Windows 7 Installed - Cannot Delete Files Or Change Ownership
Oct 24, 2012
I just installed Windows 7 Enterprise 64-bit on two machines, and then Firefox 16.0.1 on each. Trying to replace the password files in my new profile, I found that many of these folders and files (in UsermeAppDataRoamingMozilla) cannot be deleted, nor can their ownership be changed. They belong to me already, and I'm an administrator with Full Control.
I've tried 72 tricks, including Emco UnLockIt 3.0.3, Unlocker 1.9.1, Take Ownership registry keys, takeown (from the command line), etc. Nothing works. I can't move them, delete them or anything. Nor can Mozbackup create a backup profile (it can't write the backup). Why does Firefox create these weird locked files and folders? Why doesn't Windows 7 allow me to take control of them?
I just installed Windows 7 Enterprise 64-bit on two machines, and then Firefox 16.0.1 on each. Trying to replace the password files in my new Firefox profile, I found that many of these folders and files (in UsermeAppDataRoamingMozilla) cannot be deleted, nor can their ownership be changed. They belong to me already, and I'm an administrator with Full Control.I've tried 72 tricks,includingEmco UnLockIt 3.0.3, Unlocker 1.9.1, Take Ownership registry keys, takeown (from the command line), etc. Nothing works. I can't move them, delete them or anything. Nor can Mozbackup create a backup profile (it can't write the backup).Why does Firefox create these weird locked files and folders? Why doesn't Windows 7 allow me to take control of them?
I'm having an issue with my 2tb Sata Hard drive, in an attempt to reload windows onto the hard drives on my PC, "I wasn't sure which one had the least files!"I half loaded windows onto it before being told something along the lines of not enough free space, now after buying a new OS hard drive am hoping to access those files, yet every time I start windows with both plugged in my computer, none are picking up! Until I unplug the faulty and restart and its fine again.
In order to get rid of the *.zip folder view in WinExplorer on a64bit Windows 7 system I tried to delete (according to some tutorials) the Registry key:
Unfortunately this is not possible immediately. When I try to delete it then I got a popup: "Cannot delete.... Error while deleting key." Ok, so I tried to get ownership of this key by right clicking-->Permissions then selecting "Users" and enabling "Full control" the "apply" button but I got here: "Unable to save permission changes on .... Access denied".
This last error comes for all Owners: SYSTEM, Administrators, trusted Installers. I have Admin rights. So what more do I need to get ownership? Every change in owner is rejected as well.
All this started when I just wanted to change the way the clock looked to a custom one.
I go to the Windows Sidebar folder to locate the Gadgets folder for the clocks, and I try to make backups of a few of the files in the clocks folder by moving some of them to a new folder I created on the desktop. I cannot move them, access denied. I try taking ownership of the folder, cannot do it, access denied. I try changing the permissions, cannot do it, the boxes you can tick are grayed out. Long story short, I tried backing out of all the folders, trying to take ownership and change permissions all the way back to the Program Files folder itself to no avail. It seems if it is a default Windows folder I cannot mess with it in anyway; this also seems to be the case with my McAfee folder, but something that is less of a risk to change, like my Zune folder, I can change around no problem.
Quick rundown, I am using Windows 7 Ultimate edition, this is my only account for the computer, and it is an admin account. I have tried using several different "Take Ownership" downloads, including the one suggested on this site, but it does not work for the Window folders. "Take Ownership" won't even show up if I right-click on the folder. I know the Take Ownership mod is installed correctly, because it will popup for something that is not a default folder, like my Zune folder. .
I formatted my system today and did a clean install of Windows 8 and now my USB storage drive says cannot access. I remember vaguely adding permissions or taking ownership to the files when I was on Win 7 but dont remember what it is I did exactly. I was trying to hide my files from other users who logged into my computer and I strongly believe that I took ownership of those files. Basically if I format my PC again and when I browse my storage drive it shouldn't bug me for ownership or permissions. or if I put the drive in another PC it shouldn't ask for me for ownership/permissions. How do undo this?
I have a WD MyBook Essentials that I've had for some 4 years now. Every time I plug it into a different computer, I need to take ownership of its contents before I can access the files in it.I don't move it around much so that's fine, but today I installed Windows 7 Professional (first time installing Win7 on my PC, still experienced with the OS) & have had trouble taking ownership. It works just fine, but most of the files & folders still have a lock icon on them, & I'm unable to actually open/run any files whatsoever.
