Removing directory corpses ?

[Ardenian]

For a few years, I have multiple directories that are shown in my files,
but do not actually exist anymore and have the size 0 KB.

I deleted these directories in the past, however, they insist to show up.
Dummy example: C:\Users\User\Games\Warcraft III\codes\CustomGame

As said, I have multiple of these, from different kinds.
Trying to delete them I get an error message telling me he could not find the files
( as they are already deleted, I assume).

What is causing this for these few directories that seem to have no relation to each other
and what is a good program to get ride of them ?

 

[TriggerHappy]

Which OS are you using? Does this only happen within the WC3 directory?

Try running CCleaner with the secure deletion setting on 3 or higher.

 

[Ardenian]

Oh excuse, I should mention it, I use Windows 7.

There is one directoy I moved outside the wc3 directoy and then deleting it.
Most files still show up.
This directory was most likely created using the Preload issue.

Another example is a directory with old art material of mine, I deleted most of the files,
but some, seeming randomly chosen, still show up.

Thanks you, I am going to try it!

 

[Dr Super Good]

Try refreshing the explorer window. Some times changes to the filesystem are not automatically reflected by the window. Eg if you delete a file it appears to not be deleted with further attempts to delete throwing the "file could not be found" error. Refreshing the explorer window fixes this as the file is actually deleted and just the window did not reflect the deletion.

Does your user account name contain unusual characters? It is possible that the filesystem cannot handle the path well due to strange characters.

Is your user account an admin? Maybe it is hiding files (removing permissions) rather than deleting them.

 

[Ardenian]

@Dr Super Good
Yes, I noticed that now and then.
However, files/directories being displayed after months, years ?

Hm, that's possible, it is not the account my wc3 uses/ is installed under.

I am going to try that, too, thank you!

@TriggerHappy
I was able to delete the art files I spoke of using CCleaner, thank you!
However, one directory on D:\ resists, even on x35 deletion setting and
manually including it in the cleaning process.

 

[TriggerHappy]

@TriggerHappy
I was able to delete the art files I spoke of using CCleaner, thank you!
However, one directory on D:\ resists, even on x35 deletion setting and
manually including it in the cleaning process.

As DSG said it may have something to do with permissions.

 

[Ardenian]

How can I change the permissions to allow myself to delete them ?
I tried to execute CCleaner as Admin, but it did not work, sadly.

 

[TriggerHappy]

How can I change the permissions to allow myself to delete them ?
I tried to execute CCleaner as Admin, but it did not work, sadly.

I don't know. I hate windows permissions system.

Every time I try to add myself to trusted users / admins it never works.

I would personally boot up a linux (live CD) distro and delete it from there.

 

[Ardenian]

Yeah, totally my opinion.

Thanks, I am going to check that one out!

 

[Dr Super Good]

Maybe it is some explorer cache that is corrupt? If the file is deleted it does not exist, however it may still appear to exist until a cache used by explorer shows it as deleted. Some people reporting similar problems did mention caches of sorts.

 

[Ardenian]

Wouldn't CCleaner on max deletion setting clean that up ?
It seems like a powerful tool to me, so I would think it cleans that up, too.

How can I check for corrupted caches/ fix the problem ?