Cannot delete a file

Support
1

I have been cleaning up file tags (thanks to MP3TAG) , and adding data to the tags, prior to putting my MP3's into a new player. Somehow (?) I now have a song which is in MP3TAG, but is NOT in my Music Library (this is in Windows 7), and I only have one location for my music ... it is NOT there). MP3TAG shows one more record (song) than does my Library, and that is the one I want to delete. It shows with a Title and a date under "last modified". Everything else is blank. When I try to delete it, I get a Win7 pop-up window that says "You'll need to provide Administrator Privileges to delete this file" with cancel, skip and continue choices below. Continue ends up putting me into a loop of some sort. The PC just stays with that window on it, showing indiction it's doing something ... but nothing happens. I have to start Task Manager and kill MP3TAG to get out of it. I'm the owner and only user of this PC (and for that matter only occupant of the house). I killed the User Account setting, rebooted and it still did exactly the same thing. Can anybody figure this out??

I suppose the "phantom" track isn't hurting anything, but it offends and worries me, since the file/track/song does not exist in my library. Why is it showing up in MP3TAG and why can't I delete it?

Also, for whatever it's worth, if I try to "play" it from MP3TAG (my default player is WMP) it won't play, instead giving me another error message saying WMP can't find it (which figures, since it is not in my Library).

Thanks for any help,

Steve

2

Several things:
first perform a chkdsk to make sure that you do not hunt a phantom.
If the track still shows: check in the explorer if it is still in the file system.
Then check the ownership of the file (Explorer>Properties>Security) and try to re-own it.
If the filesystem checks do not help then check the file format: is it an mp3 altogether or a wav or something?
If it is an mp3 then let loose one of the consistency checkers like foobar2000 or mp3val.
Also, you could force WMP to rebuild its library. THe disadvantage, though, is that you loose all counters of how many times you have played a track. If this is of value for you then you may want a more file based approach as follows:

If all else has failed, it could be that the filename has a weird character that makes windows hickup.
For this burn yourself an Ubuntu disk, boot from it, run the "demo" (which is a full Linux), navigate to the file, rename or delete it. Linux lets you access files and directories that Windows enviously guards (even the system volumen information).
So far my wild guesses as it is sometimes rather hard to tell from the distance.

3

Hi stevehc, you have layed out a situation, which is rather undetermined and fuzzy.
User ohrenkino already has given you some good hints.
I would put the interest at first to the specific file and to the handling of the exception.

  1. "I now have a song which is in MP3TAG" ...
    ... so ... this track is sure a "song" and can be played?
    Possibly there is only a file entry in the Mp3tag List View, which looks like, is named like a music file, but is no.

  2. "It shows with a Title and a date under last modified. Everything else is blank."
    ... so ...
    What do you mean with "Title"? Do you mean the filename?
    What is "everything else"?
    What is the file name extension of this file?
    What is the date modified, does it contain an understandable true value?
    Is there any tag-field within this file?
    Use the dialog "Extended Tag View [Alt-T]" and look what tag-fields exist in the file.
    Is there any Tag-Type in the file, what Tag-Type is currently read?
    (List View column value: %_tag_read%[ (%_tag%)])

  3. "When I try to delete it, I get a Win7 pop-up window that says "You'll need to provide Administrator Privileges to delete this file" with cancel, skip and continue choices below. Continue ends up putting me into a loop of some sort."
    Where and how do you try to delete the suspicious file?
    From within Mp3tag? From within Explorer? From the command line?
    When Windows opens the UAC elevation prompt, what happens when you do the affordable login with the most powerful user on this machine?

  4. "Why is it showing up in MP3TAG and why can't I delete it?"
    Did you check the file properties (ReadOnly, Hidden, System)?
    If there any, then remove them.

  5. "...it won't play, instead giving me another error message saying WMP can't find it ..."
    Possibly this file has no content to be a valid music file.
    What file size reports the Windows Explorer or the DIR command on the command line?
    What file type or descriptive name reports the Windows Explorer?

  6. "The PC just stays with that window on it, showing indiction it's doing something"
    Is there any textual communication between the machine and you?
    What messages are prompted to you?
    And what did you answer?

DD.20120504.1007.CEST

4

Thanks Ohrenkino (and also to DetlevD): I did the chkdsk and all was well with that. I then did the "search". It first found nothing, but then I saw had an option to ask it to check "Libraries" (why would that not have been searched in the first place, I wonder). It took a VERY long time to finish that search, but when it did, it found the file (which was somewhat corrupted, both in details and ownership). I was able to take owner ship (I had never tried that before, but it worked), and was then able to delete the file from my Music Library, where it had suddeny appeared, albeit in corrupted form. Initally it wanted the same Administrator Permissions, but that requirement went away after changing the ownership to me, and I was then able to delete it from my "Music Library". When I then re-started MP3TAG, it was gone there too.

I still don't understand how MP3TAG "found it" in the Music Library before. I had told MP3TAG that my music files were in the "Music Library", and only there, and I had told Windows 7 that all my music was ONLY to be in the "Music Library" and NOT any other location (e.g. the "Public Music Library". When I opened the "Music Library" the file was NOT in it before the I did the "search" of Libraries which you recommended. I have no udnerstanding of all this , but the result was what I wanted.

In any case thanks to you for taking the time to help me ... and thanks for that also to DetlevD.

I hope it is appropriate to mention to the two members who helped me, and whose profile indicates to me that they are native Germans, how perfect their command of written English is.

Thanks again,

Steve

5

I also do not know whether it is appropriate - but it sure went down like oil. Thank you.