Windows 10: "The directory name is invalid" error popping up sometimes with some files in some...

Ahoy Win10 folks! Got a strange issue here.

As the title suggests, I've been encountering a strange problem. Recently I started using Libraries more to make navigation easier. I had a couple set up, but I created several more. However, when I open a library, SOME files (but not all) in SOME libraries refuse to open when accessed via the library. I get an error dialog window showing the full path of the file, with "The directory name is invalid." below that.

Important to note that this is ONLY when accessing files via libraries; if I open a new window and manually navigate to the "actual" file location, it opens just fine.

In addition, when viewing one of these problematic files in a Library, if I hit Enter or right click > Open, I get the error. But if I right click > "open with", and then select the program that would normally be used to open that type of file (e.g. IrfanView for a .png image file), it opens just fine.

And finally, the problem will also just go away after a while. I just tested this again and got it to happen again: the very same file which - when accessed via a Library specifically - would always throw the error dialog at me when I hit Enter on it, will now just open like normal as if nothing was ever wrong. About ten minutes have gone by since I first began trying to open that particular file as a test while writing this post, and now I cannot get the error dialog to reappear again on ANY file in ANY library. Based on my experience of the last few days, the problem will return the next time I restart my PC; after each restart, the problem seems to sometimes persist only for a little while, or for a long while, randomly.

The disk error checker (the one accessed via right click on the drive in question > Properties > Tools > Error Checking) found no errors on the SSD these file are all located on.

If anyone has any ideas as to the cause or a solution to this, its appreciated!

submitted by /u/Ciel_Rosemont
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:)

 

directory name invalid - pop up box

Please help - keep getting a pop up box stating - directory name invalid - G drive ? I don't have a G drive ? Suggestions please

 

The Directory Name Is Invalid

OK, here's my situation. I have a Western Digital (WD) My Passport Ultra external USB hard drive. I use this as a media drive on my WD TV Live Plus media player. For some unknown reason, the media player will sometimes corrupt files on the My Passport drive. The net effect is that a file is somehow changed into a directory.

The problem is when I attempted to delete/remove the corrupted file/directory, I receive a 'The directory name is invalid.' error.

I've tried the following:

• Run chkdsk /f; no errors found.
• Run WD Drive Utilities diagnostics; no errors found.
• Checked dir /x looking for an 8.3 filename; no luck.
• Taken ownership of the directory; no luck.
• Tried a few file unlocker utilities; no luck (not reported as locked and delete fails).
• Even tried an NTFS disk editor; no luck.

I've spent the last three hours googling a solution. Nothing!

Anyone else ever encountered something similar and found a solution?

 

The directory name is invalid

Hi David,

Since you have rebuilt your computer, it may have made some changes or installed some updates that might be causing the error message "G: \The directory name is invalid". However, let's check if there is a device that you can remove in Safely Remove Hardware
utility. Follow these steps to access the utility:

• Press the Windows icon + R on your keyboard.
• Copy and paste this 'RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL hotplug.dll".
• Remove any device that you'll see in the utility.
• Restart your computer, then observe if the issue will occur again.

We're looking forward to your feedback.