I have read many posts here and elsewhere about related problems, and I have tried some of the solutions, but before I continue, I wanted to post so that I know I"m not wasing my time with unrelated fixes.
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IN XP Home, I used cobian backup program to accidentally save "K:\*.*" to "K:\backup - live files\K drive\K\"
(that was a mistake, obviously I meant it to go onto another drive)
It was running all night, so it may have created a VERY LONG CHAIN.
It created a very long chain of subfolders - it let me browse to this point:
K:\backup - live files\K drive\K\backup - live files\K drive\K\backup - live files\K drive\K\backup - live files\K drive\K\backup - live files\K drive\K\backup - live files\K drive\K\backup - live files\K drive\K\backup - live files\K drive\K\backup - live
files\
I renamed (shortened) as many folders as I could access, so now the path is:
K:\xdel\x\x\x\x\K\x\x\x\x\
x\x\x\x\x\
x\x\x\s\x\
x\x\x\x\x\
x\x\x\x\x\
x\x\x\x\x\
x\x\x\x\x\
x\x\x\x\x\
x\x\x\x\x\
x\x\x\K\x\
x\x\x\x\K\
x\x\K\x\x\
x\x\x\K\x\
x\x\x\x\x\
x\x\x\x\x\
x\x\x\K\x\
x\x\x\x\x\
x\x\x\x\x\
x\x\x\K\x\
x\x\x\x\x\
x\x\x\x\x\
x\x\x\x\x\
x\x\x\x\x\
backup - live files\
I cannot enter, rename or move the last folder in the chain that I can access.
When I try to delete the folder it says:
Confirim file delete - the folder xdel contains items whose name is too long for the recycle bin. Permanently delete?
I say yes, then it says:
Error deleting file or folder - Cannot delete BACKUP~1: the file name you specified is not valid or too long.
I ran chkdsk /f /r for this but this did not help.
I tried RD /S (aka rmdir /s) but it said "Maximum path length exceeded". (thanks very much)
I tried the fix that uses a script and robocopy:
http://www.windowsitpro.com/article/tips/jsi-tip-9651-how-can-i-delete-a-folder-that-returns-path-too-long-.aspx
but that didn't work - the cmd box loaded about 10 screens of pathh names and then froze (with robocopy at 100% cpu usage)
NOTE - the path may be VERY VERY VERY LONG!
Some ppl say try xcopy too but I dno't see a delete switch. And if robocopy fails, I doubt xcopy would fail.
I tried the java app here:
http://www.osmstudios.com/Display.asp?Page=pathtoolong
but that didn't work
And I saw:
http://www.abtollc.com/product1733992.html
I don't want to pay for something if I don't know if it will work.
NOTE - I have seen these two fixes:
~ share the folder, then map a drive and delete from the mapped drive
letter.
~use the subst command to create a virtual drive and delete from Windows explorer all folders underneath
But so many ppl report that this does NOT WORK that I wanted to check here first.