Deleting VERY large folder in Windows 2003 w/SP2

[drew1701d]

I have several folders on a file server connected to a SAN that I need to delete but using the typical commands is not working fast enough and not completing.
These folders have millions of files in them - yes millions! is there a simple way or free tool to delete them fast and effectively like in UNIX? i.e. unlink them.

Via Windows Exlorer it just hangs at "Preparing to Delete" and eventually crashes
using the command rmdir and rd both hang as well
same goes for using the command erase.

Any help would be appreciated!

"I'm certifiable, not certified. It just means my answers are from experience...not a book

 

[itsp1965]

In situations like this, NEVER use explorer to delete files. Run with the DEL command from the command prompt. Yes it will take forever and it might even stall or fail a few times because it will either run out of memory or you have a file path that is > than 256 chars
In the case of running out of resources, try deleting the files in smaller batches
In the case of issues with long file paths, try using the SUBST command to create a virtual drive that maps to a long directory tree in order to manage deletions easier.
HTH

 

[biglebowski]

I recently did a similar thing but used a VBscript to delete over 20 million wav files.

When I was born I was so suprised I didn't talk for 18 months

 

[TheCloak]

hmm... might be pointless... but couldn't you put a hard drive in or something and copy files over then format that drive.

Or partition it or something. Sounds like it will be a big task to delete that many files.

I googled this tool it's free "Mass Directory Eraser"

http://www.snapfiles.com/get/massdireraser.html

--
-TheCloak

"You Never Know What Hits You, A Gunshot is the Perfect Way" - JFK