Help file moving failed!

[pixelmama]

I have a new computer and was transferring my images(9000+) from an external drive to the new computer and something happened to the folder system.

The computer did something weird(Vista?) I was moving the folders using ACDSee Pro. Now in my pictures folder I have a pictures folder and in that picture folder is another folder named pictures and inside that folder is another pictures folder and that goes on for 40 folders. The last folder has my original folders names and images but I am unable to open them.

I do not know what happened and my images are backed up so no loss but I need to fix this folder dilemma. I tried deleting the folders but get a message saying the file name is too long so I am unable to delete the mess. If anyone has any ideas as to what happened and how to how to fix it I would be thrilled. For now I renamed the top folder and I am ignoring it but woul like to remove it from the computer.

I am going to solve this before trying to move the images on the external drive to the new computer again.

[wickerprints]

The moving process corrupted your filesystem. You will need to use a disk recovery utility to repair the damage, or else it will continue to pose problems for future data written to the hard drive. You should do this before writing any more important data to your hard drive. Do not ignore it.

As I am not familiar with Windows applications for disk repair, I cannot advise you about particular solutions.

Incidentally, I should point out that this type of error is virtually impossible to create with a modern UNIX-based filesystem, e.g., Mac OS X or Linux (although other filesystem errors are possible).

[basroil]

Incidentally, I should point out that this type of error is virtually impossible to create with a modern UNIX-based filesystem, e.g., Mac OS X or Linux (although other filesystem errors are possible).

Actually, it's completely wrong to say that. The file name error will appear on either system, they both have a 255 character file name limit. When you actually look at the implementation, NTFS is more robust than HFS+ or ext3.


Looks like you (or a program of yours) did one of two things to get that error. Either the file name was changed and made too long (especially if you are running in 8+3 compatibility mode), or the path name was made too long and it won't fit into the recycling bin. If it's the latter, you should be able to delete the entire folder (not file by file).

There is also a chance of disk corruption (note that it is different from file system corruption), but that can be fixed by running scandisk

[wickerprints]

Actually, it's completely wrong to say that. The file name error will appear on either system, they both have a 255 character file name limit. When you actually look at the implementation, NTFS is more robust than HFS+ or ext3.


If this were true, then how come I have seen this error occur at least a half dozen times in NTFS, but NEVER in nearly 20 years of using UNIX and UNIX-like systems?

It's not a question of what is implemented. It's a question of how applications respect file creation.

[pixelmama]

Looks like you (or a program of yours) did one of two things to get that error. Either the file name was changed and made too long (especially if you are running in 8+3 compatibility mode), or the path name was made too long and it won't fit into the recycling bin. If it's the latter, you should be able to delete the entire folder (not file by file).

I think it was ACDSee that caused the problem but I really have know idea what went wrong. I am unable to delete the entire folder or any of the sub folders, I get a message that the file name is to long. I am also unable to move the folder to a different location.
I have tried renaming the folder no luck.

I have ran scandisk and no problems were detected.

I think I need to find some utility for removing corrupt folders/files if anyone knows of any program that would do this.

I gave another attempt at moving the images on to the new computer and this time I was able to succesfully more all of the images. Now I just want to get rid of the "bad"folders.

[Scottes]

This should work. I had to do something similar because of Vista's "symbolic links" or whatever they call the equivalent in Vista. It sounds like you got a recursive copy, same as I got, and this is how I fixed the problem:

Open Windows Explorer, and go down several levels of your "Pictures" directory structure.
I.E.; Change directory to <drive>:\Pictures\Pictures\Pictures\Pictures\Pictures.
Right click, and share that directory. I'd give it a share name like "fubar" or "broken" :D
Go to a DOS Prompt (Start... Run... cmd<enter>) and map that share as a new drive:
net use q: \\pcname\fubar
Where "pcname" is the name of your host.
Go back to Windows Explorer, and click on that new Q: drive.
Start deleting.


The chances of this being disk corruption are almost Zero. 0.000000001% I'd say.
AFAIK, this has to do with Vista's symbolic links or Directory Junctions - my bet's on the latter, though they're similar.


This crap will happen on Unix when someone creates a recursive symbolic link setup, and then uses software like tar which can follow symbolic links. I've had this exact same problem happen on Unix. 15 years ago. Solaris, Linux, FreeBSD - I've seen this problem on all of them.

It just seems that Vista's way of using Directory Junctions has more tendency to be recursive. I'm not really sure, to be honest, but I've run into this crap a few times now.

Luckily, my experience with this problem under Unix made me immediately realize the issue, and how to fix it. On Unix I exported a subdir and NFS mounted it to a shorter name. Same exact thing.


Incidentally, I should point out that this type of error is virtually impossible to create with a modern UNIX-based filesystem, e.g., Mac OS X or Linux (although other filesystem errors are possible).
Guess again.

[basroil]

The chances of this being disk corruption are almost Zero. 0.000000001% I'd say.

With external disks, disk corruption is much higher than internal ones, but yes, it's very unlikely (though there still is a chance).

[MaxxuM]

Running from a DOS prompt will usually give you the ability to delete w/o using the Recycle Bin. Also, to get completely away from Windows you can use the Repair Console via a Windows DVD boot disk. Just do a RMDIR dir /s /q

[pixelmama]

Thank you for the replies I am no computer expert but have learned a few things from this happening. I am fortunate that I have a good backup system for when things go wrong otherwise I may have lost important data.

I did not fully understand "Scottes" recommendation although I did learn from his post. Due to my computer skill level I did not try his recommendation. Thank you for the help anyway.

I did try "MaxxuM's suggestion of Just do a RMDIR dir /s /q(after more web research) and I managed to delete everything in the pictures folder(everything is backed up so no real damage). I used the name of the top folder in the process(junk) all the sub folders were named "pictures" so either my lack of understanding and computer skills or the duplicate folder names caused me to delete everything in my "pictures" except that "junk" folder with all the sub folders named "pictures". So I was still stuck with the "junk" folder and all this sub folders. I tried a few times and a few other ways to remove the folder still could not manage to get rid of it.

After doing some online research I decided to try a utility called DelinvFile I downloaded the trial version it was very easy and user friendly and I was able to rid my computer of the "junk" folder.:D

[basroil]

Thank you for the replies I am no computer expert but have learned a few things from this happening. I am fortunate that I have a good backup system for when things go wrong otherwise I may have lost important data.

I did not fully understand "Scottes" recommendation although I did learn from his post. Due to my computer skill level I did not try his recommendation. Thank you for the help anyway.

I did try "MaxxuM's suggestion of Just do a RMDIR dir /s /q(after more web research) and I managed to delete everything in the pictures folder(everything is backed up so no real damage). I used the name of the top folder in the process(junk) all the sub folders were named "pictures" so either my lack of understanding and computer skills or the duplicate folder names caused me to delete everything in my "pictures" except that "junk" folder with all the sub folders named "pictures". So I was still stuck with the "junk" folder and all this sub folders. I tried a few times and a few other ways to remove the folder still could not manage to get rid of it.

After doing some online research I decided to try a utility called DelinvFile I downloaded the trial version it was very easy and user friendly and I was able to rid my computer of the "junk" folder.:D


Yea.. I was worried that Maxxum forgot that rmdir and other command line actions are limited by the new structure of the OS (since there is no "dos mode" in NT5 based OSes). The other one is exactly like sharing a folder on your network. In fact, you could have done it by sharing the folder above the one you wanted to delete (above meaning the one that contains that folder), with read-write-modify enabled for all users (there's a nice little checkbox) then you could go to that folder from the "my networks" thing instead.