FFS cannot cleanout recycleBin.ffs_tmp

Posts: 2 · thriftybrown 1 Dec 2015, 15:32

I keep getting errors when I run ffs (ver 7.6). my pc is running 32 bit win 7. I updated from ver 6.5 because the older version would overwrite all the files, not just the new versions when run from this machine.

error message is:

Unable to move "G:\Sarah\RecycleBin.ffs_tmp" to the recycle bin.

Error during "PerformOperations" for file:
"G:\Sarah\RecycleBin.ffs_tmp"
HRESULT: 0x80070052, The directory or file cannot be created.

tried running as administator but got same errors. any ideas of what I should do to resolve this? thanks

Posts: 7211 · Zenju 8 Dec 2015, 14:11

I assume "RecycleBin.ffs_tmp" is a remnant from a previous synchronization where you already saw a corresponding error message at the end. The new sync now also tries to cleanup, but fails again.
If you are still able to reproduce the error we can dig a little deeper:

Start up a Process Monitor (https://technet.microsoft.com/de-de/sysinternals/bb896645.aspx) trace, retry the operation and let it fail, stop the trace and send the pml file to me via email for analysis. (see FFS's about dialog for my email).

Posts: 2 · thriftybrown 14 Dec 2015, 21:53

ran ffs with process monitor on; first run lockedup ('not responding' message on window). after a while I stopped ffs and re ran it; this time it ran and gave the errors. .pml file is 855 MB - too big for my email.

Posts: 7211 · Zenju 15 Dec 2015, 11:42

ran ffs with process monitor on; first run lockedup ('not responding' message on window). after a while I stopped ffs and re ran it; this time it ran and gave the errors. .pml file is 855 MB - too big for my email.thriftybrown

The pml file compresses well with zip or rar. Additionally try to start the process monitor trace only right before you expect the error to shop up, e.g. just before starting FFS sync.

Posts: 5 · trgoodman 17 Apr 2016, 21:36

I have been getting this error, too, for a long time. Currently on FFS 8.0. Only on my Vista SP2 system, not my XP SP3 system. I always end up having to go into the parent source directory and manually delete the RecycleBin.ffs_tmp directory.

I do not see any pattern regarding when or why this occurs. Maybe about 1/3 of the time I do a sync I get this error.

Posts: 2 · thriftybrown2 2 May 2016, 01:36

Did you do something special to be able to delete the files manually? When I try to delete them I get an "unexpected error. error 0x80070052 the directory or file cannot be created.

Posts: 2 · thriftybrown2 2 May 2016, 02:02

found a way to delete them using DOS commands -cumbersome but gets them gone. directories with a space in the name need t o be renamed or dos rmdir can't find them. windows does let me rename them.

Posts: 3 · colin_e 5 May 2016, 10:36

FFS: 7.4

I'm getting the same problem. I'm running FFS 7.4 (stuck on an older version because it's set up by our IT department).

On my previous laptop FFS ran without a hitch, synching a folder on the laptop to a share on our main file servers.

Having upgraded to a new laptop and (I think) replicated the same setup. I keep running into these tmp file being left behind, which neither FFS nor anything else seem to be able to delete.

I have tried:
- Deletion through FFS
- Deleting from the Windows file manager (Explorer)
- Deleting from the command line

The error message is:

Unable to move "\\<server path>\RecycleBin.ffs_tmp" to the recycle bin.



Error during "PerformOperations" for file:

"<server path>\RecycleBin.ffs_tmp"

HRESULT: 0x800704e3, This operation is supported only when you are connected to the server.

I am, of course, connected to the server.

In the end I had our IT guys delete the files using superuser privileges on the server, but when I run FFS again the problem re-occurs.

It looks like FFS is creating temp files that it then can't delete. Any hints on the cause and a workaround woudl be very helpful.

Regards: colin_e

Posts: 5 · trgoodman 8 May 2016, 19:08

Did you do something special to be able to delete the files manually? When I try to delete them I get an "unexpected error. error 0x80070052 the directory or file cannot be created.thriftybrown2

No, I have no trouble in using Windows Explorer to select the directory "RecycleBin.ffs_tmp" and delete it. Maybe you should try refreshing to view to make sure the directory is actually there, and check the permissions of the parent directory to make sure you can delete things in it.

Posts: 3 · *noworries* 9 Aug 2016, 09:29

Apparently, I face some related problem (Win 10; FFS 8.3).

Since yesterday (8th of August), FFS keeps creating recycleBin.ffs_tmp files which are empty and undeletable (error 0x80070091). Because these are located on our institutional file server, I cannot use the common workarounds (fsutil, chkdsk) in order to delete them. Furthermore, FFS keeps saying that it cannot create an .ffs_temp file (which it certainly does...) and, thus, will not sync at all.

