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Topic Starter	Topic: Undeletable file "Cannot read from the source file or d
Survivor XXXG-00W0 Joined: 27 Dec 2002 Posts: 2891	Posted: 02-17-2005 09:57 AM                  I don't know if anyone remembers the topic i made at raw about an undeletable file that couldn't be fixed with closing explorer.exe and gave the error message "Cannot read from the source file or disk". But i found a method on google. Apparently invalid characters and spaces where used to make the file undeletable. When you have found the file open cmd. Head to the directory it is in. When you're there type "dir /x" this will show you the real name of the file. simply use "del filename" to delete it. If it still cannot be deleted it might be because they used a space. type "del filename(alt+255)". rmdir as a command can be used to remove dirs in the same manner. I post this here because it took me some searching before i found it and because most people direct you to the close down explorer and delete the file method which simply doesn't work in this case. Maybe it's an idea to start a knowledge database for the harder to get by information like this?
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FragaGeddon FragaGeddon Joined: 16 Sep 2000 Posts: 16007	Posted: 02-17-2005 10:15 AM                    Or how about install move on boot.
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Survivor XXXG-00W0 Joined: 27 Dec 2002 Posts: 2891	Posted: 02-17-2005 10:21 AM                  Well this fixed it requiring no install and i doubt it would find it anyway. _________________ Don't fear god, don't worry about death; What is good is easy to get, and what is terrible is easy to endure.
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Dr_Watson Black Magic Joined: 23 Feb 2000 Posts: 22853	Posted: 02-17-2005 04:54 PM                  alt255 isn't invalid.. its a blank character. (not a space) its fun to name files or directories with alt255's; makes for some interesting file listings. pretty lame of windows having issues dealing with it though. edit: just tried making a file with some random 255's in it... no issues deleting it in windows XP pro from explorer...
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U4EA i liek boobies Joined: 26 Nov 2000 Posts: 11930	Posted: 02-17-2005 06:57 PM                  Win98 had problems with Alt255 which is why it was a great way to hide porn. Win2k and WinXP don't suffer from the same issue. No idea which OS Survivor is using but I've personally had no problems accessing/deleting Alt255 directories and files on Win2k and WinXP.
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Survivor XXXG-00W0 Joined: 27 Dec 2002 Posts: 2891	Posted: 02-18-2005 12:54 AM                  Was xp. Maybe it wasn't that alone but it solved the problem.
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axbaby axbaby Joined: 22 Dec 1999 Posts: 17369	Posted: 02-18-2005 07:35 AM                  good tip man .. i will use it next time. _________________ [WYD]
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