I can't seem to change some (but not all) music file details even when I have the ownership. I have Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit. I have done all the usual stuff. Right clicked on Properties, gone into Security, checked I have Full control. I have then gone into Advanced and changed the ownership to myself and still nothing. The only thing I think is strange is that there seems to be several entries in the Security tab on properties, and for that matter in the Advanced bit, of users/groups with similar titles all connected with me. For example 'steve (steve-PCsteve)', which is the one I usually use for ownership.
Also 'Administrator (steve-PCAdministrators)', which has ownership of a few files. Last is 'Users (steve-PCUsers)'. The is also 'Authenticated users', 'SYSTEM' and on one file I found 'WMPNetworkSvc'. All of these are usually listed on the Security tab and usually in the Advanced section. I have managed to change some music files to my ownership and change the details but not all. I have all my music on an external hard drive and on my C drive. Don't want to loose such a briliant collection now do I.
Ever since I've had my computer there has been an extra drive on it. it was called microsoft (Protected). It has absolutely nothing on it, and it has no use. I have been trying to delete it to no avail, so I renamed it to annoying drive.
Whenever I try to access it it gives me an access denied message. It has no owner, or even permissions, and when I try to change it to me, or the admin, it gives me the same message. I went to the list of things on the computer, and I can't even find it. I then attempted using lock hunter to find out what was blocking me from changing the file. Also to no avail. It says that there is nothing protecting it.
I've googled and tried many methods to fix this over the last two hours but nothing so far as worked.I have an old hard drive with data on it from my old Windows XP Professional computer attached to a usb port on a converter. Win 7 claims it cannot display the owner, if I try to take permission it says permission denied. If I take down the UAC the hard drive no longer appears in My Computer.I have tried to go in as the administrator account specifically it keeps giving me access denied. I tried using the administrator account in normal mode and using the command line 'take owner' command and it says access denied.I tried going into administrator safe mode, but again the external hard drive won't show up.Shortly I am planning on reformatting the current C drive and putting on Windows Xp Pro 32 bit, Win 7 and Ubuntu. Should I just wait till do that and hope it will miraculously identify it if I take control of it with Xp Pro? I'm really hoping this isn't going to indicate problems sharing files between the two operating systems on the same hard drive.
I have a seagate 1 terabyte external hard drive and I made an image of my old hard drive which contained windows XP Professional.I've since migrated to Windows 7 and am now trying to access the data in the my documents folder in the "imaged" drive which is embedded in in the external hard drive. I am trying to access the data in the administrators folder, but cannot: ACCESS DENIED.I tried to change ownership within windows 7.... Cannot: MEDIA IS WRITE PROTECTED.How can I access these files? I can access all the other files that are on the "image" which is on the external hard drive.
Not sure if this is where this should go but I am having an issue with an old windows folder that is on my hard drive after doing a reinstall. Everytime I try to delete it it tells me I need permission to perform this action. That I require permission from xyz, which was my last computer name. I go to security and see that full control is set for adminstrators, So i go to advanced and take control of the folder.I go to delete the folder now, and it tells me still that I need permission to perform this action, You require permission from the administrator to make changes to this folder.Im confused since I am the adminstrator on the omputer, the only user. So i set full control and access to everything for every little user it had listed and still nothing. Not able to delete the folder. Personally I would rather not have to format my hard drive to solve this issue. Whats going on here and how do I fix it
I recently reformatted my hard drive so before I moved all the files I wanted to my external hard drive.
So I'm all formatted with Windows 7 Ultimate re-installed and I'm trying to move all the files back. For whatever reason, a couple pictures (.jpg) and a couple videos (.avi) will not move or open. They were all contained in the same folder.
It was saying access denied and I needed permission from S-1-5-....gigantic number. So I changed the ownership and permissions of the files and the folders. Now it says I need permission from myself (Laptop/Kevin). I am the only account and have administrator privileges.
I am trying to take ownership of some of my system files in order to grant administrative permission to change the name of the files and replace them with customized versions. Everytime I do this, Right after I take ownership and grant permission to ExplorerFrame, or any of the other files, I cant click on any of the other "edit" options to take ownership of any of the other needed files.
