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How can I make deleting folders faster in Windows 10

Question asked by Peter Cranshaw on Jun 25, 2018
Latest reply on Jun 25, 2018 by Peter Cranshaw

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I'm writing a program (macro) to package drawings in my company into .ZIP files that include all the file formats that our different vendors need to work with them. To do that, it creates a temp folder and then use the "pack and go" functions in the soldiworks api to copy the files to that folder. With that it loops through the files and generates the different formats as needed. Once done it compress the contents of the tempfolder to a .ZIp file.

I've gotten the macro working pretty well. It cycles through all the files very neatly and generates the .ZIP file in short order.

The only problem that I have left is cleaning up afterwards. I need to get rid of the temp folder I made. On my own machine it happens reasonably fast. The tempfolder for a small assembly will take about 5 seconds to be deleted. But on other machines around my office that same folder will take as long as 2 minutes!

The one pattern I've noticed is that the fast machines are running Windows 7 and the slow machines are running Windows 10.

I've tried several different methods to remedy this, but the results have all been the same...

'----------------------------------------------------------------------'

' Delete the "tempfolder" '

'----------------------------------------------------------------------'

Sub DeleteTempFolder()

Dim fso As Object

' Get the basic Windows Filesystem objects

Set fso = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")

fso.DeleteFolder (tempfolder)

' Using VBA

' Kill tempfolder & "\*"

' RmDir tempfolder

' Using the Wscript.Shell

' Dim WshShell As Object

' Dim waitOnReturn As Boolean: waitOnReturn = True

' Dim windowStyle As Integer: windowStyle = 0

' Set WshShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")

' Run the command

' WshShell.Run "del " & Chr(34) & tempfolder & "\*" & Chr(34) & " /Q", windowStyle, waitOnReturn

' WshShell.Run "rmdir " & Chr(34) & tempfolder & "\" & Chr(34) & " /Q", windowStyle, waitOnReturn

End Sub

Does anyone have any suggestions how I can make removing that tempfolder faster on Windows 10?

Thanks!

Peter Cranshaw Jun 25, 2018 2:43 PM

Correct Answer

I think I've figured it out. I changed the ..

DesktopPath = WshShell.SpecialFolders("Desktop") & "\"

call to

DesktopPath = WshShell.SpecialFolders("TemporaryFolder") & "\"

and the time required to delete the temp folder decreased dramatically.

I think I was up against Windows 10 indexing functions.

'-----------------------------------------------------------------------'

' Create a temporary folder on the Desktop with a Randomly created name '

'-----------------------------------------------------------------------'

Sub CreateTempFolder()

Dim fso As Object

Dim WshShell As Object

Dim DesktopPath As String

Dim sRString As String

Dim sTempFolder As String

' Get the basic Windows Filesystem objects

Set fso = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")

Set WshShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")

' Get the Windows Desktop path

' DesktopPath = WshShell.SpecialFolders("Desktop") & "\"

DesktopPath = WshShell.SpecialFolders("TemporaryFolder") & "\"

' Make an random 8 character foldername

sRString = RandomString(8)

' Create a folder on the desktop with the "sRString"

sTempFolder = fso.CreateFolder(DesktopPath & sRString)

' Save the folder name to the variable "tempfolder"

tempfolder = sTempFolder

End Sub

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Josh Brady Jun 25, 2018 12:05 PM

Possibly stupid question. Is it possible that some machines are putting the temp files on the network vs local?

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Peter Cranshaw @ Josh Brady on Jun 25, 2018 1:09 PM

No, I have it coded so that the tempfolder is specifically placed on the Windows desktop.

'-----------------------------------------------------------------------'

' Create a temporary folder on the Desktop with a Randomly created name '

'-----------------------------------------------------------------------'

Sub CreateTempFolder()

Dim fso As Object

Dim WshShell As Object

Dim DesktopPath As String

Dim sRString As String

Dim sTempFolder As String

' Get the basic Windows Filesystem objects

Set fso = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")

Set WshShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")

' Get the Windows Desktop path

DesktopPath = WshShell.SpecialFolders("Desktop") & "\"

' Make an random 8 character foldername

sRString = RandomString(8)

' Create a folder on the desktop with the "sRString"

sTempFolder = fso.CreateFolder(DesktopPath & sRString)

' Save the folder name to the variable "tempfolder"

tempfolder = sTempFolder

End Sub

Function RandomString(Length As Integer)

'PURPOSE: Create a Randomized String of Characters

'SOURCE: www.TheSpreadsheetGuru.com/the-code-vault

Dim CharacterBank As Variant

Dim x As Long

Dim str As String

'Test Length Input

If Length < 1 Then

MsgBox "Length variable must be greater than 0"

Exit Function

End If

CharacterBank = Array("a", "b", "c", "d", "e", "f", "g", "h", "i", "j", _

"k", "l", "m", "n", "o", "p", "q", "r", "s", "t", "u", "v", "w", "x", _

"y", "z", "0", "1", "2", "3", "4", "5", "6", "7", "8", "9", "A", "B", _

"C", "D", "E", "F", "G", "H", "I", "J", "K", "L", "M", "N", "O", "P", _

"Q", "R", "S", "T", "U", "V", "W", "X", "Y", "Z")

'Randomly Select Characters One-by-One

For x = 1 To Length

Randomize

str = str & CharacterBank(Int((UBound(CharacterBank) - LBound(CharacterBank) + 1) * Rnd + LBound(CharacterBank)))

Next x

'Output Randomly Generated String

RandomString = str

End Function

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Peter Cranshaw Jun 25, 2018 2:43 PM

I think I've figured it out. I changed the ..

