Some time ago my computer had problems and I had to reinstall Vista. All the
files in the old system were moved to the Windows.old folder.
To cut a long story short, I had another problem which I solved by going
into safe mode and used the command rd/S to remove all the files in the
Windows.old directory. When I got back to Vista again, I saw that while the
files under the Windows.old directory had been removed, the directory itself
remained, so I just moved it the recycle bin.
A couple of days ago, I wanted to empty the recycle bin but I found that I
couldn't do it; I had to delete the files again. Apparently, as long as
Windows.old is still in the recycle bin, I cannot empty it. The problem is
that I have been unable to do so. In fact I cannot even restore it or move
it to the desktop or anywhere for that matter. It just stays put in the
recycle bin.
I read somewhere that I might need to take ownership of the folder first. I
am not quite sure how to take ownership of a folder, so I downloaded the
Take Ownership registry file here:
http://www.technobeta.com/posts/add-...-context-menu/
However, even after I have installed the TOCM_add.reg registry file, when I
right-click on the Windows.old folder, I didn't see the "Take Ownership"
option. My only choices were Restore, Cut, Delete and Properties. In case it
might be useful, the info as given by Properties is:
Type: File Folder
Origin: C:
Size: 94.5k
I have also tried the methods listed in the link below without any success:
http://www.jimmah.com/vista/Administ...indowsold.aspx
I want to point that there is no more Windows.old in my c: drive. It only
exists in the recycle bin. (I have chosen to display hidden files in the
Folder and Search options; so it's not as if the Windows.old directory is
hidden somewhere.)
Any idea I can banish Windows.old from the recycle bin? Any help would be
much appreciated.