I have taken ownership of all the files and folders on an old hard drive, but am still unable to access many of these files. When checking in the Security tab, I see myself as the owner with full admin permissions, but still cannot open the files
i have installed Xp first and it has not installed properly then i installed windows 7 and it is working fine...how to delete the XP files in my system..how to find those Xp files..i dont have the option of formating again because SAP has been installed in it...
Just started with a new computer and the automatic update downloaded some that I do not want to install. How do I get rid of them? I saw something on another forum about stopping the update, deleting softwaredistribution folder in the windows directory, and then restarting update, but that was for Vista., Will this work with Windows 7?
My computers hard drive (herein referred to as driveA) filled up and I installed a second drive (herein referred to as driveB) to hold all my files. Simple. Next, I updated my windows from XP to 7 Home Premium 32bit. This is where I think the trouble begins. I installed Windows 7 on driveA and let it keep a Windows.old folder to keep all my old things. Install went swimmingly and I was happy as a clam. I could operate any file any time from any location no worries.I can't open well over half of my files. The vast majority being pictures. I am talking thousands. Every picture I have taken from 2007-2010 and every picture saved from the internet along with music and videos. I have tried going through folders and individual files properties and changing permissions. I am the only user and I am the administrator but I have checked every box Allow just the same. I still cannot access my files. I don't know when this happened, or why, or how. I just know that I would sure love to have all of my wedding photos, family albums, etc. I have also tried using the registry "take ownership" tweak and the same results. Nothing changes. I have changed them all, restarted, and they still will not open. Can't see a thumbnail and no program can open it. The permissions stay saved as 'allow - all'
I have 64 bit windows 7. I deleted dungeon siege 2 using the control panel, remove program. It was removed except for one file in Program files x86/microsoftgames/dungeonSiege2. I tried manually deleting it but get this "the action can't be completed because the folder or file in it is open in another program. Close folder or file or retry" There is nothing open. I clicked properties of the file and security and clicked administrator and get the same message. Never had this problem removing remnants of programs in xp.
I had windows 7 keep giving me a blue screen more often than not. I decided to reinstall windows. All went well and I don't get any blue screens. Now most of my 500g drive is 2 files (windows.old and windows.old.000). Now I don't have any room to backup my computer. These 2 files take up about 300g. I went to my local computer store and they this is normal for windows 7 and the files just keep getting bigger as time goes on. They advised me that I should have at least 2T drive to keep running windows 7. So my question is, can I delete the old backup files because I'm only using less than 200g on an ongoing bases. My operating system tells me that I don't have backup setup and I don't have room to set it up. I would have just over 300g free if I could delete these 2 files.
I have an Acer laptop that is less than 4 months old. Did not come with a back up disc. It will not accept the password that was set up. How can I delete or change the password to be able to log on?
I am using w7 and windows media player automatically loads a unknown file in my library. The problem is that most of the music is already in the library in the form of albums. Now I can't delete the unknown file or edit it.
I ran an upgrade with win home 7. I am the administrator. When I try to delete old programs, I get a message that reads require permission from Admin or trusted installer. How do I delete these programs. I put my password as an administrator when I logged in.
I want to know if there is a way to manually delete the index.dat files completely off my computer in Windows 7. If not, is there a utility that you would recommend that is safe and effective to use? Although I can get around on my computer just fine, I am in no way an advanced user.
While doing a thorough scan with Malwarebytes I found it slogging through a folder under 'Windows' named 'winsxs'. In it are hundreds of similar files, all beginning "amd64_microsoft. followed by a long string that varies a bit from the previous ones. This is on my HP laptop 64 bit Win 7 machine. Can I delete these files and do do no harm?
Windows 7 will delete "Read-Only" files without providing any warning (unlike XP). Windows Media Player 12 will overwrite files which have the "Read-Only" attribute set. How to make Windows 7 (& WMP) obey the "Read-Only" attribute on files?
My computer has been acting a little weird lately. Recently i've downloaded some .mkv files and now i can't rename or delete or move them. I tried using command prompt and unlocker and it's still not working. It says "action can't be completed because it is being opened by other programme", i don't get this as i close all programmes and it still says the same thing.
My main purpose is to actually move them into another folder. It's only these few days that my computer is acting like this. I can move/delete/rename other avi or mp4 files.
