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permissions - Deleting "undeletable" files in Vista


I recently upgraded my workstation from XP SP3 to Vista Business, and during the upgrade Windows moved my old C:\Windows directory to C:\Windows.old. I got all of the stuff I needed out of that folder, but there are six "undeletable" files there so I cannot remove it. They are:


Windows.old\Program1\Adobe\Reader 9.0\Resource\CMap\Identity-H
Windows.old\Program1\Adobe\Reader 9.0\Resource\CMap\Identity-V
Windows.old\Program1\Common Files\Adobe\Acrobat\ActiveX\AcroIEHelper.dll
Windows.old\Program1\Common Files\Adobe\Acrobat\ActiveX\AcroIEHelperShim.dll
Windows.old\Program1\Common Files\Adobe\Acrobat\ActiveX\AcroPDF.dll
Windows.old\Program1\Common Files\Adobe\Acrobat\ActiveX\pdfshell.dll

Whenever I try to delete the files either through explorer or a command line, I get a permission denied error. I have tried to grant myself full permission on the files, but again, permission denied. I don't even have acrobat installed on my Vista machine, and I uninstalled Adobe updater. However, I still can't manage to get rid of these files. How do I nuke them for good?


Edit: I was able to take ownership of the files, but I still can't delete them. Renaming them did not work, as I was denied permission to do that as well. I'll try booting up in safe mode and getting rid of them there.


Edit II: Booting up into safe mode did not allow me to delete the files. Bummer.



Answer



You'll want to first take ownership of the files, which is easiest when you add Take Ownership to the right-click menu.


Once you've done that, you can do one of the following:



  • Use Unlocker to remove whatever is locking the file, and then delete it.

  • Use Boot Deleter to delete it when you reboot.

  • Try and rename the file, sometimes you can rename them when you can't delete them. Once you reboot, you can delete it.

  • Try and delete it from safe mode.

  • Delete it from the command prompt, usually safe mode works the best.


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