i used to use nero as a backup tool on an external hard drive, but i had my settings backing it up wayy too often and it has taken up a huge portion of the drive. I dont much care for the software anymore, so id rather just delete the entire folder of backups.

problem 1: it took absolutely forever to try and delete USING the recycle bin, and so i right clicked to see how big these files are.
according to windows, the file size of my backups is 964 gb.
That makes no sense whatsoever, as i have 892 gb of other material on the drive as is. and its only a 1tb drive.
My OS itself is only on a 75gb drive, and i have another 250gb drive attached also, so theres no way these backups could be anywhere else on the computer than the 1tb drive, however i dont understand why windows thinks the files take up so much space.

problem 2: these backup directories are insanely convoluted and i dont have the time or patience to go through each of the thousands of folders manually and delete all the files. so far though i have had no success with the RMDIR, DEL or RD commands in cmd; i continually get the error "The directory is not empty" -which im aware of, and id like to completely empty it all in one go. Im running windows 7 32bit, so i can't use DELTREE to my knowledge?

Can someone please help me with syntax on what i should be using to delete this backup folder through command prompt?

the exact location of the folder i want to delete is: "F:\Computer Backup\Desktop\Nero". Please keep in mind i have little/no experience with command prompt (compared with the experience on here im sure). I know how to NAVIGATE directories and such, and thats about it. deltree was "replaced" with a switch on rmdir, rmdir /s. so rmdir /s foldername would remove the foldername and all it's contents.

Also, you can shift-del in explorer to delete something without sending it to the recycle bin.

If the size is being reported wrong I'd run chkdsk on the drive it is on. Some directory entries are likely corrupted.ok ill try those. forgive my ignorance, WHATS chkdsk? is it a download or is it on my computer somewhere?you can check a disk by right clicking it in explorer and choosing properties, then on the hardware tab selecting "scan now". Make sure to check "automatically fix errors". chkdsk is also available at the command prompt-
Code: [Select]chkdsk /f C:would check drive C. For the system drive it might not work right off, INSTEAD requiring a reboot so that it can perform the check before the system starts up.chkdsk is a windows utility program that's used to fix your disk (partition specified) 4 errors!!
u can type chkdsk /? in the command window to get the menu of the parameters and uses of
chkdsk..!! NB: u cant chkdsk on the drive holding the OS (most cases C: drive) while the computer is
still on. u will need to schedule that to be performed in start up!!...