Any hints or advice?

Thanks,
*noworries*

Posts: 3 · colin_e 9 Aug 2016, 10:59

In my case the problem was caused by Windows (Pro) native file synch (offline files) being pointed at the server folder I was trying to write to, and it being out of sync.

This is ironic, when it was Windows sync's poor reliability that got me using FFS in the first place!

Anyway, Windows offline folders is a corporate IT standard for us so it's hard to get around. In my case, although disabling Windoze sync would be the preferred alternative, in the end we found:

1. Break the offline files connection to the folder root
2. Delete the local copy of offline files
3. Re-create the offline files sync
4. Make sure the files are fully synced before you disconnect from the network (if on a laptop)

was enough to get things working again.

Posts: 3 · *noworries* 9 Aug 2016, 11:51

Hi colin_e,

Thanks for your reply and for pointing me to a possible solution.
However, I cannot test immediately whether or not it this will work for me because I am not allowed to change (i.e., break the connection to the folder root) the institution's server sync settings ;-)

I am still wondering, though, why this problem happened to occur suddenly. I do not think that I disconnected my laptop while syncing was still ongoing. Neither do I understand, why new temporary bins are created everytime I (unsuccesfully) try to sync with FFS.

Posts: 3 · colin_e 9 Aug 2016, 12:01

I'm afraid I don't have insight into the inner workings of FFS so I can't really comment. My suspicion is the really complex stuff (and hence complex problems) are happening in Windows offline files, and FFS is just another windows client application with limited control over what happens.

Like you this had me stumped for some time. I had one laptop where I had been using FFS for a year of so with no problems. Then I swapped to a new machine, and it caused me grief for weeks. I have admin rights on my machine so I could disable/re-enable offline files, but it took me some google searching to find the right incantation. You have to put a special "reset" flag in the Windows Registry to get offline files to reset and rebuild the file cache.

I think this link gives the info I used, but you will need the appropriate permissions to execute them-

https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/kb/942974

Posts: 3 · *noworries* 10 Aug 2016, 06:21

Hi Colin,

Thanks a lot for your suggestions and the link for changing the corresponding registry entry.
This worked perfect! Now, I am curious to see whether this problem will happen again.

Cheers,
*noworries*

Posts: 1 · stanivukovic 23 Nov 2016, 11:57

Hello, the problem I have encountered myself.
Indeed, I could not delete folders (recyclebin.ffs_tmp) that I have created a program FreeFileSync.
After a few hours of searching I found this solution.
And I think it is very simple!

I remedied the problem with the program WINRAR. Instructions are as follows:

1. The folder that you want to delete by clicking with the right mouse button ADD TO ARHCHIVE

2. Then the program that we want to mark the folder compressed (ZIP, RAR, any format is not important)

3. The program WINRARU denoted that when compressed folder that is also deleted !!! This is the most important !!!

The thing is in my work, I hope it will also for you. I use winows 10 (64 bit).

Posts: 1 · mikeloh89 5 May 2020, 03:35

I wanted to compare 2 folders individually, and installed FFS for that single purpose. Unknowingly to me, it created recyclebin.ffs_tmp that could not be deleted easily. I tried the a few methods, and the only solution for me is to use an application "BleachBit" to shred the folder. Hope this helps, as for me, the folder produces an irritating sync error in OneDrive.

Posts: 1 · schroedingersdog 3 May 2022, 11:48

I wanted to compare 2 folders individually, and installed FFS for that single purpose. Unknowingly to me, it created recyclebin.ffs_tmp that could not be deleted easily. I tried the a few methods, and the only solution for me is to use an application "BleachBit" to shred the folder. Hope this helps, as for me, the folder produces an irritating sync error in OneDrive. mikeloh89, 05 May 2020, 03:35

Excellent piece of advice mikeloh89.

Saved me a lot of messing about. Grabbed BleachBit via Chocolatey. EZ.

Posts: 7 · schmidtp 24 Jun 2023, 02:07

I was also having the same issue. A lot of the info in the post is for Windows 7. Most of us are up to Win10 or 11 now. I tried a few things like disabling Indexing for the drive, the Windows Registry doesn't have this key anymore so now good.

Linux to the rescue!
I just logged into my Linux install, mounted the drive and navigated to the actual file contained within RecycleBin.ffs_tmp folder structure. Trying to send to the trash won't work. But if you permanently delete it (select the file, shift and del), it will permanently delete the file. Then you can delete the rest of the folder structure. For those that don't have Linux installed, you could run it from a live USB session and do the same thing. I'd imagine any Linux distro will work. Besides having a Live Linux USB stick has saved me that many times, it's worth keeping around.