Hi all,
I have a slightly new twist on the undeletable files problem in Vista. I have a couple of undeletable folders. When I installed Vista, I set up a couple of users that I subsequently deleted using Control Panel. The trouble is that their directories are still there in C:\users. If I try to delete them, I usually get some sort of permission denied message saying that they are open in another application or something. I also had McAfee anti-virus software installed on my computer. I used Control Panel to remove it as fast as I possibly could but the folder is still there in c:\program files, and it too is undeletable.
I have tried every solution I can find on the internet, including the takeown / ACLS batch file, various downloaded utilities, using rd from a command prompt after shutting down explorer in task manager, etc. Nothing seems to work... It's driving me up the wall.
As always, I'd be really grateful for any suggestions.
Best wishes,
James.

Hello Try this and tell me if it works for you
ccollomb.free.fr/unlocker/ (FREE)
I am 99% confident that it will....
"James"

On Fri, 16 Mar 2007 20:00:16 -0700, James wrote:

If it is a plain permission issue, just turn off UAC from User Accounts in Control Panel. You can always turn it back on when you're done. Are you sure they aren't open in some other application. Be sure by shuting everything down first except for Windows Explorer.
Still stuck, mark down the exact and complete folder and file names then open a command prompt and nuke them from there.
You get there from All Programs/Accessories. Once the little black window opens grap a corner of the window and drag a corner out to make it larger so its easier to see. Now to get an idea of what's possible from here, type help then hit enter. These are the same DOS commands Windows has had from the beginning, they never really go away. ;-)
You'll need to use the command 'CD' which will let you change directories. Unlike when working in the graphical part of Windows you need to be specific with the syntext or nothing will work. Just to give you a taste of what's posslbe and what you need to do Type 'CD' enter a space followed by the drive letter then : then hit enter.
Example cd e:\ would take you to your E drive if you have one.
To see what is on your E drive you would type 'dir' then hit enter which will show what's there, dir is short for directory. If you have lots of files, they fly by fast, which is why I told you to write down the exact file names beforehand to make things simpler. If you have a sub folder, enter that once in the hard drive.
To stop showing so many files at once add the '/p' switch. So if you type dir /p (don't forget that space) That will show a page full of files, then pause then you hit any key to see more. See, you'll be a geek in no time.
Nor finally how to get rid of files the old fashioned way.
At the prompt type 'erase myfile.jpg' Where 'my file' is the actual file you want to get rid of. Just substitute the actual file name in place of myfile.jpg. Note there is a single space between the command 'erase' and the file name.
If you do it right it won't say anything it just does it, so all you should see after you press enter is the prompt again. If you didn't do it right THEN is will say some error, so try again. Now repeat for each file using 'erase' for each combined with the file name. You can do the same to get rid of folders, only instead of 'erase' you use the command RMDIR in combination with the folder name.

Hi Kirk Jim,
Many thanks for that - it looks promising! Unfortunately, I get 'error debug privileges' when I try to unlock the offending directories...
James.
"kirk jim" wrote:

how bout this?
snapfiles.com/get/moveonboot.html
"James"