Need help deleting files within a folder.

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Exouxas
Posts: 34
Joined: 01 Sep 2011 12:52

Need help deleting files within a folder.

#1 Post by Exouxas » 13 Sep 2011 04:18

Hi guys/gals!

As the title says, i need help deleting files within a folder, hope any of you can help.

Heres the statements i tried:

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erase /Q /A %CD%\Files\ -:%CD%\Files\Menu.bat -:%CD%\Files\firsttime.txt

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erase /Q /A Files\ -:Files\Menu.bat -:Files\firsttime.txt

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erase /Q /A \Files\ -:\Files\Menu.bat -:\Files\firsttime.txt

Bob D
Posts: 20
Joined: 07 Sep 2011 18:32
Location: Eastern Australia

Re: Need help deleting files within a folder.

#2 Post by Bob D » 13 Sep 2011 05:39

You can use the same command syntax in the DIR command to see a list of files that qualify for your criteria.
You could also turn off the /Q for debugging. You didn't say what your problem was.

Exouxas
Posts: 34
Joined: 01 Sep 2011 12:52

Re: Need help deleting files within a folder.

#3 Post by Exouxas » 13 Sep 2011 11:08

It says: "file not found"

Bob D
Posts: 20
Joined: 07 Sep 2011 18:32
Location: Eastern Australia

Re: Need help deleting files within a folder.

#4 Post by Bob D » 13 Sep 2011 14:36

You appear to be trying to exclude files by using the - (not). The - is to negate the attribute(s).

to see all files but no folders in a folder

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dir /a:-d

or this works too

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dir /a-d

shows no directories and all text files beginning with s.

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dir /a-d s*.txt

I can't see how to do an exclude based on filename. When you are ready to do the real thing add the /Q and change the DIR to DEL or ERASE
edit: Further checking indicates you can't use a list of files. The filenames after the first are ignored.

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dir /a-d s*.txt a*.txt b*.txt

Exouxas
Posts: 34
Joined: 01 Sep 2011 12:52

Re: Need help deleting files within a folder.

#5 Post by Exouxas » 13 Sep 2011 15:13

So theres no way of deleting everything in a folder except two specific files?

Exouxas
Posts: 34
Joined: 01 Sep 2011 12:52

Re: Need help deleting files within a folder.

#6 Post by Exouxas » 13 Sep 2011 15:20

Got a genious idea of how to do this now.

copy/move the two files to the previous directory, remove the folder they were in, then make a new folder and put the files in there

trebor68
Posts: 146
Joined: 01 Jul 2011 08:47

Re: Need help deleting files within a folder.

#7 Post by trebor68 » 13 Sep 2011 16:04

If you want to delete the files "menu.bat" and "firsttime.txt" please use the following code:

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erase /Q Files\Menu.bat Files\firsttime.txt


If the sign "-:" in a later version than Windows XP have a meaning, then I do not know.

Exouxas
Posts: 34
Joined: 01 Sep 2011 12:52

Re: Need help deleting files within a folder.

#8 Post by Exouxas » 13 Sep 2011 16:20

i wanted to exclude them FYI

Bob D
Posts: 20
Joined: 07 Sep 2011 18:32
Location: Eastern Australia

Re: Need help deleting files within a folder.

#9 Post by Bob D » 13 Sep 2011 16:26

You could use the ATTRIB command to set all attributes to +A (or anything else that is convenient) then set the two files to something else (+R) and then do a delete based on not R

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attrib -R -A -S -H -I *.* > nul
attrib +R fileA > nul
attrib +R fileB > nul
del /q /a-r

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