Erasing a file

Dave Siciliano

Dave Siciliano

Final Approach
Joined
Feb 27, 2005
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Dallas, Texas
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Dave Siciliano
Hey folks! I must have downloaded a file that is corrupt or something. Every time I open Explorer and go to that sub directory, it locks up and shuts down. I've tried to erase it with DOS and can't get to the directory.

I use the CD command to get to the F:\ directory and is says invalid directory. Actually, I can't get any but D:\Documents and Settings\David.

Any suggestions? If I could erase this file, I think I'll be O.K.

Best,

Dave
 
Dave Siciliano said:
Hey folks! I must have downloaded a file that is corrupt or something. Every time I open Explorer and go to that sub directory, it locks up and shuts down. I've tried to erase it with DOS and can't get to the directory.

I use the CD command to get to the F:\ directory and is says invalid directory. Actually, I can't get any but D:\Documents and Settings\David.

Any suggestions? If I could erase this file, I think I'll be O.K.

Best,

Dave
Click to expand...

Dave, are you sure that you have a F: drive? Typically that's a CDROM or other removable drive.

The dos command you are looking for is:

Dir c:\*.* /AD /S

That will display all the folders in your root.

Or to delete an empty or non-empty folder:

RD /S "dirname"
 
Last edited:
Well, there's not much I am sure of. In Explorer, C is shown but all I have in there are operating systems. D is where most of my immediate files are E is my CD player and F is an external hard drive.

In DOS, with your command all is shows is some operating stuff in C; doesn't show other drives. I'm using XP; just reverted to DOS because I couldn't open Explorer in that directory: F:\movies\temp in this case.

Thanks,

Dave
 
Could be you don't have drivers for the Command Prompt (ie DOS) to access the external harddrive; especially if it is attached via USB. Windows may be the only way to get to it. Or in this case, not get to it (the subdirectory, that is).
 
Don't know John. I've used the ERASE dos command on here before on this directory, but I can't get there now.

Thanks,

Dave
 
Well, looks like I got it stable again. You won't believe what I did.
Unplugged the external drive and plugged it into my laptop. Seemed it would lock up every time a specific thumbnail opened. I went to that directory and change view to tiles instead of thumbnails and deleted all recently downloaded files. Then disconnected and went back to my desk top.

This platform can sure be unstable. I sure wish there was a good alternative to MS for the business user.

Best,

Dave
 
Dave Siciliano said:
This platform can sure be unstable. I sure wish there was a good alternative to MS for the business user...
Click to expand...

Obligatory Mac promotion begins in 3, 2, 1... :p
 
i was trying to hold back spike :)

im not really a mac lover, but i have fun giving that as an answer to all the tech problems on the board. its tough to beat mike to it though!
 
look for a new driver for your external. Your probably not the only one this has happened to.
 
Michael said:
look for a new driver for your external. Your probably not the only one this has happened to.
Click to expand...

Driver! Please don't talk 'bout golf during working hours! It's tough enough to keep me in the office!
Oh, I see, software type driver. I know this makes sense to you, but how in the world would one look for an external driver? Where would I begin?:dunno:

Spike: you're starting to sound like that insurance company duck or something---AvMac :goofy:

Thanks,

Dave
 
fdisk ... oops, dos .... format c: :D just kidding, of course
 
There was buffer overflow exploit on Windows for some .gif graphics files. I'll bet your file has it.

You can't turn off thumbnails and delete it?
 
Try using Safe Mode

Try a reboot, press F8 at the prompt [be loaded and locked, it's not there for long], and boot up in Safe Mode. Erase the file in Windows.
[Suggestion I haven't personally tried, but done similar things in Safe Mode]
 
flyingcheesehead said:
OK, Fine, I'll bite.

Dave, what are you using that's specific to M$? I have run a business on 100% Mac. Even my PC-user business partner had a Mac.
Click to expand...

Thanks Kent!

We have several machines and wouldn't want a 1/2 this and 1/2 that office. Bunch of software for XP. My secretary and others probably would need training; I know it seems simple to you, but maybe we should look at it.

