Solved Cannot remove a folder that ends with a "." (Unspecified error 0x80004005)


Winuser said:
If they can stop certain characters from being used when naming a file makes me wonder why they can't do it when naming a folder.
Click to expand...

I believe that it’s supposed to. Interesting reading here & there about it. Mostly above my paygrade.
 

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antspants said:
I believe that it’s supposed to. Interesting reading here & there about it. Mostly above my paygrade.
Click to expand...
If it's above your pay grade I'm not even going to attempt to look it up. :-)
 

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Winuser said:
If it's above your pay grade I'm not even going to attempt to look it up. :-)
Click to expand...

I have a comprehension level that’s the same as the comprehension level of a brick.
 

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I can't create a folder that ends with a period! It just won't stick! 🤷‍♂️

10063.gif
 

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    ASUS VivoBook
Periods at the end of the file name are allowed in NTFS, but not the Win32 API. So if you create a file outside of that API, it'll work just fine. Then if you try to delete it via the API, you're hosed. The \\?\ syntax works because that tells the API not to parse the name, just pass it along to the file system.
 

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    Windows 11 Pro 24H2 [rev. 4351]
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    12th Gen Intel Core i7-1260P, 2100 MHz
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    CODE 104-Key Mechanical with Cherry MX Clears
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NTFS supports several characters that CMD shell can't handle. REN & RMDIR are built-in commands to CMD.

MS won't update CMD or Explorer, because there's a long history of backwards compatibility which needs to be maintained. Other programs can be stupid, so you need to protect them. PS was written with better intentions, which is why some commands support a -LiteralPath argument which doesn't exist for their CMD equivalents.

A common problem starts with file transfers from a non-Windows system, where they're not bound by the same naming rules.
 

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System One

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    Windows 7
REN does not work on a folder with a dot using Command Prompt, nor does MOVE
 

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    Edition Windows 10 Home
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    Windows 11 Pro 23H2 22631.2506
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    HP Mini 210-1090NR PC (bought in late 2009!)
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Try Winrar
Right mouse on the folder, add to archive, make sure you tick delete files after archiving
 

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System One

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    WIN 11
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    HP
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    GT 710
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Grammy said:
Try Winrar
Right mouse on the folder, add to archive, make sure you tick delete files after archiving
Click to expand...
Have you tested this?
 

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    Windows 11 Pro 24H2 26100.4202
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    Laptop
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    Acer Swift SF114-34
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    Pentium Silver N6000 1.10GHz
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    4GB
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    1920 x 1080
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    SSD 2TB
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    fanless
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    150 Mbps
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    Webroot Secure Anywhere
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    System 3

    ASUS T100TA Transformer
    Processor Intel Atom Z3740 @ 1.33GHz
    Installed RAM 2.00 GB (1.89 GB usable)
    System type 32-bit operating system, x64-based processor

    Edition Windows 10 Home
    Version 22H2 build 19045.3570
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro 23H2 22631.2506
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Mini 210-1090NR PC (bought in late 2009!)
    CPU
    Atom N450 1.66GHz
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    2GB
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    Brave
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Yes, on all windows, but I haven't used win 11 yet
The result was always awesome
 

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  • OS
    WIN 11
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    HP
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    i5
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    HP
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    8 GB
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    GT 710
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    Realtek
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    LG
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    1366*768
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    Samsung 870EVO
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    100MB
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    Malwarebytes Premium

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WinRar does work, I tested it.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 24H2 26100.4202
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Swift SF114-34
    CPU
    Pentium Silver N6000 1.10GHz
    Memory
    4GB
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    SSD 2TB
    Cooling
    fanless
    Internet Speed
    150 Mbps
    Browser
    Brave
    Antivirus
    Webroot Secure Anywhere
    Other Info
    System 3

    ASUS T100TA Transformer
    Processor Intel Atom Z3740 @ 1.33GHz
    Installed RAM 2.00 GB (1.89 GB usable)
    System type 32-bit operating system, x64-based processor

    Edition Windows 10 Home
    Version 22H2 build 19045.3570
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro 23H2 22631.2506
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Mini 210-1090NR PC (bought in late 2009!)
    CPU
    Atom N450 1.66GHz
    Memory
    2GB
    Browser
    Brave
    Antivirus
    Webroot
I'd simply boot a Linux live Iso (e.g. Ubuntu) and delete the folder under Linux. To me that's easier than fiddling about with CMD/ Powershell.
 

