Quicky delete Large files

[Charlie3]

i Have a large old windows backup that i no longer use or need and i would like to free up the space that it is using on my external hd. The only problem it just takes ages to do nothing using vista, is there some program that can do this sort of thing quicker than using vista itself??

charlie

 

[archie123]

its only taking ages because Vista has to move it from an external hard drive to the recycle bin , it has to transfer this huge file via a USB cable which is a HUGE bottleneck

 

[Charlie3]

so what should i do? is there no way that i can delete a file with out copying it to my c: drive's recycle bin first?

 

[lil domii]

window washer?

 

[archie123]

well you can set it up to delete files and not send them to the recycle bin but it wont be any quicker as deleted files are still transferred and stored on your operating system drive (until overwritten obviously)

it seems a little odd though i just deleted a 3 gb file from my external HD and it took about 2 seconds and even less to put it back.............ill look into it see whats what

what is the file size your deleting?

 

[Charlie3]

a windows.old folder and a windows backup both over 100gb think, i under stand that there is no way to do that in seconds but there must be some way to do it faster than windows way of copying it to somewhere else first. One thing that takes a lot of time is analysing the size to delete, that takes ages.

 

[d3aths3rver]

there is go into the command prompt and choose the file destination then, type cd\
choose the file extension for example it might say C: if its a large file on your external change the file extension to F: ( F: if your pc recognises the disk that the file is in to be F then choose the file extension
so eg: F:/Windows/windows backup/windows.old type del *.* when you are in this file extension. (This will delete everything in that file extension) be careful in command prompt, if you have anymore questions dont hesitate to ask.

caution this way will delete it permanently and much more quickly, so be careful

 

[Charlie3]

the windows.old and the windows backup are both in the j: drive, so what exactly should i type? in.

Thanks

 

[d3aths3rver]

go into the command prompt, start/all programs/accessories (right - click command prompt click run as administrator)
command prompt is open now
type in cd\ (press enter)
(it will then come up with C: for the next line)
type j: (press enter)
type windows.old (if this is the file extension)
then type in del *.*
if you need more help
type in "help del" in any line.
del *.* will delete any file extension with a "." in it (which is every file, because every file has a file extension)
alternatively type in rd (remove directory) this does the same thing.

 

[archie123]

one more thing most antivirus softwares are set to use advanced heuristics on all executed files from removable media , it could be this slowing it down , try disabling your AV temprarily and see if it helps

 

[Charlie3]

what do i need to type now, i tried enter but noting happened.

 

[archie123]

is that not the same command windows executes on a right click delete?

 

[lil domii]

what do i need to type now, i tried enter but noting happened.

i don't think you need to press enter, just 'y' for yes and 'n' for no.

 

[Charlie3]

naa just dosent seem to work i tried y and then enter but it dosent do anything and the windows.old folder remains undeleted. will just have to wait i guess.

Charlie

 

[JimJoe]

Since j: isn't your main hard drive, it isn't is it ?, try formating drive j:

If there are items you want to keep, copy them off first.

That will likely go faster than deleting folders and files on that drive. You may have to do it as administrator.

 

[archie123]

naa just dosent seem to work i tried y and then enter but it dosent do anything and the windows.old folder remains undeleted. will just have to wait i guess.

Charlie

have you tried disabling your AV?

 

[Charlie3]

All done now, that's what i did, just copy all what i needed to my c; and then formatted j:

thanks all

charlie

by the way mcaffee takes a fit when i turn it on and off and defender seems to hate it when i do that to.