Windows 10: Is it safe to delete Empty Folders or Zero-byte files in Windows 10?

Unfinished downloads, tidbits of earlier installations, and other junk files over time build up […]

This article Is it safe to delete Empty Folders or Zero-byte files in Windows 10? first appeared on TheWindowsClub.com.

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0 byte folder cannot be deleted Problem

I have a 0 byte folder and I can't delete it. I'm using win 7 64 bit.
please help *Cry :cry:

It says access denied when trying, please login as admin blah blah msgs....

I've searched the net for hours, Trying unlocker, fileassassin, and all other 'file deleter' programs out there. tried on safe mode, tried the cmd commands, even in cmd it says access denied, tried the closing explorer.exe and doing the command. I tried changing permissions and atrributes and it says you do not have permission to view or edit this objects permission settings. I logged in as the Administrator and still no hope.

the folder originally contained all my movies but since then i moved(using the move command) all of them someplace else(on another hdd) and I thought it was gone but the folder is still there, 0 bytes. It was shared when i deleted it and still appeared on the shared folders list but inaccessible coz it was already deleted so i 'unshared' the folder from the shared folders list. and so the problem began. the folder is still there and it is undeletable

One surefire way to do it without deleting my files is copying all other files to another HDD and reformat it and copy it back again but my hdd is currently contains 1 tb out of 1.36 and i dont have any hdds with that free space to use.

ALSO I CAN'T OPEN THE FOLDER it says

Location is not available

'directory' is not accessible.
Access is Denied.

i think its more of a windows glitch than a virus problem

help??? *Frown

 

Creating Zero Byte Files of a folder of large sized files

Hang onto your hats. This is going to be a bumpy ride.

I understand where the OP is coming from. I also want to download large graphics files, on maybe a daily basis, and store them in a folder, and I want the presence of the zero byte files to prevent a download to this folder with the same name, but to download with the next available increment. For example. I might have filename.jpg and filename (1).jpg etc. So the next download of a filename.jpg or filename (1).jpg to be downloaded as filename (2).jpg.

As an aside. I think that is how both File Explorer and Filezilla function. If I'm not mistaken.

Then I want to visually compare the files which are not zero byte in this download folder with the filename*.jpg in my master folder of full size filenames, and if I have that picture already, to simply delete the filename in the download folder, or if I don't have the picture to copy it to my master folder of full size filenames, and then zero byte that file in my download folder.

Now I'm not an expert with Windows, so this structure might be achieved with some alternative better structuring. Why not compare the filename and size to be downloaded with a list of this filename*.jpg in my master folder of full size filenames, and if there is a file of the exact same size, to abort the filename download. If not, then to download to the zero byte folder, as described above. Now why to do this? It will prevent many unnecessary processing of files in the download files, and therefore less manual processing by me. This only exacerbates with the more files I store. Currently around 5K of files. By having the list of zero byte files in the download folder is only a tool in this process, but having these filenames with an without sizes, it is easy to see which files require further processing. These could be 1byte in size if it makes things easier in any way, like when deleting files etc.

Now I'm open to any questions or clarifications on what I'm trying to automate.

 

Zero-byte files

I recently ran a program to find duplicate files on my system (Windows 10). It found dozens
of files with no data in them--length = zero bytes. Some even seem to be system files. Can these be deleted? No savings in disk space, but it would clean up the file system. Do any programs you know of require a zero-byte file to be present for use
at some future time?

Thanks,

Alan Chakrin