Vista - Unable to delete folder - "You need permission to perform this act

I have a folder under the Windows directory of my Windows Vista OS. This
folder 'orclobi', was created when I installed a piece of software.

I have set ownership of this folder from "Administrators" to myself and have
"Full control" selected under the Security settings.

When I try to delete this folder by right clicking, I receive the following
message:
"You need permission to perform this action"

My User Account is of type Administrator. Its rather surprising that
administrator role does not allow an simple action like file/folder deletion
to be performed.

My research lead me to a forum where the following solution was proposed:

"...
it's not unusual to find some folders that can't be accessed, even by an
administrator, because their ACLs were set for accounts with SIDs that
applied to an old partition. For example, on my home machine, I switched the
C: and D: drive cables around and installed Windows Vista RTM on the new
drive. Having tested everything worked, I wanted to delete some old redundant
directories (like the old \Program Files directory). If even an administrator
can't access the file, how do you take it back?

The secret lies in two command-line utilities, one ancient, the other
completely revised for this release. Respectively, these are takeown (which
takes ownership of a file or directory) and icacls (which sets new ACLs on
that directory). I created a small batch command on my system called
itsmine.cmd, as follows:

takeown /f %1 /r /d y
icacls %1 /grant administrators:F /t

From an elevated command prompt, you can run a command such as itsmine
d:\hard_to_delete and this will reset ownership and ACLs on the
hard_to_delete directory such that a command like rd /s d:\hard_to_delete
should work.
...."

I tried the above. It deletes some files and folders contained in 'orclobi'
but not all.

Also when I reboot the deleted files also magically re-appear.

Please provide a detailed step-by-step solution to resolving this issue.

Thanks.

Hash

Are there subfolders or hidden files that might have different permissions?


"Hash" <Hash@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:461F6CDD-CAFD-422A-BCB9-834FD90AABD9@microsoft.com...
>I have a folder under the Windows directory of my Windows Vista OS. This
> folder 'orclobi', was created when I installed a piece of software.
>
> I have set ownership of this folder from "Administrators" to myself and
> have
> "Full control" selected under the Security settings.
>
> When I try to delete this folder by right clicking, I receive the
> following
> message:
> "You need permission to perform this action"
>
> My User Account is of type Administrator. Its rather surprising that
> administrator role does not allow an simple action like file/folder
> deletion
> to be performed.
>
> My research lead me to a forum where the following solution was proposed:
>
> "...
> it's not unusual to find some folders that can't be accessed, even by an
> administrator, because their ACLs were set for accounts with SIDs that
> applied to an old partition. For example, on my home machine, I switched
> the
> C: and D: drive cables around and installed Windows Vista RTM on the new
> drive. Having tested everything worked, I wanted to delete some old
> redundant
> directories (like the old \Program Files directory). If even an
> administrator
> can't access the file, how do you take it back?
>
> The secret lies in two command-line utilities, one ancient, the other
> completely revised for this release. Respectively, these are takeown
> (which
> takes ownership of a file or directory) and icacls (which sets new ACLs on
> that directory). I created a small batch command on my system called
> itsmine.cmd, as follows:
>
> takeown /f %1 /r /d y
> icacls %1 /grant administrators:F /t
>
> From an elevated command prompt, you can run a command such as itsmine
> d:\hard_to_delete and this will reset ownership and ACLs on the
> hard_to_delete directory such that a command like rd /s d:\hard_to_delete
> should work.
> ..."
>
> I tried the above. It deletes some files and folders contained in
> 'orclobi'
> but not all.
>
> Also when I reboot the deleted files also magically re-appear.
>
> Please provide a detailed step-by-step solution to resolving this issue.
>
> Thanks.
>
> Hash
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

Hi Dyawlak,

To answer your question, NO. There are no subfolders or hidden files that
might have different permissions.

All the subfolders and files contained in "orclobi" are now under my
'ownership' with 'full control' permissions granted to every one of them via
Security settings.