DesktopPath = WshShell.SpecialFolders("Desktop") & "\"

call to

DesktopPath = WshShell.SpecialFolders("TemporaryFolder") & "\"

and the time required to delete the temp folder decreased dramatically.

I think I was up against Windows 10 indexing functions.

'-----------------------------------------------------------------------'

' Create a temporary folder on the Desktop with a Randomly created name '

'-----------------------------------------------------------------------'

Sub CreateTempFolder()

Dim fso As Object

Dim WshShell As Object

Dim DesktopPath As String

Dim sRString As String

Dim sTempFolder As String

' Get the basic Windows Filesystem objects

Set fso = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")

Set WshShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")

' Get the Windows Desktop path

' DesktopPath = WshShell.SpecialFolders("Desktop") & "\"

DesktopPath = WshShell.SpecialFolders("TemporaryFolder") & "\"

' Make an random 8 character foldername

sRString = RandomString(8)

' Create a folder on the desktop with the "sRString"

sTempFolder = fso.CreateFolder(DesktopPath & sRString)

' Save the folder name to the variable "tempfolder"

tempfolder = sTempFolder

End Sub

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3 Replies

Josh Brady Jun 25, 2018 12:05 PM
Mark Correct
Correct Answer
Possibly stupid question. Is it possible that some machines are putting the temp files on the network vs local?
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- Peter Cranshaw @ Josh Brady on Jun 25, 2018 1:09 PM
  Mark Correct
  Correct Answer
  No, I have it coded so that the tempfolder is specifically placed on the Windows desktop.
  
  '-----------------------------------------------------------------------'
  ' Create a temporary folder on the Desktop with a Randomly created name '
  '-----------------------------------------------------------------------'
  Sub CreateTempFolder()
  
      Dim fso As Object
      Dim WshShell As Object
      Dim DesktopPath As String
      Dim sRString As String
      Dim sTempFolder As String
  
      ' Get the basic Windows Filesystem objects
      Set fso = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
      Set WshShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
  
      ' Get the Windows Desktop path
      DesktopPath = WshShell.SpecialFolders("Desktop") & "\"
  
      ' Make an random 8 character foldername
      sRString = RandomString(8)
  
      ' Create a folder on the desktop with the "sRString"
      sTempFolder = fso.CreateFolder(DesktopPath & sRString)
  
      ' Save the folder name to the variable "tempfolder"
      tempfolder = sTempFolder
  
  End Sub
  
  Function RandomString(Length As Integer)
  
  'PURPOSE: Create a Randomized String of Characters
  'SOURCE: www.TheSpreadsheetGuru.com/the-code-vault
  Dim CharacterBank As Variant
  Dim x As Long
  Dim str As String
  
  'Test Length Input
  If Length < 1 Then
      MsgBox "Length variable must be greater than 0"
      Exit Function
  End If
  
  CharacterBank = Array("a", "b", "c", "d", "e", "f", "g", "h", "i", "j", _
      "k", "l", "m", "n", "o", "p", "q", "r", "s", "t", "u", "v", "w", "x", _
      "y", "z", "0", "1", "2", "3", "4", "5", "6", "7", "8", "9", "A", "B", _
      "C", "D", "E", "F", "G", "H", "I", "J", "K", "L", "M", "N", "O", "P", _
      "Q", "R", "S", "T", "U", "V", "W", "X", "Y", "Z")
  
  'Randomly Select Characters One-by-One
  For x = 1 To Length
      Randomize
      str = str & CharacterBank(Int((UBound(CharacterBank) - LBound(CharacterBank) + 1) * Rnd + LBound(CharacterBank)))
  Next x
  
  'Output Randomly Generated String
  RandomString = str
  
  End Function
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Peter Cranshaw Jun 25, 2018 2:43 PM
Unmark Correct
Correct Answer
I think I've figured it out. I changed the ..

DesktopPath = WshShell.SpecialFolders("Desktop") & "\"

call to

DesktopPath = WshShell.SpecialFolders("TemporaryFolder") & "\"

and the time required to delete the temp folder decreased dramatically.

I think I was up against Windows 10 indexing functions.

'-----------------------------------------------------------------------'
' Create a temporary folder on the Desktop with a Randomly created name '
'-----------------------------------------------------------------------'
Sub CreateTempFolder()

    Dim fso As Object
    Dim WshShell As Object
    Dim DesktopPath As String

    Dim sRString As String
    Dim sTempFolder As String

    ' Get the basic Windows Filesystem objects
    Set fso = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
    Set WshShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")

    ' Get the Windows Desktop path
'    DesktopPath = WshShell.SpecialFolders("Desktop") & "\"
    DesktopPath = WshShell.SpecialFolders("TemporaryFolder") & "\"

    ' Make an random 8 character foldername
    sRString = RandomString(8)

    ' Create a folder on the desktop with the "sRString"
    sTempFolder = fso.CreateFolder(DesktopPath & sRString)

    ' Save the folder name to the variable "tempfolder"
    tempfolder = sTempFolder

End Sub
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