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How can I delete a folder that has over 100 GB of other files and folders inside it. The machine is a Windows 2003 server.

I have this command:

rmdir /s /q folder

But is it problematic to delete 100 GB all in one command? Is there a way to just delete half of the files at a time?

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Thank You.

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  • There is probably a more efficient way of storing your data than lots of little files if you can possibly avoid it.
    – JamesRyan
    Jan 24, 2012 at 15:44

1 Answer 1

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No, it's not problematic - your delete process is going to take a long time because you have 1.3 million files, 31,500 directories you're eliminating. That's quite a bit, and even on high end hardware will take some time. (I'd expect it to take at least 15+ minutes on Windows)

To delete half, or a partial chunk of the files is a bit more complicated because you (I/we) don't know how the files are distributed.

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    To expound: file deletion in Windows isn't an atomic operation (for the command), so it's not trying to keep track of all the million files and then wipe them at the end. Thus removing one file at a time and doing it all in one command has no practical downfall. Jan 24, 2012 at 15:34
  • Thank you for the insight! I am running the command on the test server that has 30 GB folder, has taken 4 minutes so far. I will post how long it takes to finish.
    – joe
    Jan 24, 2012 at 15:36
  • Finished, took 6 minutes.
    – joe
    Jan 24, 2012 at 15:39

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