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I have a file in Windows XP left over after deleting Google Chrome. Its location is

C:\Documents and Settings\Admin\Local Settings\Application Data\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\old_Cache_000

The file name has 4 and 3 square boxes after that and also the file changes to weird names after trying to delete in Windows. The file size is 0 bytes. I have tried every software available by using Google and different solutions but nothing worked.

So I installed CentOS 6 in Virtualbox and used shared folders to access the Windows folders in CentOS. I have previously used Ubuntu but there were other problems, so, I switched to CentOS.

Now the location of file is media/sf_Documents and Settings/Admin/Local Settings/Application Data/Google/Chrome/User Data/Default/old_Cache_000.

I am unable to delete the old_Cache_000 directory because it shows the directory is not empty. The result of ls -laR gives,

[root@localhost old_Cache_000]# ls -laR
.:
ls: cannot access 4═: No such file or directory
total 0
drwxrwx---. 1 root vboxsf 0 Jun 16  2012 .
drwxrwx---. 1 root vboxsf 0 Jun  7  2012 ..
??????????? ? ?    ?      ?            ? 4?═?

The last line above shows the non-deletable file.

How to delete that file or its parent directory?

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    Probably a corrupt filesystem. Did you try fsck.vfat (is this a vfat filesystem)? Make sure you image the volume before trying to run this, if it's a drive you care about, though (e.g. cat /dev/hdX > driveimage.img). Commented Sep 30, 2014 at 1:26
  • What about rm -vR /media/sf_Documents and Settings/Admin/Local Settings/Application Data/Google/Chrome/User Data/Default/old_Cache_000? Commented Sep 30, 2014 at 23:44
  • I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it's about Windows. Commented Jul 17, 2019 at 7:22

3 Answers 3

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A Linux virtual machine won't help you here. The VM software runs as an application under Windows. When you try to delete the file, from Windows's point of view, this is the VM application trying to delete the file. It won't succeed any better than other programs.

You may have more success if you boot your system under Linux and mount the filesystem. Or that may fail, or that may irrecoverably damage the filesystem. There is evidently something fishy about that file: either some special Windows mode, or the filesystem is damaged. You should run a filesystem repair (chkdsk) under Windows.

You have a Windows problem. Look for a Windows solution.

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  • I have run chkdsk multiple times and tried multiple softwares like Unlocker but nothing worked.I couldn't even figure out if it is a virus because AntiVirus couldn't detect the file.I will try posting a new question only with the windows part. Commented Oct 1, 2014 at 1:01
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Not sure why this is posted here since your problem is with a a native windows system.

I would recommend opening a command prompt and running CHKDSK /F then reboot your PC. This will check for problems on your Windows disk. I would highly recommend against trying to delete something through virtualbox if you cannot get rid of it through Windows itself.

You can use hijackthis to delete files and directories which are currently in use a the next reboot.

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  • Do you think I would have posted this question if it is that simple.Maybe you didn't read the query completely-"I have tried every software available by using google and different solutions but nothing worked." Commented Sep 30, 2014 at 7:21
  • @billa I'd personally advise against using CHKDSK, except as a last resort. Windows truncated some files I cared about once when I used that to fix an NTFS filesystem, and I vowed never to use it again except under dire circumstances. Whatever you do make a backup image first (dd_rescue is also good for this)! Commented Sep 30, 2014 at 16:40
  • @billa "Every software available" doesn't tell me exactly what you have tried. Stop being so dramatic. Commented Oct 1, 2014 at 16:47
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try a simple rm -r old_Cache_000 to check whether the only problem in deleting the directory is because it is non-empty. As the root user you have enough permissions to perform this operation.

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  • The problem is not the directory,its the file.I posted the question after trying all possible simple commands. Commented Sep 30, 2014 at 6:46
  • please let me know the result of the operation..what exactly was the message after executing the `rm -r' command (permission, dir does not exist, etc) ? if no error messages appeared after the operation, do the files you intended to delete still exist ? Commented Sep 30, 2014 at 7:08
  • [root@localhost old_Cache_000]# rm -rf * This command does nothing inside the directory,the file still exists in the directory.The following result is for using the same command outside the directory----[root@localhost Default]# rm -rf * rm: cannot remove `old_Cache_000': Directory not empty Commented Sep 30, 2014 at 7:29
  • normally, recursive delete does the work for me but there seems to be more in your case.. Let me know if you've used the midnight commander tool on your CentOs.. Commented Sep 30, 2014 at 9:05
  • I have used midnight commander tool on CentOS.It shows cannot delete file-no such file or directory. Commented Sep 30, 2014 at 15:47

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