Cannot Delete Empty Subdirectory on Novell Server

 Last reviewed: November 9, 1995
Article ID: Q65901
The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Windows operating system versions 3.0, 3.0a, 3.1, 3.11

SUMMARY

You may experience problems deleting and displaying empty directories with Microsoft Windows running on a Novell network if the SHOW DOTS=ON line is not in the SHELL.CFG file. Specifically, you may get the following error message: 

   Error Deleting File   Cannot delete  <drive>:\<directory>\*.*.
   Cannot find file; check to ensure the path and filename are correct
This error occurs when you attempt to delete an empty subdirectory using File Manager on a Novell NetWare server if the SHOW DOTS=ON line is not specified in the SHELL.CFG file. The variables <drive> and <directory> above would be replaced by the actual drive and directory name that you are attempting to delete.

MORE INFORMATION

The SHOW DOTS=ON line causes the [..] directory entry to be displayed in File Manager. The SHELL.CFG file must be located in the same directory as IPX.COM and the NETx.COM file (where x is either 3 or 4 depending on the MS- DOS version in use). If the SHELL.CFG file does not exist, it can be created using any nonformatting text editor (such as Notepad) by writing SHOW DOTS=ON and then saving the file as SHELL.CFG to the appropriate directory.

An additional symptom of not having SHOW DOTS=ON is the error message "No Files Found The directory <drive>:\<directory>\*.* does not contain any files" when you attempt to access an empty directory on the server.

KBCategory: kbnetwork kb3rdparty kberrmsg
KBSubcategory: win30 win31
Additional reference words: 3.00 3.0 3.0a 3.00a 3.10 3.11

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Last reviewed: November 9, 1995
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