"Preparing to Recycle" Asian Building Mesh files for EU4 WILL NOT DELETE!

[MonkeySage]

I have been trying to delete these 4 building mesh files from EU4 for MONTHS. I have tried it in safe mode, I have tried it with File Shredder, NOTHING WORKS. These 4 files are the only thing standing in the way of my reinstalling the game fresh. As it is, they have rendered the game unplayable and I am about ready to blow my top because I have spent nearly $60 on the core game and its DLC, ALL FOR NOTHING. I have tried getting help. I send an email in, after waiting a day for them to finally respond, they tell me to delete all EU4 files. But I can't.

When I try, I get: "Preparing to Recyle". For hours. And nothing happens. worse, if I try to interrupt the process, my computer freezes and the only way to get it to resume is to unplug and start over. I am way past pissed.

[veti]

(I'm assuming you've checked access rights, the files aren't set to 'read-only', etc.? If not then do that first. This page has a long list of things you can try to delete a troublesome file, some of them are easier than others.)

One possible reason is that the files are permanently flagged as "in use". The fact that you can't delete them even in safe mode suggests that this is a bug, rather than some obscure bit of software that actually is using them. (Although virus checkers can do this sort of thing, which is one reason why I hate them. They assume it's their business to check every file - which is fair enough, but there's no earthly excuse for locking them even temporarily.)

There's a utility you can try called "Unlocker". Here.

[Trekkin]

Have you tried just running rm -f on them?

If you are on Windows, maybe Disk Cleanup or defrag will catch them.

[MonkeySage]

I can't right click the files. I try and my computer freezes.

[Trekkin]

I can't right click the files. I try and my computer freezes.

Okay. Can you defragment or repair the drive?

[MonkeySage]

Every time I've tried to defragment, all I get is that my computer is already as defragged as it can get. I guess it does it automatically?

[Trekkin]

Every time I've tried to defragment, all I get is that my computer is already as defragged as it can get. I guess it does it automatically?

Maybe. In which case you might want to repair the drive; if that doesn't work, you could always install Ubuntu to a flash key, boot from that, and delete the files that way. It will take care of any weirdness on Windows' part, anyway; at the very least it will let you run a more informative diagnostic.

[veti]

I can't right click the files. I try and my computer freezes.

That suggests the file records are corrupted. Have you run 'chkdsk' recently?

Also, have you tried DOS commands, like 'del' or 'rmdir /s'? The command line gives you ways to interact with the files without Windows trying obsessively to read them or their metadata.

[Fri]

That seems like that particular spot in the hard drive where the file was written is corrupted. Can you do disk repair using chkdsk? Not defrag, disk repair. Windows need to check your hard drive, and mark it as unusable.

If windows' default chkdsk doesn't work, then maybe you can use third party disk checking/recovery program, though I have no particular recommendation.

[GloatingSwine]

Delete them from command prompt?
Also run chkdsk /f.

[Bohandas]

I think Spybot Search And Destroy has some kind of advanced file deleter in it's toolkit

[Rysto]

You might try renaming the directory that contains the files. You might never be able to delete them but if they no longer exist at their former location a reinstall should be possible.

[GloatingSwine]

If nothing else has fixed it, maybe boot from a Linux image on USB.

(I still suspect deleting with control panel would have some success).