Fixing folder permissions

[Zickar]

I'm stuck with some folders on my external hard disk with some random names like "9fc78d0bc9731d665cf465cf333abe6a" and such , these folders are also scattered on my C and D Drive ... I've done some search and have been trying to fix this for some time .

First thing is first , the folders usually contain many folders inside and everyone of those subfolders contain three files named Eula.rtf, Localized Data.Xml , Setup Resources.dll . They are locked and any attempt to delete them on any level results in a prompt telling me I need permission from SYSTEM to delete than and gives me a try again message . I edited the permisions but still with no lock because any attempt to apply the changes required permission from SYSTEM (I Noticed system here being used as a user) ...

I Used the takeown command in an elevated command prompt , it told me that the command was successful , I then used the command prompt to delete the file , it asked me to confirm and I did , there were no more messages so I assumed it work however the file is still there . Now when I try and delete it I get a message asking permission from "TOSHIBA USER" instead of system , Some progress except that I'm Toshiba User .. So something doesn't make sense ...

I Tried applications like Unlocker and process explorer with no luck and they keep teling me that the folder is unlocked .. I realize that this might be some part of a failed update ( I have some problems with the KB2656351 update for Net Render 4) so this might be related ... I tried installing the update manually but keep getting a fatal installation error message . I even tried deleteing the folders (On the external hard drive) on another windows laptop with no luck , I tried safe mode , Administrator account and repair mode .. No Luck .

I will try and delete these files from a Mac !! It might work !! but what can I do with all the folders on the C and D ??

[FiB3R]

Windows 8 by any chance?

Eula.rtf should give you some clues about what is creating these files, folders.

[Zickar]

I'm on windows 7 , I'm not sure if its the same as the problem created in Windows 8 though

[Detection]

I read you took ownership via cmd but did you do it manually or did you use this right click menu ?

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/add-take-ownership-to-explorer-right-click-menu-in-vista/

That usually works to get ownership, then you can set permissions on the folders and contents and should be able to delete

Or use a Linux box to delete them with, Linux doesn't care about permissions

[Zickar]

I read you took ownership via cmd but did you do it manually or did you use this right click menu ?

http://www.howtogeek...-menu-in-vista/

That usually works to get ownership, then you can set permissions on the folders and contents and should be able to delete

Or use a Linux box to delete them with, Linux doesn't care about permissions

I did it manually using the takeown command ...

I think I will download a portable version of Linux (Any suggestions) on a USB , something graphical and small because installin the full software is not an option at the moment

[fbsduser]

download ubuntu (it's a cd sized distro that can be written to an usb using unetbootin or win32imagewriter) and doesn't need to be installed, it's graphical and entirelly self-contained.

[Detection]

Yea Ubuntu will work fine,

http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop

You can use Universal Installer to make a bootable USB stick

http://www.pendrivelinux.com/universal-usb-installer-easy-as-1-2-3/

[Zickar]

I fixed it to some extent .... I ended up using my friend's mac at work , I deleted 2 folders and apparently missed one ... and there was a folder that still showed up but this time as a hidden folder ... I consider this a success to some extent and will try and remove everything tommorw because I need to get back to work today .. Thank you all for the advice and help

[+BudMan MVC]

So your resorting to accessing the drive via a mac or linux to delete some files on ntfs, because you do not understand permissions?

Just because you take ownership of something, does not mean you have permissions to delete it. Ownership and permissions are different things.

Once you take ownership, then you can assign the permissions you need.

that is great you used takeown, but this does not set permissions. If you want to do from cmd line then you could use icacls to set the permissions you want.

What exact command did you run in takeown - its great taking ownership of files - but can be a bit tricky with folders.

Here is OLD article -- but goes into some details of why your having issues and how to take ownership and set permissions in one simple .cmd you create.

http://blogs.msdn.co...ndeletable.aspx

And is titled exactly for what your doing - having issue deleting stuff "Windows Vista Secret #11: Deleting the Undeletable"

[DPyro]

Couldn't you just use a command prompt under admin and del the folders from there?

[g0dzilla]

This program could have possibly worked for you:

http://www.zeus-software.com/downloads/ntfsaccess

Honestly haven't tried it myself though...