File too long for Recycle Bin

[Cuffy]

Has anyone run across the problem in Win8.1 that a file won't delete because "file too long for Recycle Bin"

[Shades]

No, can't say I haven't (in any version of Windows).

Solutions could be:
- Shorten the name of the file.
- Move the file to different location much closer to the drive letter and then delete it.
- Adjust the setting of the Recycle bin to throw away files directly (without these being stored in the recycle bin first), delete the file and adjust the setting again (although I think this is a setting for p.ssies to begin with)
- If all that fails you can try to boot from a Linux or Windows boot cd and delete the file that way.

Alternative nerd solution would be:
- If you run a 32-bit version of Windows, you still have something like 'PortableLinux', which is a 1.4GByte download. After unpacking the archive you can run this and you will have both Windows and Linux (ubuntu based) running next to each other at the same time. If Windows won't allow you to delete the file, use the Linux navigator to go that file and delete it. Windows won't/can't intervene that action and your problem is solved. With the Linux navigator you can also take a peek in folders Windows blocks for all users (but not viruses and malware apparently) and get rid of crap there too. Be careful though, remove too much and you are in trouble.

[mwb1100]

If I recall right, Shift-Delete in explorer will delete a file without putting it in the recycle bin which might workaround the problem.

Or you can delete the file from a command line window which doesn't know anything about the recycle bin.

[Cuffy]

Solutions could be:
- Shorten the name of the file.
- Move the file to different location much closer to the drive letter and then delete it.
- Adjust the setting of the Recycle bin to throw away files directly (without these being stored in the recycle bin first), delete the file and adjust the setting again (although I think this is a setting for p.ssies to begin with)
- If all that fails you can try to boot from a Linux or Windows boot cd and delete the file that way.

All good logic, But............. Windows won't let you move the file, shorten it or rename it.
Can't bypass the Recycle Bin either  
Files long enough to cause this problem are rare and I have a little utility from last century, Move on Boot, that deletes them  nicely but I think I've found a faster solution.
A little background on the source of the files..........
I'm diabetic and occasionally run across a recipe in a newsletter that may add something to my diet so I save it. When time permits I gather all those recipes and move them to a folder on Drive D:. I save the recipe in htm format so it comes down with an "includes folder" which "includes" some files, usually graphic files, that are three screens long  
Several hundred characters long and I have no idea why.
The ladies that collect recipes on a regular basis are more apt to run into this than others  
To shorten the story........ if you get an error message "file too long......." and you want rid of it, highlite the file,
right click on the Menu Bar in the ribbon and you'll get a dropdown with an option to "Delete the History". Delete the history and chances are that you can now delete to file without further ado.
Evidently the file history is included in the file length somehow but that's above my paygrade. I discovered the fix by chance  
A Windows programmer might be able to enlighten us  

I suggest you round up a copy of Move on Boot to keep in your toolbox. It's a freebie and has been updated over the years.

[MilesAhead]

It sounds like it can't be done through the shell because Explorer still has a 260 character path length limit.  The best solution may be a file manager without this limitation.

If you haven't run into this Explorer "feature" due to some old embedded code nobody wants to mess with hidden in there somewhere, you can do an experiment.  Make some nested folders until you create a folder with a path exactly 260 characters long.  Now try to make a new folder inside it.  It won't let you.  I forget exactly what happens, if there's an error msg or if it just does nothing as if it is ignoring you.

Command line delete should work with wildcards.  Just wtch out for any spaces in the file path.  A newer file manager is likely the no headache solution.

[KynloStephen66515]

Has anyone run across the problem in Win8.1 that a file won't delete because "file too long for Recycle Bin"

Strangely...I have deleted NOTHING since buying the laptop like 6 weeks ago so...I don't know...but I'm on Windows 8.1...

This post provided to you by "Unhelpful Replies Ltd.com"

[Cuffy]

Been doing some checking.......
Those long files aren't in the original "includes" folder. They show up when the htm file and includes folder is moved to a different partition  

They may be part of the header from the newsletter email msg  
I tried to copy and paste one of the long file names to give you an idea of what I'm talking about but it won't let me do that either.... they have no file extension either????

687474703a2f2f63646e2e6d796461696c796d6f6d656e742e636f6d2f636f6d706f6e656e74732f636f6d5f7261706964726

that's part of one.

[Cuffy]

This post provided to you by "Unhelpful Replies Ltd.com"

I knew I could count on you Stephen 
You had better start deleting or you'll wind up with "The double-ended fire breathing dragon syndrome". The meanest animal in the universe 

[MilesAhead]

The move on boot likely works because it uses the Registry RunOnce or Run key to delete the file before login.  It uses the del command which is command line.

You can create very long file names programmatically.  It's just Explorer that can't handle it.  A console based file manager anyone? 

[Cuffy]

It sounds like it can't be done through the shell because Explorer still has a 260 character path length limit.  The best solution may be a file manager without this limitation.

If you haven't run into this Explorer "feature" due to some old embedded code nobody wants to mess with hidden in there somewhere, you can do an experiment.  Make some nested folders until you create a folder with a path exactly 260 characters long.  Now try to make a new folder inside it.  It won't let you.  I forget exactly what happens, if there's an error msg or if it just does nothing as if it is ignoring you.

Command line delete should work with wildcards.  Just wtch out for any spaces in the file path.  A newer file manager is likely the no headache solution.

Is this type of information published somewhere  
I remember Win95 or Win98 had a limit of 292 folders on the Root directory and it took me years to find that  

[MilesAhead]

This utility was talked about before on DC:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/tlpd/

I posted a small modification that allowed larger numbers to be specified and if I remember right, it supported UNC paths:
http://sourceforge.net/p/tlpd/discussion/1027595/thread/fdd3028c/?limit=50#55ca

Explorer Documented?  Next you'll be asking for Registry Documentation.