Best,

Dave
 
Dave Siciliano said:
Thanks Kent!

We have several machines and wouldn't want a 1/2 this and 1/2 that office. Bunch of software for XP. My secretary and others probably would need training; I know it seems simple to you, but maybe we should look at it.

Best,

Dave
Click to expand...

I guess what I was after is that there are many misconceptions about what you can and can't do with a Mac, even more so now that they've made the switch to Intel.

Things that have been true for a LONG time: Microsoft Office is available on the Mac. In fact, MS Word 1.0 was a Mac-only product, and was available before Windows ever came out. In fact, there's some Excel windows rearing their ugly heads on my machine right now as I analyze numbers for the flying club.

I'm also running QuickBooks, a very common piece of business accounting software. There's an awful lot of software that's available on both, and quite a bit more that's at least replicated on the Mac side. Most if it is also 100% compatible cross-platform - For instance, if you e-mail me a .doc or .xls file, I just double-click it and it works just the same as it would if I were a PC user. I can edit the file and send it back, and you'd never know that I changed it on a Mac.

There's some nifty software that's not the same but is compatible. For example, Apple has a very nice presentation program called Keynote. I've used it for my annual meeting presentations to the club the last couple of years. When I'm done, I simply "Save As" a .ppt and e-mail to the club secretary so he can include the numbers in the minutes. In fact, somehow last year I lost my copy of the file, so I pulled it back out of my sent mail and Keynote pulled it right back in. (Phew!)

I've had to use some PC-"specific" software fairly often (in the past it was Electrical Engineering related software, now it's a program called "Driver's Daily Log). I used to have to use Virtual PC which was somewhat slow as it ran everything in emulation. However, since Apple switched to Intel processors (same hardware you've got), I use something called CrossOver that lets me run Windows programs as if they were Mac programs. Hmmm... Maybe it's screen shot time... OK, screen shot attached. You can mainly see my browser window over an Excel window over the Windows program, and my messy desktop too. Works like a charm.

Bottom line - Neither Macs nor Windows boxen are right for every job, but Macs are a much more viable option than many folks believe, in many different situations. They're not just for graphics folks any more. (The Mac's other niche market: Lawyers. Dunno why. :dunno:)
 
Thanks Kent:

One of the problems one gets into with an office, is vested interests. We have a bunch of software we'd have to upgrade and probably some training we'd have to do.

But, you've awakened me to the possibility. My Son uses a Mac at home and a PC here at work. He loves the Mac but there are some things he couldn't do on it here. Guess I'll chat with him about it now that you've enlightened me a bit.

Best,

Dave
 
Dave Siciliano said:
One of the problems one gets into with an office, is vested interests. We have a bunch of software we'd have to upgrade and probably some training we'd have to do.
Click to expand...

Yup. No free lunch and all that. There's definitely a people factor involved too, especially when trying to transition from one to the other.

It really is pretty much always an "it depends" scenario. Unfortunately, there are VERY few computer consultants who really know the pros and cons of both in any given situation. In fact, most computer consultants and IT folks won't touch Macs. Job security, ya know. ;) Actually, it's largely that they have no clue when it comes to Macs. My business did well because we COULD work on both and be mostly platform-agnostic, providing the right solution for each particular client. Guys from other consulting companies would say things like "But nobody uses Macs! How do you make any money on them?" (Gee, buddy, I'll give you a hint: You PC guys are a dime a dozen, and there's only two Mac-friendly consulting firms in town, and the other one doesn't do PC's...)

But, you've awakened me to the possibility. My Son uses a Mac at home and a PC here at work. He loves the Mac but there are some things he couldn't do on it here. Guess I'll chat with him about it now that you've enlightened me a bit.
Click to expand...

Having someone around who already knows the Mac is quite valuable.

You know, the nice thing about recommending Macs these days, is that it's no longer quite the leap it used to be. Now, if you buy Macs and decide you don't like 'em, you can just wipe the hard drive and install Windows. The switch is no longer the risk it once was!
 
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