dasm! someone put a folder on my FTP that I can't delete

thomsbrain

Lifer
Dec 4, 2001
18,148
1
0
Someone put a folder on my FTP site that I can't delete because the filename is invalid. It won't let me change the name, either. Any tips?
 

Electrode

Diamond Member
May 4, 2001
6,063
2
81
Well, first, shut the FTP server down. Someone probably uploaded a bunch of divx movies or something, and you're about to be SLAMMED with people trying to download the goods.

As for doing away with the directory, it depends on what OS you are using. Since you used the term "folders" when referring to directories, I assume Windows NT. Open up a command prompt, go to the directory just above it, and deltree it. That's all I can think of, some else could probably give better advice.
 

TonyRic

Golden Member
Nov 4, 1999
1,972
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Open a command prompt >> cd to the ftp directory >> then deltree x*.*

replace the "x" with the first character of the directory... This is an old trick and by doing just the first char and follow with no spaces a *.* will get to it... :D
 

thomsbrain

Lifer
Dec 4, 2001
18,148
1
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weird, it says deltree is not recognized as an internal or external command
i tired just going "del Inetpub" to get rid of the whole inetpub folder, but it didn't seem to do anything.

BTW, yes, I'm on Windows 2000 Pro, I was running a basic IIS FTP.
 

thomsbrain

Lifer
Dec 4, 2001
18,148
1
0
C:\>RMDIR Inetpub
The directory is not empty.

C:\>RD Inetpub
The directory is not empty.


This would funny if there wasn't 400 MB's of data somewhere in there. (I can't find the data cause browsing through the folder makes Explorer lock.)
 

MetroRider

Senior member
Jun 11, 2001
433
0
0
hi thomsbrain,

Windows 2000 does not come with the DELTREE.EXE file, so you have to get it and copy it to it yourself. You can download the file itself from here:

DELTREE.EXE

place this file in either your C:\WINNT or C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32 directory so it can be accessed from any directory while you use the command prompt.

now, all you have to do it go to the ftp directory and type what was mentioned earlier to you: deltree x*.* and that should rid you of that directory once and for all.

hope this works... :)

let us know how it goes and if it helped.... good luck!

-David
 

Nothinman

Elite Member
Sep 14, 2001
30,672
0
0
First remove the folder by typing 'dir /x' in the cmd window then delete it with the DOS short name it gives you.

Second, learn how to use your FTP server, if it's IIS it would probably be a good idea to get a completely different one =)
 

bignick

Senior member
Apr 30, 2001
235
0
0
once the folder's removed, change your permissions on your harddrive and turn off all types of anyonymous connections/authentication in IIS. by default users can write just about anywhere they want in win2k. i usually set permissions to be -

administrators, system -- full control
power users -- modify
users -- read


then make myself a power user. anyone who wants access to the ftp will get a standard user account, and i add a folder in the ftproot
folder for them to write to.

IIS is easy to keep secure, you just have to put some effort into it (like any OS and application).
 

thomsbrain

Lifer
Dec 4, 2001
18,148
1
0
Thanks for the link, MetroRider. I did it to the whole FTP root directory. It deleted all of the contents except for the evil folder and the FTP root folder itself. However, according to Properties, the folders are now empty, so I guess that's good enough.

I took a class in ISS a while back, but I couldn't remember how to set up all the permissions and all that, so I just allowed anonymous access. In the class we always set the permissions in the "New FTP site" wizard, but since this is 2K Pro, you can't create multiple sites so there's no wizard. I have a copy of Serve-U floating around somewhere, I think I'll just use that for now since I know how to run that better. I just do this to transfer files between friends, it's no big deal either way.

I'm fully aware that IIS isn't the greatest thing on earth, but you've to love the GUI administration. ;)
 

Nothinman

Elite Member
Sep 14, 2001
30,672
0
0
I'm fully aware that IIS isn't the greatest thing on earth, but you've to love the GUI administration.

Yea, it's a real comfort to stare at the pretty icons while you're routers are getting filled by nimda attacks.
 

thomsbrain

Lifer
Dec 4, 2001
18,148
1
0


<< I'm fully aware that IIS isn't the greatest thing on earth, but you've to love the GUI administration.

Yea, it's a real comfort to stare at the pretty icons while you're routers are getting filled by nimda attacks.
>>



LOL! So true. It was funny, the guy who was teaching the IIS class said he never uses it because it's not secure enough. He only uses Apache "out in the real world."
 

MetroRider

Senior member
Jun 11, 2001
433
0
0
hi thomsbrain,

i am glad to here the tip worked out. as for FTP server programs, i find Serv-U to be one of the best and easiest FTP Server programs to setup. Personally, i use version 3 over the newer version 4, as it is much more simple for me to setup and get going.
 

n0cmonkey

Elite Member
Jun 10, 2001
42,936
1
0
7h4nk j00 4 u51n9 115! 3y3 n33d3d 4 pl4c3 70 pu7 pr0n!

BTW, was explorer locking up because of how deep those directories were going? I know there is a limit, but cant remember how deep it is :p

UNIX-like systems have the same problem... Well a similar one. Easy fix though when rm -r cant delete a directory tree because of its depth. :)
 

thomsbrain

Lifer
Dec 4, 2001
18,148
1
0
My version of Serve-U is 2.5 or something. Anyway, it's really much easier overall than IIS. Everything is spelled out for you, how to create users and setup their directory rights, etc. Plus you can do ratios for when you want to run that warez server. ;) The only reason I didn't use it in the first place was it's on an unmarked CD-R and I was too lazy to find it.

Incedentally, the folder names almost looked like some sort of code. They were a series of statements followed by semi-colons (which were what were invalid in the names). The first one started with "Tagged by so-and-so;" and the second was obviously someone's online handle. The third down was the one that locked Explorer. It's kind of funny, I used to follow those DivX groups that would commandeer FTP sites to distribute movies. I haven't done it for at least a year, but I guess I got a taste of my own medicine. ;) They would've been sorry once they started downloading, though. My DSL is limited to 16KB/s upload. Divide that by the, oh, 100 people that would be likely to download, and you get: 0.16 KB/s! By my calculations, it would take about 3.32 years for anyone to get a 700 MB movie. LOL. (Win2K pro limits you to 10 connections at a time, though)
 

ojai00

Diamond Member
Sep 29, 2001
3,291
1
81
Try this

I had the same problem on one of our servers at work. It didn't work, but it should give you some background information as to why you can't delete the directory. Hope this helps.
 

thomsbrain

Lifer
Dec 4, 2001
18,148
1
0


<< Try this

I had the same problem on one of our servers at work. It didn't work, but it should give you some background information as to why you can't delete the directory. Hope this helps.
>>



Interesting link, thanks.