Tough nut to crack this one is

FTNR21 · 19 Aug 2023

Greetings all...

I have a folder containing photos that I transferred from a microSD to my desktop HDD and now cannot access, rename or delete. When I try, I get either of the two errors below. However, the folder appears normal in it's parent folder and nothing unusual in properties accept that it appears to contain no data.

I've tried the three options provided here and the methods here up to creating a new user profile. None of these attempts have yielded results.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Tough nut to crack this one is-2023-08-19_07-52-23.jpg

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Paul Black · 19 Aug 2023

Hello @FTNR21,

It appears that the location is still connected to the MicroSD !

- Have you tried copying a picture to another location and see if it opens then ?
- How did you transfer them from the MicroSD [ Copy, Cut, using a command, etc ] ?
- Do ALL the pictures have the same Suffix ?
- Can you select one of the pictures in one of the folders ?
- If so, can you post the Properties of it.

RickC · 19 Aug 2023

That's a long filepath with multiple spaces and, IMO, it's not good practise to have a folder name that includes multiple periods.

Perhaps try creating a Pro_Pics folder in the root of D: and rename the 12th folder, e.g. D:\Pro_Pics\12_Batt_Chief_Insp then copy the pics from the SD to this new folder and try accessing them. Maybe the far shorter filepath and lack of spaces and periods will help.

Hope this helps...

margrave55 · 19 Aug 2023

Rick: Dots and spaces are not relevant. You can use as many as you wish.

Also, the path name in question need not be shortened. Paths can be MUCH longer than that without any problems.

dalchina · 19 Aug 2023

I notice the read only checkbox in your 3rd screenshot is clear. It is normally set.

I suggest you boot to a command prompt, and then (with Windows not running) see if a folder at that location really exists - or not.

Post a screenshot/picture of what that shows.

RickC · 19 Aug 2023

margrave55 said:

Rick: Dots and spaces are not relevant. You can use as many as you wish.

Sorry but that is not exactly true. There are restrictions in use which apply here IMO, according to the following Microsoft article:

Naming Files, Paths, and Namespaces

Do not end a file or directory name with a space or a period. Although the underlying file system may support such names, the Windows shell and user interface does not.

(end of Naming Conventions section)

In the third screenshot the OP has specifically shown folder 12_Batt. Chief Insp. ending in a disallowed character, i.e. a period. You can also see from the first screenshot that this terminating period of the folder name has not been recognised in the error dialog ... hence my advice about not using periods in filepaths.

I think this may be the reason for the OP's difficulties.

(Also, the current filepath of D:\Android\SD BACKUP\Kyle\Boot Camp\Pics\Pro Pics\12_Batt. Chief Insp. is already 70 characters long out of the allowed 260 characters [unless the registry is edited to remove this restriction]. We cannot see what lengths the filenames of the folder's contents are, hence my advice to try shortening the current filepath, i.e. to allow for any eventuality of long filenames within the folder... just in case.)

Hope this helps...

das10 · 19 Aug 2023

Rick is right. The folder may not be accessible because of the invalid dot at the end of the folder name.

Whilst it is possible to create folders and files with a dot at the end, using a Command prompt and the shell name spaces, I found that whilst such invalid named files could be renamed, I couldn't rename such folders.

But, using 7-zip's file explorer it was possible to rename the folder by removing the dot at the end of either folders or files. So try 7-zip's Explorer and see if it allows you to rename that folder by removing the dot at the end.

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FTNR21 · 19 Aug 2023

das10 said:

Rick is right. The folder may not be accessible because of the invalid dot at the end of the folder name.

Whilst it is possible to create folders and files with a dot at the end, using a Command prompt and the shell name spaces, I found that whilst such invalid named files could be renamed, I couldn't rename such folders.

But, using 7-zip's file explorer it was possible to rename the folder by removing the dot at the end of either folders or files. So try 7-zip's Explorer and see if it allows you to rename that folder by removing the dot at the end.

This did the trick! I used 7-Zip to remove the dots from the folder name and it opened normally. The photos are all there as well.

Thank you very much for the tip!