DIGIT-ARC read-only archive · snapshot: July 23, 2026

windows not allowing me to delete files.....

24 posts · originally from https://geek.digit.in/community/threads/windows-not-allowing-me-to-delete-files.57679/

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Omsck Original post #1
May 13, 2007 at 12:13 PM
i have win xp installed on c:, i had installed vista in d: with dual boot... then i deleted the vista folders nd changed boot.ini... but the 2 folders of vista ; windows nd docm & settings im not able to delete...access denied.. make sure that disk is..blah blah...how do i remove them???
Quiz_Master
May 13, 2007 at 12:20 PM
Are you sure they are of Vista???
Run CheckDisk on your D: Drive. I think those files are gone currupt thats why they can not be deleted.
Try deleting them again.
If its not working then boot in safe mode and delete them. I think this should solve the problem.
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Omsck #3
May 13, 2007 at 12:29 PM
im 100% surethey are of vista... i tried to delete them in safemode but still the same error....what to do???
.
May 13, 2007 at 12:46 PM
Try Unlocker
*ccollomb.free.fr/unlocker/

*ccollomb.free.fr/unlocker/example.png

also for
Cannot delete file: Access is denied
There has been a sharing violation.
The source or destination file may be in use.
The file is in use by another program or user.
Make sure the disk is not full or write-protected and that the file is not currently in use.
techtronic
May 13, 2007 at 12:46 PM
Do you have any other data stored in D: other than these two folders ?
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Omsck #6
May 13, 2007 at 12:51 PM
i tried unlocker ; doesnt work

also i cant format d: ...all my data is in it...
kaustav_geek
May 13, 2007 at 1:02 PM
Are you sure they are of Vista???
Run CheckDisk on your D: Drive. I think those files are gone currupt thats why they can not be deleted.
Try deleting them again.
If its not working then boot in safe mode and delete them. I think this should solve the problem.
Nuh uh.. Scandisk won't help.... And neither will deletion in safe mode....

@Omsck

Do you have a Windows 98 or Windows XP boot disk ?? If you have the former... Boot with and then try and delete the twp drives from there..
If you have the latter, again, boot from it and enter Repair Mode... From there, delete the reqd folders.
.
May 13, 2007 at 1:08 PM
Try booting from a BartPE disk, live cd eg. some linux distro which can mount and edit ntfs & fat32, or even a bootable floppy of ntfsdos and delete the crap.
If you can't do this,
try exiting all running programs, kill as many processes & services you can in Task Manager, even explorer
than run cmd prompt by win+r key (enter cmd in the run dialog box)
in dos, navigate to the directory and delete it by:
DEL "Path of the folder" /F /S /Q
kaustav_geek
May 13, 2007 at 1:23 PM
If you can't do this,
I don't see why he can't do that...

try exiting all running programs, kill as many processes & services you can in Task Manager, even explorer
than run cmd prompt by win+r key (enter cmd in the run dialog box)
in dos, navigate to the directory and delete it by:
DEL "Path of the folder" /F /S /Q

Are you sure that ^^^ will work ?? cmd is just a DOS shell which runs over Windows. So, he still won't be able to delete the files...

I suspect that the partition , from which he wants to delete is NTFS.. In such a case, my suggestion of WIN 98 boot disk won't work.... Go for ntfsdos disk as per the suggestion by Free Radical.
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Omsck #10
May 13, 2007 at 1:37 PM
cant delete from recovery console, access denied..
& dont have a floppy drive....
but i do have a usb mp3 player... i formatted it but the option for creating a ms dos startup disk is disabled!!
kaustav_geek
May 13, 2007 at 1:40 PM
Why do you at all want to delete those files?What are they ?? And what is the size of the folders ?

One of the above processes should have worked....
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Omsck #12
May 13, 2007 at 1:54 PM
see the first post ....some vista folders... they r total crap....its size is abt 8 gb.....

any other solutions???
Vishal Gupta
May 13, 2007 at 2:27 PM
Open "Tools -> Folder Options" and goto "View" tab and make sure that the option "Use Simple File Sharing" (or something like that) is disabled.

Now right-click on the folders and click on "Properties".
Goto "Security" tab and make sure ur account has all permissions. If not then grant it all permissions. If it doesnt help, then take ownership of the folder.

Now try again to delete the folders.
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Omsck #14
May 13, 2007 at 2:55 PM
it works! i took ownership but still it dint allow me .. but i hadnt selectd the option to inherit the attributes... after doing so all files were deleted......thanks a lot...
Vishal Gupta
May 13, 2007 at 3:11 PM
^^ cool. It worked for u. :D
kaustav_geek
May 13, 2007 at 3:13 PM
Open "Tools -> Folder Options" and goto "View" tab and make sure that the option "Use Simple File Sharing" (or something like that) is disabled.

Now right-click on the folders and click on "Properties".
Goto "Security" tab and make sure ur account has all permissions. If not then grant it all permissions. If it doesnt help, then take ownership of the folder.

Now try again to delete the folders.


@ Vishal

How come one is unable to do so from within the recovery console??
Vishal Gupta
May 13, 2007 at 3:15 PM
^^ bcoz the owner of those folders is different from administrator (its Trustedinstaller, I think) and u hv to logged in with administrator account in "Recovery Console", so u r not authorized to delete them. ;)
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Omsck #18
May 13, 2007 at 3:22 PM
@ vishal, i was asked for the admin password in the recovery console;does it mean that it was logged as admin ?
Vishal Gupta
May 13, 2007 at 3:25 PM
^^ u didnt get it. ;)
What I meant is, only "Trustedinstaller" account can delete those folders coz its the owner and u logged in as administrator in Recovery Console not trustedinstaller, then how can u delete those folders? :)
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Omsck #20
May 13, 2007 at 3:29 PM
okkk....stupid me... btw "Windows VISTA => Windows VIS(hal gup)TA" is a nice full form...
kaustav_geek
May 13, 2007 at 3:35 PM
^^ bcoz the owner of those folders is different from administrator (its Trustedinstaller, I think) and u hv to logged in with administrator account in "Recovery Console", so u r not authorized to delete them.

He had wiped out his VISTA files and had used a Windows XP boot disk....How then do the account privileges matter ? Administrator is supposed to have more privileges in Win XP right ?
Vishal Gupta
May 13, 2007 at 3:38 PM
^^ Account privileges always matter, if u r using NTFS partitions. And "Trustedinstaller" is a system account, which is superior than administrator account. ;)

Omsck said:
btw "Windows VISTA => Windows VIS(hal gup)TA" is a nice full form...
thnx. :D
.
May 13, 2007 at 8:01 PM
Wow. didn't know vista did that to your system. brrrr...its scary
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Omsck #24
May 14, 2007 at 1:03 PM
haha.. not that scary but too much frustrating ... 8gb of locked up space.... & the 'access denied' message everytime ...