How to delete undeletable long-filename file from HD?

Question

I have 2 files from internet saved pages that have an extremely long name in my external HD. I can't delete those. I tried schedule deletion on boot but it didn't work. Any idea?

Answer 1

A simple way to delete files you can't reach using their filename is to move everything else out of the directory to a temp directory (obs: not a sub-directory of the problematic one) and remove the directory itself (using rmdir dirname not del .). After you can re-create the directory and move the files back. Be sure to move the hidden files away too.

If you need more help, please give us more info like:

• Which OS are you using?
• The message is "file not found" or similar or the files are not deletable?
• What are the filenames? Possibly there are unallowed (or hidden) chars in the filenames.
• Diid you try to rename the files?

Answer 2

I presume you're on Windows. The rm utility included with my Hamilton C shell supports Microsoft's new long Unicode names internally and should be able to delete anything. This sounds like a one-time problem, so don't buy it, just use the free version. Full disclosure: I'm the author.