Reserved Names in Windows 2000

I've been working on Windows for over 10 years and I just came across an unusual problem on a Windows 2000 server that I have never seen before.  A folder was inaccessible.  No security permissions.  Taking ownership of the folder didn't help.  I couldn't delete the folder or rename it.  Did a little research and found out that the reason why is because the folder was named "COM1".

Apparently in Windows there are reserved names such as "COM1", "LPT1", and "PRN".  If a file or folder is named with one of these reserved names, standard commands do not work.  Especially if you are on an NTFS partition.  I guess this was resolved after Windows 2000.  I tried creating a folder in Vista it wouldn't even allow me to create a folder with that name.

I had to use the following command.  It is referenced in a Microsoft KB article indicated below.

rmdir \\.\driveletter:\path\directory