Also, I have removed the 'Read Only' property setting and attempted to
delete the folder, with no success. This is because even after ensuring that
the 'Read Only' setting is "unset" and changes are Applied, when I right
click the folder and select properties again magically the 'Read only'
property is reset (i.e. Read Only option is selected)

By the way, I have Windows Vista Home Premium installed Version 6.0.0.0 (if
my memory is serving me well in relation to the version :-)).

Hope to hear on this from you or other's in the community.

Thanks.

Regards,
Hash




"Dyawlak" wrote:

> Are there subfolders or hidden files that might have different permissions?
>
>
> "Hash" <Hash@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:461F6CDD-CAFD-422A-BCB9-834FD90AABD9@microsoft.com...
> >I have a folder under the Windows directory of my Windows Vista OS. This
> > folder 'orclobi', was created when I installed a piece of software.
> >
> > I have set ownership of this folder from "Administrators" to myself and
> > have
> > "Full control" selected under the Security settings.
> >
> > When I try to delete this folder by right clicking, I receive the
> > following
> > message:
> > "You need permission to perform this action"
> >
> > My User Account is of type Administrator. Its rather surprising that
> > administrator role does not allow an simple action like file/folder
> > deletion
> > to be performed.
> >
> > My research lead me to a forum where the following solution was proposed:
> >
> > "...
> > it's not unusual to find some folders that can't be accessed, even by an
> > administrator, because their ACLs were set for accounts with SIDs that
> > applied to an old partition. For example, on my home machine, I switched
> > the
> > C: and D: drive cables around and installed Windows Vista RTM on the new
> > drive. Having tested everything worked, I wanted to delete some old
> > redundant
> > directories (like the old \Program Files directory). If even an
> > administrator
> > can't access the file, how do you take it back?
> >
> > The secret lies in two command-line utilities, one ancient, the other
> > completely revised for this release. Respectively, these are takeown
> > (which
> > takes ownership of a file or directory) and icacls (which sets new ACLs on
> > that directory). I created a small batch command on my system called
> > itsmine.cmd, as follows:
> >
> > takeown /f %1 /r /d y
> > icacls %1 /grant administrators:F /t
> >
> > From an elevated command prompt, you can run a command such as itsmine
> > d:\hard_to_delete and this will reset ownership and ACLs on the
> > hard_to_delete directory such that a command like rd /s d:\hard_to_delete
> > should work.
> > ..."
> >
> > I tried the above. It deletes some files and folders contained in
> > 'orclobi'
> > but not all.
> >
> > Also when I reboot the deleted files also magically re-appear.
> >
> > Please provide a detailed step-by-step solution to resolving this issue.
> >
> > Thanks.
> >
> > Hash
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>

Hash wrote:
> I have a folder under the Windows directory of my Windows Vista OS. This
> folder 'orclobi', was created when I installed a piece of software.
>
> I have set ownership of this folder from "Administrators" to myself and have
> "Full control" selected under the Security settings.
>
> When I try to delete this folder by right clicking, I receive the following
> message:
> "You need permission to perform this action"
>
> My User Account is of type Administrator. Its rather surprising that
> administrator role does not allow an simple action like file/folder deletion
> to be performed.
>
Even when you have an "administrator" account, any programs you run only
have User privileges unless they specifically request to use
Administrator privileges and you allow them to. Explorer should, after
saying you need permission, produce a UAC prompt where you can give this
permission. If the delete still fails, it could be that the files are in
use by another program.

The difference between Administrator and User accounts seems to be that
Administrator accounts just need to click a button to give a program
administrator privileges, whereas a User account will need to enter the
password for an Administrator account.

(snipped)

> I tried the above. It deletes some files and folders contained in 'orclobi'
> but not all.
>
> Also when I reboot the deleted files also magically re-appear.
>
Is the software which created the folder still installed and running? It
sounds like it (or something else) is recreating the files you deleted.

> Please provide a detailed step-by-step solution to resolving this issue.
>
> Thanks.
>
> Hash
>