"Shatin" <lk1439-newsgroup@yahoo.com.hk> wrote
> 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.
>
You can remove the windows.old folder by using disk clean up. For more
information on how to take ownership, from the Start orb | Help and Support,
search on ownership.
--
Rock [MS-MVP User/Shell]