Two folders with identical (i.e., duplicate) names

Anonymous
2010-05-14T20:19:28+00:00

When I look at my drive E in the Windows Explorer, I have two folders named \Users in the root (using Vista with the lastest updates). When I look from a cmd box, I only see one.

I think the second one was created when I used Vista's robocopy to backup my C files onto E (e.g. "robocopy c:\Users\Steve e:\Users\Steve"), but (1) I didn't think you could end up with duplicate names in the same folder and (2) how can I specify which of the two files I want to copy files to?

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Files, folders, and storage

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Anonymous
2010-05-14T20:50:22+00:00

You can't have two folders with the same name in the same directory - something must be different (maybe an underscore at the end of one or something else).  I have no idea how or why this happened.  When you scroll through each of the folders are they identical in terms of contents (same folders, same files, you can open files from both folders,...)?  I'm not familiar with robocopy so I'm not sure if that was responsible (though it seems likely).  If  they are identical in all respects, just delete one and use the other one (or better, remame one to something else and save it elsewhere "just in case" - at least until you're sure the folder  you selected is working properly and there are no problems.  I'd give a month and then delete the other folder.

If you see only one in cmd then move some file to a different directory and then ccheck on Windows Explorer to see in which folder the change occurred (and verify it didn't occur in both).  Then you'll know which folder to use  and which to rename are indicated above.

I hope this helps.

Good luck.

Lorien - MCSE/MCSA/Network+/A+ --- If this post helps to resolve your issue, please click the "Mark as Answer" or "Helpful" button at the top of this message. By marking a post as Answered, or Helpful you help others find the answer faster.

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  1. Anonymous
    2014-08-26T07:25:38+00:00

    I WANT THIS FIXED REAL BAD.....lol

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  2. Anonymous
    2014-08-29T14:40:50+00:00

    I WANT THIS FIXED REAL BAD.....lol

    Ok I have looked at this a bit more now and there is hope in sight....

    WARNING: This is like open heart surgery on your hard drive. I strongly recommend you try this on an a sacrificial hard drive by using this method to first create a duplicate MFT record, then prove that it is a duplicate in Windows, then fix the change again repeating the same method.

    Hiren's Boot CD has a couple of Partition tools:

    1. Paragon Partition Manager
    2. Acronis Disk Director

    Acronis is probably more reliable and is also available for Windows. Both of these have a Sector editor Tool. You have to use the Sector edit toolto:

    1. Search for the filename in the directory entry (in the MFT)
    2. Search for the duplicate filename in the directory entry (in the MFT)
    3. Change the filename(s) using the hex byte edit function to correct the problem.

    You should first be sure that you don't just have a hard symbolic link on the file (see the command line Junction and Mklink commands) by confirming that both filenames appear in the same "DIR <path>" list from a command prompt and "REN <filename>" renames both files.

    Now crank up Hirens boot CD (boots into Linux) and navigate to Acronis Disk Director / Tools / Explore.

    This is where it gets really interesting. You need to search for the filename (without the file type or extension part) in UTF-16 format. Fortunately, the high byte is usually always null, so what you have to enter is the hex valuesof the filename with an 8bit null (00) between every character. EG: TEST would be 54 00 45 00 53 00 54 00 and remember its case sensitive.

    If you happen to find one of these entries check that it is one of the MFT records you are after (each MFT entry is about 4 display lines). First look for non display characters (above 7F) in the filename and that there is a null after each character. Windows permits 16bit filename characters and will not see this as an error (by design). Don't be afraid to keep searching just to be sure.

    Next, manually convert the sector Hex display into values that make sense in the MFT table doco provided in the previous links, and be certain you have found the right MFT record. (You only need to find the first entry). Once you are confident, note down the sector number and offset and change one of the non null bytes in the filename to make it unique. Click SAVE. Job done.

    Reboot Windows and hope like **** you haven't totally destroyed your hard drive.

    There is a backup MFT block at the end of the drive. I'm not sure if anything needs to be done to that one as well. I'll post more as I come by the details.

    If you try this please let us know how you go.

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  3. Anonymous
    2015-01-21T09:12:53+00:00

    Similar issue: 

    I had two folders with the same name in my Documents folder. They were shown in Windows Explorer only. CMD DIR reported only a single folder. 

    It was possible because two folders had different full paths: 

    C:\Users\user\Documents\Example 

    C:\Users\Public\Documents\Example 

    For some reason in Explorer they were shown together at Libraries\Documents.

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  4. Anonymous
    2015-01-25T03:06:56+00:00

    Windows Explorer has it's own organisation different to the file system.

    Users are to interact with Windows Explorer's view of the world. The file system is for the implementation details, and change from version to version.

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