I have a folder on my external harddrive I created some month, but I can't delete it.

As far as the disc seems to know, it's been deleted(according to commadline -> dir thatFolder, cd thatFolder and del thatFolder(EDIT: rmdir thatFolder doesn't work, too)), BUT in commandline dir folderAbove does show it, and if I start typing in commandline while in folderAbove and then press TAB(e.g. dir thatFo -> TAB), it gives it to me as valid result. If I try to rename it, I get the message "Cannot find this item.".

Running the disc check utility found nothing, no viruses/etc. have been found, the system has been restarted, and I also tried to delete it via safemode and commandline.

I tried moving another folder with the same name there(thought, they would merge), but it stays distinct from the "ghost" folder and when I delete the new folder the "ghost" stays, BUT to get the other folder to vanish from explorer, I have to eject, unplug and replug the drive, though it doesn't seem to affect my "ghost".

EDIT(don't know if this is important): The folder seems to have an space at the end of the name, that seems odd, but maybe thats the reason for the folder not getting deleted?

Does anyone have any idea what has happened or how to fix it?

Thanks in advance

• Edited by Gabe Gaf Sunday, May 24, 2015 8:03 PM Addition after EDIT

Hi,

It seems that we have no permission to delete this folder or it has been opened by a process.

Please first use Handle tool to check if there is the process using this folder:

Handle is a utility that displays information about open handles for any process in the system. You can use it to see the programs that have a file open, or to see the object types and names of all the handles of a program.

1. Copy handle.exe to C:\Windows\system32 folder.
2. Run cmd.exe as administrator
3. Type handle -a C: /Test/test in command prompt, then it will list all handles and processes accessing this folder. (C: /Test/test please change it to the folder you would like to delete)
4. 
5. It shows which process is accessing c:\Test\test. Then, we can use handle c command to close the handles, along with the handle ID, and the process ID, and the "-y" switch to confirm the delete.
6. 

If we still fail to delete it, please refer to steps here to get full permission of this folder, and try to delete it again:

How to "Take Ownership" of a File, Folder, Drive, or Registry Key in Windows 8

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/2808-take-ownership-file-folder-drive-registry-key-windows-8-a.html

Hope these could be helpful.