Using wildcards with the rmdir or rd command

Posted by serdar on Super User See other posts from Super User or by serdar
Published on 2014-06-06T07:44:46Z Indexed on 2014/06/07 9:28 UTC
Read the original article Hit count: 333

Filed under:

Windows

|

command-line

|

batch

|

delete

Let's say there are some folder in the D: drive:

D:\Air
D:\Abonden
D:\All
D:\Whatever

I want to delete all folders starting with "A" (including all subfolders and files). I tried this command:

rmdir D:\A* /s /q

I get an error, though :(

The filename, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect.

The del command works with *, but I need to delete folders as well.
Is there a way to achieve that via the rmdir command?

© Super User or respective owner

Related posts about Windows

Server 2012 DFS New Member Issue

as seen on Server Fault - Search for 'Server Fault'
I am trying to add a new member to our DFS topology. We have 3 DCs (VMs - VMware) running Windows server 2012, two servers are located in or Primary site and the third at our DR site. Currently the two servers at our primary site are currently replicating DFS (full mesh) and are working fine. I have… >>> More
error in IIS7 but not on IIS6

as seen on Server Fault - Search for 'Server Fault'
I have a website that is we are now deploying to windows 2008 servers that has worked in the past on IIS6 without a problem. It is using .net 2 framework. Most of the website works. Just when we create a screen report over a certain size on the server we get this error. Event code: 3005 Event… >>> More
error in IIS7 but not on IIS6

as seen on Server Fault - Search for 'Server Fault'
I have a website that is we are now deploying to windows 2008 servers that has worked in the past on IIS6 without a problem. It is using .net 2 framework. Most of the website works. Just when we create a screen report over a certain size on the server we get this error. Event code: 3005 Event… >>> More
Microsoft Management Console stops working when I add snap-in to it

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
I have Windows 7 Ultimate OS. I'm opening mmc.exe as administrator and trying add Certificates or any other snap-in, then while loading that snap-in MMC breaks and displays following message and after that it closes automatically once I click on close button on that message. What could be the problem… >>> More
Handling keyboard and mouse input (Win API)

as seen on Game Development - Search for 'Game Development'
There is a number of ways to catch mouse or keyboard under Windows. So I tried some of them, but every of them has some advantages and drawbacks. I want to ask you: Which method do use? I've tried these: WM_KEYDOWN/WM_KEYUP - Main disadvantage is that, I can't distinguish between left and right-handed… >>> More

Related posts about command-line

WMI permissions: Select CommandLine, ProcessId FROM Win32_Process returns no data for CommandLine

as seen on Server Fault - Search for 'Server Fault'
Hi all, I am gathering performance data via WMI and would like to avoid having to use an account in the Administrators group for this purpose. The target machine is running Windows Server 2003 with the latest SP/updates. I've done what I believe to be the appropriate configuration to allow our user… >>> More
WMI permissions: Select CommandLine, ProcessId FROM Win32_Process returns no data for CommandLine

as seen on Server Fault - Search for 'Server Fault'
I am gathering performance data via WMI and would like to avoid having to use an account in the Administrators group for this purpose. The target machine is running Windows Server 2003 with the latest SP/updates. I've done what I believe to be the appropriate configuration to allow our user access… >>> More
Java 1.5 Command Line Password Masking

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
All, Our server is running Java 1.5 and I am having difficulty trying to mask user input from the command line. I am executing a jar file (java -jar my.jar) and am working through command line prompts via printlns. I cannot use Java Console. Thanks >>> More
Modifying AD Schema permissions from the command line

as seen on Geeks with Blogs - Search for 'Geeks with Blogs'
Recently while making some changes for a client, I accidently dug myself into a pretty deep hole. I was trying to explicitly deny a certain user from reading a few group policies including the Default Domain Policy. When I went in to make the change I accidently denied Authenticated Users rather… >>> More
Ask the Readers: Do You Use the Command Line?

as seen on How to geek - Search for 'How to geek'
Most people have heard of it but not everyone is familiar or comfortable with how to use this bastion of geekdom. This week we would like to know if you use the command line or not. The command line…the bastion of ultimate geekery in many peoples’ eyes. You often hear people referring to doing… >>> More