One of my files in Steam is corrupt and unreadable, and has been causing a few minor-as-of-now problems (Battlefield ignores the "do not show again" for the CD key, and more importantly, I can't do a system restore). I can't simply delete this file, but I need to get rid of it. How would I do so?

 

Also, Windows Defender is turned off and won't turn back on. Could this be related?

You could always try the Windows Installer Clean Up tool. It has always worked for me in similar situations.

Download Lockhunter (freeware), check what is blocking the file, stop the process blocking the file, delete the file.

 

If the above doesnt work, go to safemode and delete the file.

If I can just go to safemode and delete it, wouldn't that be the simpler option?

Well, Lockhunter is nicer and you dont have to shutdown your computer.

Well, it wouldn't delete in Safemode. I suppose Lockhunter is still valid, so I guess I'll try that soon.

 

Error code: 0x80070570

 

 

Oh, and the Windows Installer Cleanup Tool isn't supported by Windows anymore, so I don't think I'll use it... It seems like it was more for getting rid of certain things, anyways.

As a last resort you could boot into a live linux distro and rm the file?

Lockhunter didn't work - there was nothing locking the file, I simply just can't delete it.

 

Also, I'd prefer not to install Linux just to deal with this...

What is the exact error when you try to delete it?

"[filepath] is unaccessible. The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable."

 

 

It used to give me an error code to refer to (0x80070570), but I deleted Steam in a thoughtless effort.... The files (all the Steam files) are still there, however (but not Steam).

Start > Run

Type "cmd", hit enter

When the command prompt comes up, type "chkdsk /F"

If you need to restart, do it.

That should help.

I've run the chkdsk utility multiple times, and I did one earlier today as well. Unless this is something different, I think I'm covered. Also, I assume /F should be C, or whatever corresponding drive.

 

 

 

If it helps, I think this particular folder may be empty. I'm not sure how it would make a difference, or if that's just a result of being corrupt, but highlighting it says that it has no contents.

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Also, I assume /F should be C, or whatever corresponding drive.

You don't want to do that.

Per the manual (or 'chkdsk /?'), /f fixes errors rather than simply reporting them.

 

Oh. Well, then maybe I'll try that.

If I use Linux to try and delete this folder, Ubuntu would be fine, no?

You can use the live cd and not install any Linux distro.

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I installed Ubuntu, and the file opened up perfectly, and was easily deleted. Permanently. Oh, and Linux seems nice. I think I'd use it were it more day-to-day compatible...

 

Thanks for the help!

You didn't need to install it, you could've just used the live cd.

Well, I didn't install it, it's on a USB stick... I guess that's the Live Disc (Slowly piecing this out after I've applied it).