than 8 characters in the name. Can you display the output of this command in your question like you did for the "dir" command please?

C:\Windows>dir /x
Volume in drive C is OS
Volume Serial Number is 9080-5E4E

Directory of C:\Windows

01/01/2012  18:29    <DIR>                       .
01/01/2012  18:29    <DIR>                       ..
14/07/2009  06:32    <DIR>                       addins
14/07/2009  04:20    <DIR>          APPCOM~1     AppCompat
11/08/2011  18:12    <DIR>                       AppPatch

As you can see, the directory "AppCompat" is the only folder with more than 8 characters so has been given a short name. The 4th column displays the short name (if created).

`dir /x` doesn't *create* short names. That's a feature of the file system and it can be turned off. Fundamentally it's just another hardlink. Also this isn't an answer. — Joey, Apr 07 '12 at 10:42
I didn't mean create and I have adjusted the answer. I'm not able to comment on the original question or other people's answers because I only have 1 rep so I have to create an answer to help the OP. I do believe it is a valid answer if the OP was missing the 4th column of the command's output and this helps to solve the problem. — PhilJ, Apr 07 '12 at 11:33

score 0 · Answer 13 · edited Apr 07 '12 at 01:36

0

Try these small but powerful utilities: lockhunter or unlocker.

edited Apr 07 '12 at 01:36

Oliver Salzburg

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answered Apr 07 '12 at 01:32

Fusionneur

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score 0 · Answer 14 · answered Apr 07 '12 at 08:57

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Assuming that you are using the Android SDK, you can try to delete it from the Android Shell using the rm command. Here is an example, under the From the Recovery Screen section.

answered Apr 07 '12 at 08:57

npclaudiu

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score 0 · Answer 15 · answered Apr 07 '12 at 20:34

0

Since Z_DRIVE only contains one thing, just delete the directory and then recreate it.

answered Apr 07 '12 at 20:34

Graham Borland

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score 0 · Answer 16 · answered Apr 10 '12 at 11:11

It sound stupid but you can try Java. I remember I have a few times hit some file like you. And they were created by Java, and removed by java.

Another way to workaround is try to move the folder. Move all the other file away and del the folder recursively, there is some tools to remove folder without iterate the files inside.

score 0 · Answer 17 · answered Apr 11 '12 at 01:17

It looks like this drive is associated with Google Workspace or Google Online docs which creates a drive on your desktop. I would suggest finding the App that handles this and deleting the file or folder from the Google Docs interface or uninstalling it, although that might also get rid of other files on the drive folder, so be sure to back up your data first.

How to delete a file that contains a backslash in the name under Windows 7?

17 Answers17

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