Folder Problem

[shifter]

You can try it through the Windows MSDOS prompt first (Start>Run>Cmd), but if that fails you may need to boot directly into DOS to be able to delete the folder.

Once in DOS, all you need to do is navigate to your folders directory, in this case your desktop. I am going to assume you are using Windows XP in this case:

At the DOS Prompt, use "cd" to change directories. So if you start at C:\ then you need to type in "cd documents and settings\<username>\desktop". Once in your desktop directory, type in "rmdir foldername /s" and hit Y.

Good Luck.

[David]

quote:Originally posted by shifter

You can try it through the Windows MSDOS prompt first (Start>Run>Cmd), but if that fails you may need to boot directly into DOS to be able to delete the folder.

Once in DOS, all you need to do is navigate to your folders directory, in this case your desktop. I am going to assume you are using Windows XP in this case:

At the DOS Prompt, use "cd" to change directories. So if you start at C:\ then you need to type in "cd documents and settings\<username>\desktop". Once in your desktop directory, type in "rmdir foldername /s" and hit Y.

Good Luck.

If your not running Windows XP/2000, you'll need to type "command.com" instead of CMD. And also, If your running any NT OS (WinNT4 / Win2000 / WinXP), you cannot boot into DOS, your disk is likely formatted under NTFS, meaning any version of MS-DOS won't read your partitions. (FYI: NT DOS is just a command line shell, it's not 'true' DOS.)

[ErEf]

I have the same prob on a w2k server.. it won't delete the folder.. I can't even change properties, 'cause after applying it shouts.. ACCES DENIES
even with command prompt access is denied
not in windows explorer
i attribbed it with attrib -r -a -s -h /d /s in the parent folder than it says access denied.

I won't reboot the server with more the 250 sites of customers on it.
There is no service trying to read the folder .. to me it just seems empty but Windows won't let it be deleted

The only solvation may be to do a checkdisk with a reboot. That solved it for me an other time.

But it still is ridiculous that one is not able to delete a folder

[DJHyperbyte]

The truth is: If you deny 'Everyone' access to a folder in Windows NT, then this really means -everyone- (including the system administrator). If you also put a rule to allow the administrator everything (which is generally the case), this won't matter, as 'deny' has a priority over 'allow'.

Allow administrator
Deny everyone
This will result in the administrator not being able to get to the folder anymore.

Is this fixable? Yes. Microsoft support can fix this with a special tool - for a lot of money.

What? Underground tools that can hack around NTFS file permissions? Yes... there are many. Don't forget that Google is your friend.

[ElllisD]

Same problem on XP Home. Tried everything mentioned above & even in safe mode, I get the access is denied error in both DOS and Explorer. I had success deleting read-only shortcuts that were created by the same app that created the stubborn dir using del /f. I tried rmdir /? to see if there's a force option for it but there isn't.
When I open the folder's properties in Explorer I see the read only box checked & when I uncheck it & click either apply or OK the attrib's immediateley back again when I look at properties again. No success changing attributes through DOS either.
I'm not about to reinstall windows just to get a bad menu outta the start menu- but it's the only problem on this machine I've yet to find a solution for, and it really bugs me.

[DJHyperbyte]

quote:Originally posted by ElllisD

When I open the folder's properties in Explorer I see the read only box checked

And if you look at the 'Security' or 'Permissions' tab of that folder?

Note: Those tabs might not be visible to you, so you will have to enable them in Windows XP, through 'Start', 'My Computer'. Then on the 'Tools' menu, click 'Folder Options', and then click the 'View' tab. In the 'Advanced Settings' section, remove the check before 'Use simple file sharing (Recommended)'. Now click 'OK' and post what is on the 'Security' tab for the inaccessible folder.

[ElllisD]

DJ- I had a brief jolt of hope upon reading your idea, as I hadn't even known that route was available to me. However, Windows wins again, as I don't see either the Advanced Settings section under My Computer> Folder Options> Tools> View, or anything regarding security or permissions in the folder or it's properties.
I've had another folder become "infected" (for lack of a better term) with the access denied phenomenon after reinstalling Plus!. In this case it's worse, as not only the dir is undeletable- the files within the folder are now unresponsive to the del /f command. It leads me to suspect something's in my computer creating these headaches. I don't see any processes/apps running that don't belong, and antivirus catches nothing, so I'm thoroughly perplexed. Seems I'm on an Install freeze until I either reinstall the OS or find a solution to what's going on here.
Thank you nonetheless for the suggestion.

[David]

quote:Originally posted by ElllisD

DJ- I had a brief jolt of hope upon reading your idea, as I hadn't even known that route was available to me. However, Windows wins again, as I don't see either the Advanced Settings section under My Computer> Folder Options> Tools> View, or anything regarding security or permissions in the folder or it's properties.
I've had another folder become "infected" (for lack of a better term) with the access denied phenomenon after reinstalling Plus!. In this case it's worse, as not only the dir is undeletable- the files within the folder are now unresponsive to the del /f command. It leads me to suspect something's in my computer creating these headaches. I don't see any processes/apps running that don't belong, and antivirus catches nothing, so I'm thoroughly perplexed. Seems I'm on an Install freeze until I either reinstall the OS or find a solution to what's going on here.
Thank you nonetheless for the suggestion.

You have XP Home Edition? You'll need to follow DJ's steps in Safe Mode.

[ElllisD]

Hey- I just noticed that when I drag n drop shortcuts within the start menu, their icons don't survive the move, their properties show them as invalid shortcuts, and they have the same access denied/write protected error within explorer, yet they are deletable using the del /f command. Just figured it was worth mentioning- hope it gives someone smarter than me a clue as to what's going on w/ this bs.

[DeusEximus]

I had the same problem, and found this forum through a google search. I got the folder to delete after reading this and messing with it for a bit. I found that for some reason, my security permissions for my user, even though I am THEE "administrator", were not enabled for the folder, and it would not let me enable them. I got a different user, also with administrator privileges, to log on and delete it. For some unknown reason, we could not enable the permissions for my user for that particular folder. Who knows why....?????? Hope this helps someone.