How to solve "The directory is not empty" error when running rmdir command in a batch script?

I am making a batch script and part of the script is trying to remove a directory and all of its sub-directories. I am getting an intermittent error about a sub-directory not being empty. I read one article about indexing being the culprit. I disabled WSearch but I eventually got the error again. Here's the command:

rmdir /S /Q "C:\<dir>\"

Solution 1:

I experienced the same issues as Harry Johnston has mentioned. rmdir /s /q would complain that a directory was not empty even though /s is meant to do the emptying for you! I think it's a bug in Windows, personally.

My workaround is to del everything in the directory before deleting the directory itself:

del /f /s /q mydir 1>nul
rmdir /s /q mydir

(The 1>nul hides the standard output of del because otherwise, it lists every single file it deletes.)

Solution 2:

I'm familiar with this problem. The simplest workaround is to conditionally repeat the operation. I've never seen it fail twice in a row - unless there actually is an open file or a permissions issue, obviously!

rd /s /q c:\deleteme
if exist c:\deleteme rd /s /q c:\deleteme

Solution 3:

I just encountered the same problem and it had to do with some files being lost or corrupted. To correct the issue, just run check disk:

chkdsk /F e:

This can be run from the search windows box or from a cmd prompt. The /F fixes any issues it finds, like recovering the files. Once this finishes running, you can delete the files and folders like normal.

Solution 4:

enter the Command Prompt as Admin and run

rmdir /s <FOLDER>