Tech

How to Delete an AUX, CON, or NUL File

Blog, Tutorials / By /

The Problem

You’ve tried everything from changing the security setting, pressing shift + DEL, running a batch script (DON’T DO THIS), and yet nothing has worked. You are stumped. I know the exact feeling. Windows, for some reason, protects AUX, CON and NUL files from being deleted. I believe it is a reserved file name.

I downloaded a template that had this file and was going crazy that I couldn’t delete it. Here’s how I was finally able to delete it.

The Solution

I combined two solutions from this tutorial and this one.

  1. Go into safe mode on your computer.
  2. Navigate to the folder/directory that has the undeleteable file.
  3. Open the command prompt.
  4. Type the following (This part came from the first video)
cd /d C:\USERS\THE EXACT DIRECTORY OF THE FOLDER

Where cd /d means to change the directory, then the rest is C:\ which is the drive the folder is on. It could be anything mines was on a D drive—your user name, and then the desktop URL of the folder.

5. This is where the second video comes in. Then type in 

RD\\. \THE EXACT URL OF THE FILE

It should then delete the file!

I pulled my hair out over this because I’m not too fond of lingering files that I don’t need. I hope that helps!

Personal: dciman32.dll problem

Blog, Personal / By /

As your computer gets older, it gets more problems. Perhaps it’s planned obsolescence, or I’m not a very good caretaker either way. I recently had a problem with my dciman32.dll being deleted, and I thought others might have had the same problem. So I decided to share my experience.

The Problem
My computer was shut down improperly, and the computer was rebooted. I did a CHKDSK scan as was recommended. I did it, and the following happens:

CHKDSK is verifying indexes

dciman32.dll in index SI30 of file 2233 is deleted

After it finished and I was able to access my computer. The first thing to pop up was a message telling dciman21.dll was deleted, and I should reinstall it to fix the problem. I was confused as the computer itself automatically deleted the file.

DO NOT DOWNLOAD AND REINSTALL IT FROM AN UNKNOWN SOURCE.

Anyway, It turns out I needed this file to run programs that relied heavily on graphics. I couldn’t open Adobe After Effects and was frustrated. After googling and trying some failed methods, I finally find the solution to my specific particular problem.

The Solution
It turns out all I needed to do was run a System File Check. It would be best to go to the start menu>command prompt> right click and run as administrator. Or the command prompt can be found in the accessories folder in the start menu.

1

At the command prompt, type the following command, and then press ENTER:

sfc /scannow
2881161
Do not close this let it run. It will fixed the corrupted file problem.
And that was it for me. Check out the following link by microsoft that better explains the process of system check here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/kb/929833

Failed Methods

I tried some other methods that did not fix the problem and wasted my time. I tried these methods first because it was low risk, but so is the system scan. It was the following:

1. System Restore: I restored it to an earlier point did not fix the problem. I went to an even earlier point. Still the same pop-up message.
2. Updates: Perhaps, it was missing some updates. Nope, it wasn’t that.

I hope that was some help to you! REMINDER This was just for my specific situation and problem, there are other variations of the deleted dciman32.dll problem, and this method may not work for you. I wish you good luck, though, in finding a solution!