I think I asked about it on MSDN years ago.  Bill Gates replied:
"Documentation?  We don't need no stinkin' documentation."  But then again
my memory isn't as reliable as I remember it being in the past.  

[Renegade]

IIRC - It can be solved from the command line. My memory is fuzzy though. I had this issue a while back.

[Cuffy]

IIRC - It can be solved from the command line. My memory is fuzzy though. I had this issue a while back.

Folks, I already had several solutions when I posted the question 
I had put some time into finding the answer to a very rare problem. All the answers posted work quite well but I don't want to make a project of deleting a file 
I want to hit delete and press on with the business at hand............. and, on several occasions lately that didn't work.
No big deal I've had a copy of "Move on Boot" on every machine for many years so I fire up the utility, designate the bastard file, reboot the machine, and the file has disappeared as was advertised. Problem solved  .............. except I just wasted 20 mins deleting a file 
The second time I got that error msg I decided it was time to find out why I was getting it 
I checked the includes folder and discovered a half dozen files stretching to the edge of the screen and a scroll bar at the bottom of the screen. Files are 350/450 characters long, just characters, no complete words, and no file extension...  weird 
They wouldn't delete, rename, shorten, or copy to the clipboard. I couldn't move them to the root folder to get a shorter path. They just set there pissing me off 
Then, I started clicking "about", hoping for an epiphany 
I right clicked on the Menu Bar in the ribbon, the file was already highlighted, and I get a dropdown. Click the option "Delete File History", try to delete the file again, and Voila', it goes 
I tried a couple more of the long files with the same result. What has File History got to do with the problem 
I don't know but maybe someone at DC does 
I post the question..... get lots of ideas and methods to remove the naughty files, but I still don't know why deleting file history worked unless the file history is tacked onto the file somehow 
Since then I've been checking more of the "includes folders" for more over-long files and trying to figure what to do with them.
The files are easy to find once you start paying attention 
Open a folder and if it contains extra long files a scroll bar appears at the bottom of the page 
Found some more files and started playing. Deleting the history worked! Then I found one with .eml in the file.......... an email header? Locked solid... so I checked the Properties and discovered that everyone could see it but nobody had full powers to do anything with it. I edited the Permissions giving everyone "full powers" and Bingo......... that one deleted with the mouse 
Found more files running off the edge of the screen and one of these had the word adlink in the file name. JUNK files 
Removed them all using one of the procedures outlined above..... in 10 seconds, and never leaving the page 
Long story shorter............ try the above procedures if the problem arises. It really isn't necessary to run off into Geekdom to rid yourself of those damned too-long files 

[MilesAhead]

If you hit Delete History and the files were deleetd it's likely because, as I already noted, the OS has no problem creating and deleting very long filenames.  Only the shell.  The browser can delete long filenames programmatically.  It's only Explorer that pukes out.

If there's a free or other file manager you can bear to use all the time that does not use Explorer under the covers, then it should be no thought required.  Select files and hit delete.

I haven't run into this often enough to search out such file managers.  But they must be out there.

Edit: In fact if anyone wants to experiment to see if Recycle Bin itself can handle paths >260 you could create such a file by some means then use my command line program sike to attempt to send it to the bin.

Download is from this page:
http://milesaheadsoftware.tk

[Cuffy]

I right clicked on the Menu Bar in the ribbon, the file was already highlighted, and I get a dropdown. Click the option "Delete File History", try to delete the file again, and Voila', it goes 
I tried a couple more of the long files with the same result. What has File History got to do with the problem

Since deleting the file history allows me to delete the long file why do you feel it's necessary to search out and install a different file manager 
Using the simplest logic I can muster I'm going to assume that the file, supplied by an email newsletter, was below the legal limit for length when downloaded, file history was added, doubling the length of the file and pushing it over the legal limit for length.
Delete, shorten, rename, move and edit are now impossible 
What to do 
Simple 
Remove the straw that broke the camel's back 
Delete file history
now smartass....... delete the file without incident
Sometimes I'm so smart I get nauseous 

[MilesAhead]

This seems circular.  I've contributed my small knowledge of the issue.  I don't have the problem so I'm not really in search of a solution.  Evidently you feel likewise.

[Cuffy]

I appreciate your input, MilesAhead, and I am traveling in circles, especially mentally 
I've continued to research this phenomenon and am getting more confused with each click.

1. The file history feature only applies to Win8.1 and Win8.1RT so if you're not running one of those O/Ss you would have no way of knowing what's going on with my system.

2. The file history feature only works on Library files, such as Documents, etc. The files giving me trouble weren't in a Library folder. They weren't even on the boot drive. They appeared when I moved the folder from C:\All Downloads to D:\ Save, so they were never even in a Library folder.

3. File History is turned OFF on this machine!
That being the case there was no file history, deleting file history didn't actually do Anything and why clicking on it allowed me to delete the unwanted file is a mystery again 

I've scrolled through hundreds of folders looking for more of the unwanted files but none were found. I've been unable to duplicate the event by downloading the files from that newsletter again.
Leaving me nowhere  . I can't run any more tests until I get more of those files and that may be a year or more away 

I'm betting that with an O/S other than 8.1 the solution lies in the permissions. I tried editing the permissions in the last files I found and allowing Everyone full control let me delete them from the HDD, bypassing the Recycle Bin.
That's all I know 
Thanks again for your input and if or when I get a similar event I shall return.