long name file

Is there any way to get rid of a file (windows) which has a very long name and also is a type with a very long (40 character) description? I have already tried safe mode start and I have "unlocker assistant" which will take care of such files most of the time.

 

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It's been a few years - but the last time it happened to me I had to shell out to a cmd line/dos prompt to hunt it down and kill it.

 

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Could you describe in detail what you did?

 

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I was running XP at the time:

Click "start"->run->cmd

You should now be at a DOS prompt. Navigate to the desired folder.
Type: del "insert_your_long_ass_file_name_from_hell_here.ext"

Bye bye...

 

If using commandline you can use aliases i.e.

to delete a12345.example

You could type del a1*.example (this will delete all files in that folder that start with "a1" and end in ".example")

 

How do I navigate to the desired folder???

I tried using the entire path starting with C:, but I kept getting error messages saying it couldn't find the path.

 

http://www.lsi.upc.edu/~robert/teaching/foninf/doshelp.html#chdir

 

One step at a time is often the only way to do it. Don't type the entire path but approach it by levels...
I found that generally works for me, especially with judicious use of "*".

 

Do you have any DOS experience?

 

Check out xtree gold:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4c/Xtreegold-3.0.png

 

Addition: sometimes (but only sometimes - and it annoys the hell out of me when it doesn't happen) having the relevant folder open in Windows before you start the command line will open the DOS prompt already in the required folder.
Just a thought.

 

John, you could have taught him just as easy... (if you know)

Two commands:

cd = change directory - for example, cd c:/ will take you to the root of your c drive.
"cd windows" from there will take you to the windows folder or "cd windows/system32" will take you to the system32 folder.

dir - directory - will give you a listing of all your folders and files in the directory you're currently in - example: type dir at the c:\ level will show you the windows folder, amongst others.

The trick is figuring out which directory your "long ass file name" is in.

I assume you can find it in explorer, if so, then the path will be at the top of the explorer window..

Good luck!

 

Which is why i showed him the xtree gold png. It was a hint for directory structuration.

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He can even still use ZTree, but i never used it so i guess it works on current windows versions...dont know though.

 

Hey, dos Dos window show hidden files and folders? Last time i used dos was with WFW.

 

dir /A:h *.*

 

I suspect the old "switches" on the dir command are still available.
To get help on the dir command type: dir /?

 

If you know the name of the file (or some of it at least) you could type:
dir c:\ /s /b | find "filename.example"
This will find all instance of filename.example and return the full location. (aliases like the * won't work since this is using a String method piped from the return of the dir command)

 

I'll try to describe the obstacle I am encountering when I use cmd under run. The file in question has a path which looks like the following:
c:\Documents and Settings\Herb\Local Settings\Temp\L.asp*, where L.asp* is the short form of the name of the long file. I had used Stryder's suggestion to display the file name and it looks like what I described, except that it is spelled out in gory detail (taking up about 3 lines in the command box).

When I use del the above, I get a message "The system cannot find the path specified".

As an experiment I tried del c:\Documents and Settings\xxx (where xxx is a non-existent file) and I got a message "The system cannot find the file specifed". This seems OK.
Next I tried del c:\Documents and Settings\Herb\xxx. This time I got the message "the system cannot find the path specified".

It looks like for some reason it won't get past the first folder level.

 

I would advise taking it one step at a time.
First, change directories into Documents and Settings.
Once in Documents and settings, change directory into Herb, etc...
Work your way to the desired location step by step.

Then kill that sucker.

 

Open a DOS window.

• cd c:\
• cd documents and settings
• cd herbs
• cd local settings
• cd temp
• dir l.asp*

if the file is there:
del l.asp* (unless you have other files beginning with l.asp in which case you will have to spell the whole thing out, at least until it becomes "unique")

Note that your prompt should change after each "cd". i.e.:

• cd c:\ ---> c:\>
• cd documents and settings ---> c:\documents and settings\
• etc.