title: Can't delete Windows folder that contains a subfolder named "..." which contains a subfolder named "..." etc
body: <p>I'm stumped.
  I have a folder called <code>c:/data/ToDelete</code>.  It used to contain files as well as a single subfolder called <code>...</code>, which contained the same files as well as single subfolder named <code>...</code> and this went on ad nauseum.</p>
  <p>I moved the contents of the ToDelete folder elsewhere, but the subfolder/subfolder structure remains, and I can't get rid of it.</p>
  <p>This is what it looks like in Explorer
  <code>This PC &gt; Data &gt; ToDelete &gt; ... &gt; ... &gt; ... &gt; ... &gt; etc</code>
  clicking on the above reveals the path: <code>C:\Data\ToDelete\</code></p>
  <p>I was able to rename the first folder (from c:/data/temp/ to c:/data/ToDelete/) but whenever I try to rename the subfolder I get the &quot;This folder is already open&quot; (probably because it is just referring back to it's parent folder).</p>
  <p>Things I've tried (none worked)</p>
  <ul>
  <li>the basics: Delete key, Shift Delete, drag to recycle bin, send to recycle bin</li>
  <li>command prompt delete, including trying the ASCII code for <code>.</code> just in case.</li>
  <li>I tried zipping it with 7zip</li>
  <li>I did a chkdsk and got no errors</li>
  <li>I tried removing with Revo Uninstaller Pro (the Delete folder option).</li>
  <li>I tried renaming the subfolders with this powershell script that I found online thinking I could then delete them but got an error:</li>
  </ul>
  <pre><code>    Get-ChildItem -Recurse | where {$_.attributes -eq &quot;Directory&quot;} | Where-Object {$_.Name -match '...'} | Rename-Item -NewName { $_.Name -replace '...' , 'ToDelete' }
  </code></pre>
  <p>The funny thing is I found the folder in my backup directory as well, so somehow the entire thing can get copied (which means I have to remove it in multiple places now).</p>