Why can't i delete?

Mutant_Fruit

Basically, this is driving me around the bend. I can't delete off my c:.

At the moment, the E: is my windows drive, d: + C: are just storage drives, but for some odd reason, i cna't delete anything off the C:. Whenever i try, i get the error

Cannot delete ****: Access is Denied 

Make sure the disc is not full or write protected, and that the file is not in use 

I've tried shift-deleting, and going to safe mode, and still no luck. I've also tried changing the Security settings on the folders, and giving everyone Full Access, but that didn't seem to work, the settings seemed to return to normal.

What can i do? Theres too much on the drive to backup so i can't just format the bugger.

vibe666

was the data on that drive from a previous installation of windows?

have you tried the 'take ownership' thing in the file permissions?

Mutant_Fruit

I just tried the "Take owenership" thing, not 30 seconds before i checked back to this thread. And it didnt work, i still couldn't delete

Maybe i'm doing it wrong, so could you tell me how exactly i am supposed to do it, step by step.

stevenmu

Dos boot disk might be your best bet, with a copy of deltree.exe to speed up deleting folder trees

Mutant_Fruit

Since i posted last, i tried to reset permissions, now that i had "taken control" and i managed to lock myself completely out of my C: :rolleyes:

So i was about ready to take a hammer to my computer, and i decided "Right, before i go get the linux CD, i'll go see if i can take control again", and i was shocked! When i clicked on "Take control" it said

"You do not have permission to access this folder, would you like to replace permissions granting you full access". I was so happy, and now i can delete. Thanks for the help.

EDIT: just so you know, i've been trying to fix this for over a week!

vibe666

hehe, had the same problem myself a while back and someone suggested the very same thing.

another way of getting round it is to give everyone full permission on the drive, and then browse to it via the run box as if it were a remote pc (i.e. \\mypc\c$) and remove the files from it that way. you can then back up what you need, delete what you don't and then format the damn thing to get rid of the problem altogether.

that's something that worked for me one time too.

you can also use a similar trick if you have problems with overly long filenames many directories deep (some temp internet files can cause this). just create a share one directory above the file you want to delete and then browse to the share, and low and behold the filename is made shorter because it's a share not the full path.

just a hint for sometime in the future. bit of lateral thinking if you will.

tman

vibe666 wrote:

you can also use a similar trick if you have problems with overly long filenames many directories deep (some temp internet files can cause this). just create a share one directory above the file you want to delete and then browse to the share, and low and behold the filename is made shorter because it's a share not the full path.

just a hint for sometime in the future. bit of lateral thinking if you will.

heh, that tip is about 2 weeks too late to save me
at least i managed to back up all my crap using a borrowed dvdr drive before formatting

vibe666

it might not always work, but it's something to try if you're stuck. sometimes it has worked for me, other times not.

PhilCurran

Mutant_Fruit wrote:

Since i posted last, i tried to reset permissions, now that i had "taken control" and i managed to lock myself completely out of my C: :rolleyes:

So i was about ready to take a hammer to my computer, and i decided "Right, before i go get the linux CD, i'll go see if i can take control again", and i was shocked! When i clicked on "Take control" it said

"You do not have permission to access this folder, would you like to replace permissions granting you full access". I was so happy, and now i can delete. Thanks for the help.

EDIT: just so you know, i've been trying to fix this for over a week!

I'm having this problem aswell How do u take control of the folder permissions

the_syco

Gimme the file name, and I'll see.

woolymammoth

taken from MS or some other god forsaken place...

First make sure it is not a system file. After you have determined it to not be a system file follow these steps:

* Close all open applications.
* Open a command prompt and navigate to the directory with the offending files.
* Then open the Task Manager and click on the Processes tab. select "explorer.exe" under Image Name. Click "End Process".
* This will leave only the command prompt and the task manager running.
* Now at the Command Prompt, its time to delete the file(s). Using the DEL command. Example c:>/movies/DEL movie.avi
* Now the files are deleted, go to the task manager and click on the Applications tab. Click the "New Task" button. in the dialog, type explorer.exe and click OK.

Added 12/21/02 -- ref: this MS Help forum post:
As alot of you know XP will sometimes hang onto a file causing you to go into the command prompt and kill explorer to delete the file. Well if you want a permanent fix read on:

1. open up regedit.exe and head to the following key
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\.avi\shellex\PropertyHandler

2. Delete the default value and close regedit.

This should keep you from having to go through the long process of having to close everything and use the command prompt to delete the file.

Mutant_Fruit

If its a case of permissions denying you the ability to delete a file, the best thing to do is just to delete ALL permissions. Then windows will pop up a messaging saying that you have no permissions to access the drive, and would you like some. Then you click yes, and delete away.

PhilCurran

Sorry I shuda been more specific I have no problem deleting files it's folders I've been sorting out the crap on my hard drive and the folders won't delete When I delete the files within. It's not just delete, I can't move these folders either!

I'm logged in as the administrator on the computer & there are none of the other users logged in so it isn't another user using the file

I've noticed that if I reboot the majority of the time I'll be able to delete the folder but I'll only get 2 or 3 done before that error comes up again!

In the properties section for the folders the read only box is checked and if I uncheck it and then immediately go back into the properties it is checked again.

I've only noticed this problem recently so i thought I could have a virus but I've run Norton 2005, spybot, ad aware and others And nothing shows up

CyberGhost

hey guys, download and install this cool application, it will help you
http://www.dr-hoiby.com/WhoLockMe/index.php

my guess is that probably explorer.exe is using it, run taskmanager, and kill explorer.exe and run it again, should do the trick

SwampThing

I assume you've made sure the folders are empty; have no hidden system files in there?
Are these system or program directories or are they just your own data files?

One more thing, why have you your drives set up like that?

PhilCurran

Cheers CyberGhost I'll try that program

@Swampthing I didn't set the drives to do this It just started it a couple of weeks ago There's no hidden files or system files in the folders, just ripped mp3 that I don't listen to & are just taking up space

Cabaal

It sounds strange but it always works for me

Use Spybots 1.3 Secure Shredder feature,
copy the file into it and start it shredding.

While its deleteing the file spybot might hang for 2 or 3min but it will finish up eventually