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I have a problem with delete, I would like to delete some folder which contains a number of files, and I am getting an error like:

Cannot delete Folder: The file name you specified is not valid or too long. Specify a different file name.

How on earth can I delete this? How to force to delete it?

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this is not Server Fault related. – CD1 Jul 3 '09 at 15:21

5 Answers

up vote 8 down vote accepted

See http://www.ratsauce.co.uk/notablog/LongFilenames.asp

JR

PS for a folder use:

rd /S \\?\C:\VeryLongFolderName

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up vote 2 down vote

Try using a wildcard "*" after the first few characters of the name. Make sure you have enough differentiation so as not to delete what you don't want to.

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up vote 2 down vote

You can do a dir /x to get the short file name, and then delete that.
e.g. C:\AReallyLongFolderName can also be accessed or deleted using C:\AREALL~1

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up vote 1 down vote

If it's on a network you can map a drive to the parent folder and delete it that way. You may also be able to subst a non-networked drive.

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And excellent suggestion that worked well for me given the file was nestled in a sophisticated and deep file sturcture. – nulliusinverba Dec 13 '12 at 5:26
up vote 0 down vote

try to rename file or folder with smaller name or map folder as root then delete

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The question says windows there is no root on windows. – Unkwntech Jul 3 '09 at 15:24
but if you share folder at one computer at another you can map, like root this folder. it is decrease full path length. – Alexander Pavluchenko Jul 3 '09 at 15:37
"root" in this case is the top directory of a drive. If you use SUBST you can create a drive letter that points to any directory you choose. – Brad Bruce Jul 3 '09 at 23:12

protected by sysadmin1138♦ Mar 13 '12 at 16:09

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