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    Windows 11
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    Custom
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    AMD Ryzen 9 5950X
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    Asus ROG Strix X570-F Gaming
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    Seasonic Prime Ultra Platinum (1000 W)
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    Deepcool GamerStorm Captain 240 Pro (12cm)
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    Logitech G910
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    Logitech G502
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    1000 Mbit/s (synchronous)
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    Firefox, Vivaldi
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    GDATA Internet Security
Is your problem solved?
 

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System One

  • OS
    WIN 11
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    HP
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    i5
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    HP
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    8 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    GT 710
    Sound Card
    Realtek
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    LG
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    1366*768
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 870EVO
    Internet Speed
    100MB
    Browser
    Firefox, Chrome, Edge
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    Malwarebytes Premium

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 24H2 26100.3915
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Build by vendor to my specs
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    AMD Ryzen 7 5700G
    Motherboard
    MSI PRO B550M-P Gen3
    Memory
    Kingston FURY Beast 2x16GB DIMM DDR4 2666 CL16
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    MSI GeForce GT 730 2GB LP V1
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    Creative Sound Blaster Audigy FX
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    Samsung S24E450F 24"
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    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    1. SSD Crucial P5 Plus 500GB PCIe M.2
    2. SSD-SATA Crucial MX500-2TB
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    Corsair CV650W
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    Cooler Master Silencio S400
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    Cooler Master Hyper H412R with Be Quiet Pure Wings 2 PWM BL038 fan
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    Cherry Stream (wired, scissor keys)
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    Asus WT465 (wireless)
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    70 Mbps down / 80 Mbps up
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    Windows Defender
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    Router: FRITZBox 7490
    Oracle VirtualBox 7 for testing software on Win 10 or 11
Grammy said:
Try Winrar
Right mouse on the folder, add to archive, make sure you tick delete files after archiving
Click to expand...
Didn't worked in my situation.
Was also literally the first thing I've said I've tried in the very first post (as it usually did the trick before) xD
But "winrar trick" sounds too vague I guess, so my bad.

Either way I've tried rmdir /q /s (or just remove it with the winrar trick) and it didn't worked,
Tried to restart, didn't worked,
Tried to use some app called Advanced renamer to rename the folder and it didn't worked,
Tried to change security group didn't work because it not let me even see it in the security tab,
Tried scanned the HDD for errors... didn't worked,
Click to expand...
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    Intel® Core™ i7-13700K Raptor Lake Tray
    Motherboard
    MSI MPG Z790 Edge WiFi
    Memory
    G.Skill Trident Z5 RGB Series (Intel XMP) 64GB (4 x 16GB) 288-Pin SDRAM DDR5 6600 CL34-40-40-105 1.40V Dual Channel Desktop Memory F5-6600J3440G16GA2-TZ5RK (Matte Black)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus GTX980 Ti 6GB STRIX-GTX980TI-DC3OC-6GD5-GAMING DirectCU III
    Monitor(s) Displays
    AOC 24G2U/BK, Dell U2410 REV A11
    Hard Drives
    Corsair SSD 2.0TB MP700 NVMe PCIE5x4 M.2

    Samsung SSD 1TB 990 PRO NVMe M.2

    Samsung SSD 860 EVO 1TB

    TOSHIBA MK1002TSKB 1TB 24/7, 7200 RPM, 64MB, SATA II (x3)
    PSU
    FPS Hydro PTM PRO ATX3.0(PCIe5.0) HPT2-1200M.gen5 80 PLUS Platinum 12V: 1200W
    Case
    Corsair Carbide Series 500R White Mid-Tower Case
    Cooling
    CPU Fan Cooler: Noctua NH-D15S Chromax.Black, HDD's Cooler: CoolerMaster Cool Drive 6
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    SteelSeries APEX 7
    Mouse
    SteelSeries Sensei 310
    Internet Speed
    1000 megabit
    Other Info
    ODDs:
    Asus Bluray Burner - BW-16D1HT 16X Blu-Ray Sata
    LiteOn Burner DVD IHAS124

    Speakers:
    SonicGear Tatoo 303

    HeadPhones:
    Logitech G335

    Microphone:
    Blue Yeti

    UPS:
    SV1500 ADVICE Smart Vision
Using the \\?\ prefix, as @kelper recommended, should always work to remove a folder that has a name that ends with a dot. For example:

RD \\?\"F:\Program Files\Downloads\Folder."

or, if the folder is not empty:

RD /S /Q \\?\"F:\Program Files\Downloads\Folder."

Note that case does not matter, but the quotes are needed because the path contains at least one space.

Alternatively, you can use the 7-Zip file manager to first rename the folder to remove the trailing dot and then delete the folder.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10/11
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Acer
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