How to delete...undeletable files?

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on my secondary drive there seems to be a few fragments of my old windows x64 instalation which i cant seem to get rid of, mainly the 'windows' folder which seems to give me the generic 'access is denied' message, ive unchecked readonly from everything i can and even tried the file shredder from tuneup untilites and it still wont delete! anyone know how to get rid of them? formatting the disk isnt an option
 
try this....

First of all open up the command prompt

Then open up task manager (ctrl/Alt/Del) and shutdown explorer.exe

Now in command prompt enter delete c:\windows\blarblar.exe (File name of whatever you need to delete)

then in the command prompt enter run explorer.exe

Might work, worked for me on some spyware i couldnt get rid of on my desktop
 
Take ownership of the files/folders.

For Windows XP Pro.
Right click the folder and choose Sharing And Security then Security then Advanced. Click the owner tab and take ownership of the folder. Tick the box for Replace owner on subcontainers and ojects. Apply that and try again.

Haven't got a clue about Windows XP Home.
 
Tried it in safe mode? Even if you have to use another OS, you will be able to get rid if them.... But I would use caution. If for some reason those files are still in use then removing them may (will) break something.

[edit]This is if the problem isnt file system permissions.
 
I've used 'wholockme' inthe past always worked for me

either that or the file is on another pc, but you wouldnt be that daft would you. ;)
 
I've got this nasty suspicion that Windows will probably not allow the deletion of a Windows folder (Even a defunct one).
My thoughts would be to first try the recovery console from the XP CD, and then if that doesn't work to find a DOS bootdisk with NTFS write support, and delete it using that.

-Leezer-
 
The reason you cant delete it is because you dont have ownership or security to clear it as it was created by older user/update software etc

The way to do it is this.

First of all, you need to switch of simple file sharing.

1. Open exploer
2. Click Tools -> Folder Options
3 At the very bottom there is a tick box for simple file sharing (recommended) - make sure this is unchecked
4 Navigate to the folder you wish to delete and right click it
5 Select sharing
6 Share the folder with the default options
7 Make sure the permissions tab and security tab give everyone full access
8 You can now delete the folder

You may however get an error message saying you dont have rights to delete it, and windows will offer you the rights, becasue of step 7 above. Take the rights and delete it. You mst be logged on as an administrator to perfom this.

Works for me every time any queries leave me a reply.

PS make sure you switch simple file sharing back on if you share files over a home network.
 
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