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Un-deletable File?

Go to solution Solved by Bean86,

Start the PC in Safe Mode and try deleting from there and/or CMD.

If all fails boot Linux from a USB stick and delete the file through Linux.

Start the PC in Safe Mode and try deleting from there and/or CMD.

If all fails boot Linux from a USB stick and delete the file through Linux.

i'll try the safe mode thing. Booting linux isn't an option for me

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i'll try the safe mode thing. Booting linux isn't an option for me

Why isn't Linux an option? All you need is a spare USB memory stick, and it is 99% guaranteed to solve the problem.

Good luck with the safe mode method. I've never seen anything like this before. Seems like something went horribly wrong when the file was written to the disk.

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Why isn't Linux an option? All you need is a spare USB memory stick, and it is 99% guaranteed to solve the problem.

Good luck with the safe mode method. I've never seen anything like this before. Seems like something went horribly wrong when the file was written to the disk.

Linux isn't an option because I plain don't have it. Neither do my friends/family and I don't want to have to buy a new OS just to fix one small file. (Even though it is EXTREMELY annoying.)

If you play Geometry Dash, would you take the time to rate this demon? 14986973 ;3;

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Linux isn't an option because I plain don't have it. Neither do my friends/family and I don't want to have to buy a new OS just to fix one small file. (Even though it is EXTREMELY annoying.)

Linux is free.

"It pays to keep an open mind, but not so open your brain falls out." - Carl Sagan.

"I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you" - Edward I. Koch

"I didn't die! I performed a tactical reset!" - Apollolol

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Oh... xD

 

But how will I get windows back afterwards? And won't I loose any files?

Put some kind of Linux variation on a flash drive like Ubuntu or Linux Mint.

"It pays to keep an open mind, but not so open your brain falls out." - Carl Sagan.

"I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you" - Edward I. Koch

"I didn't die! I performed a tactical reset!" - Apollolol

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Put some kind of Linux variation on a flash drive like Ubuntu or Linux Mint.

Okai.. I'm still a bit concerned about loosing data or downgrading back. Could you please explain it in detail as I've never done this before.

If you play Geometry Dash, would you take the time to rate this demon? 14986973 ;3;

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Okai.. I'm still a bit concerned about loosing data or downgrading back. Could you please explain it in detail as I've never done this before.

You're going to create a bootable Linux flash drive. If done properly, it will not affect any data on your boot drive or any other drive.

 

You can also use a blank DVD if you have an optical drive with the ability to burn discs. It might be easier to create a bootable form of media with Linux on it.

"It pays to keep an open mind, but not so open your brain falls out." - Carl Sagan.

"I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you" - Edward I. Koch

"I didn't die! I performed a tactical reset!" - Apollolol

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Okai.. I'm still a bit concerned about loosing data or downgrading back. Could you please explain it in detail as I've never done this before.

Since you are still asking I assume the safe boot method did not work. Here is what I recommend you do.

 

1) Download Ubuntu.

You can download it, for free (legally) by following this link.

 

 

2) Download Rufus.

You will need this program to transfer the Ubuntu ISO file to a USB memory stick and make it bootable. Here is the link to Rufus.

 

 

3) Plug in an EMPTY USB memory stick.

Make sure you DO NOT HAVE ANYTHING IMPORTANT ON IT. Everything on it WILL BE DELETED. So make sure you do not have any important files on it.

 

 

4) Create the bootable USB memory stick.

You do this by opening Rufus, chance so that everything matches the settings you see in the image, then press the little disc icon and select the Ubuntu ISO you just downloaded.

Make sure that the thing under "device" is the empty USB memory stick you just plugged in. In my case it was a 16GB memory stick called "YAMI". Yours will probably be different.

post-216-0-17902300-1451482792_thumb.png

 

 

When you're done click start. It might happen that these two windows appear.

Just click "Yes" on the first one about "Download required". On the second one select "Write in ISO Image mode (Recommended)" and press OK.

post-216-0-45424200-1451482953.png

A third popup will appear saying that everything on the device you selected will be deleted. So again, make sure you do not have anything important on the USB memory stick and make sure you selected the correct device. This is one of the two "dangerous" steps. As long as you do not have any other USB memory stick, external hard drive or similar device plugged in you will be fine. If you have multiple plugged in then you must check and double check to see if you have selected the correct one.

 

 

5) Reboot your computer with the USB memory stick still plugged in.

This step will different depending on which motherboard you got. What you want to do is boot from the USB memory stick. It's often accessed with esc or F12. Once you have accessed the boot menu you want to select the USB storage device (or something along those lines).

 

 

6) Boot into Ubuntu Live CD mode.

You will be greeted with a language select screen if everything went well. Just select English and press enter. Once that's done you will see this screen. This is the second thing where you can screw up. You want to select "Try Ubuntu without installing". You do not want to press anything else. It's not really dangerous to press anything else, but if you select Install ubuntu and then go through the entire process you might end up deleting everything. Don't worry though, there are plenty of "are you sure you want to do this" popups that will stop you from doing it accidentally.

As you can see in this screenshot, "Try Ubuntu without installing" is the first option and it is already selected, so just press enter.

post-216-0-89336600-1451484517.png

 

 

7) Find that annoying file and delete it.

The easiest way of finding it will be to open the file manager.

post-216-0-02253900-1451484690.png

 

Once that's done click on the volume to the left. I don't know what yours is called but in my example it is called 215 GB Volume. Just click on that then follow this path:

 

Users -> (your username) -> Desktop

 

Select the file you want to delete (ONLY THE FILE YOU WANT TO DELETE) and then press delete on your keyboard. WARNING! THERE WILL BE NO CONFIRMATION. IF YOU SELECT THE WRONG FILE THEN IT WILL BE GONE.

 

post-216-0-51679800-1451484931.png

 

You do not have to be worried about having to "downgrade" to Windows again because this will not make any changes to your computer. What it does is install Ubuntu on your USB memory stick, and then your computer boots from that. It just completely ignores your regular hard drive/SSD that you got Windows installed on. That HDD/SSD with Windows on it basically becomes like an external hard drive, and the USB memory stick is your primary one.

 

If this does not solve it then I don't know what will...

 

 

By the way, this can be incredibly useful for other things as well. If your friend gets infected with some virus this can be a good method of getting important files off his/her computer before reinstalling Windows for example. Or you can format the USB memory stick and it will go back to normal when you're done. You can do that by starting Windows again (like normal) then plug in the USB memory stick, go to my computer, right click on the Ubuntu USB and select format.

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Not the best app to create a bootable Linux USB but it should do the trick in your case as requires less than a handful of clicks. http://sourceforge.net/projects/unetbootin/ it will let you choose the Linux distributions and target USB. Everything else is automatic ;)

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If you follow the instructions I posted before then you will make a bootable Ubuntu Live CD.

Kai. Just booted linux ubuntu, but I can't find the desktop. I've made a desktop shortcut. About to use linux. Wish me luck!

If you play Geometry Dash, would you take the time to rate this demon? 14986973 ;3;

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Problem solved! I've managed to find the desktop and I've deleted the file through Ubuntu! Thank you everyone for the help :3

 

- GroundHound101

If you play Geometry Dash, would you take the time to rate this demon? 14986973 ;3;

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