Can't delete file in hidden folder even after changing owner

  • Thread starter Thread starter Petrarch
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Petrarch

I restored my vista OS using a system image utility provided by Alienware.
It created a backup folder on the c drive with all the old files in it,
including user profiles. I changed the owner of all files and folders back
to my account and tried to delete it, but got the UAC messages that I need to
allow administrator rights to do so. After clicking yes, I got a message
that permission was denied with the only options of "Try Again" or "Cancel".
After making visible all hidden files and folders, I was able to drill down
to the one file I could not delete. I've used the "take ownership" steps in
Vista explorer properties, and also the "takeown" dos commands, which report
success that the Administrators group or my account which belongs to the
administrators group, is the owner of the file, and that I have full control
of it. Even so, I cannot delete this file. In DOS, I get access denied. In
Explorer, I get the "you need permission to perform this action" message,
with "try again" or "cancel", and it shows that my account (or administrators
group, doing it that way) is the owner. It's just this one file. I was able
to delete all other files and folders around this file, but just not this one.

I wonder if the folder path is so long or so nested that UAC fails to figure
it out? It was in users\<my profile>\appdata\roaming\etc. Or is the file
corrupt? The file is a tempory file created by one of those biometric
devices when logged on with your fingerprint, and is supposed to disappear
when you log off, but it seems to have remained there because of a hard boot.
Is there a utility I can use that can nuke this one lone file?

thanks
 
Petrarch said:
I restored my vista OS using a system image utility provided by
Alienware.
It created a backup folder on the c drive with all the old files in
it,
including user profiles. I changed the owner of all files and folders
back
to my account and tried to delete it, but got the UAC messages that I
need to
allow administrator rights to do so. After clicking yes, I got a
message
that permission was denied with the only options of "Try Again" or
"Cancel".
After making visible all hidden files and folders, I was able to drill
down
to the one file I could not delete. I've used the "take ownership"
steps in
Vista explorer properties, and also the "takeown" dos commands, which
report
success that the Administrators group or my account which belongs to
the
administrators group, is the owner of the file, and that I have full
control
of it. Even so, I cannot delete this file. In DOS, I get access
denied. In
Explorer, I get the "you need permission to perform this action"
message,
with "try again" or "cancel", and it shows that my account (or
administrators
group, doing it that way) is the owner. It's just this one file. I
was able
to delete all other files and folders around this file, but just not
this one.

I wonder if the folder path is so long or so nested that UAC fails to
figure
it out? It was in users\<my profile>\appdata\roaming\etc. Or is the
file
corrupt? The file is a tempory file created by one of those biometric
devices when logged on with your fingerprint, and is supposed to
disappear
when you log off, but it seems to have remained there because of a
hard boot.
Is there a utility I can use that can nuke this one lone file?
Click to expand...

You might want to investigate deleting the file using another OS
(Linux). Sometimes a file path or name contains illegal characters as
far as Windows is concerned, and Linux (or another OS) will have a
different set of reserved words or illegal characters. The biometric
device may create a file with a "bad" name for Windows while accessing
the NTFS outside of Windows.
 
Brink said:
Hello Petrarch,

Did you also "allow" your user account "Full Control" in the permission
for the file. You can look at step 18 in Method Two of the tutorial
below for how if needed. You might also try doing this in Safe Mode.

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/67717-take-ownership-file.html

Hope this helps,
Shawn
Click to expand...

Yes, I did. This is how I able to delete all the other files in the same
folder. Full control was granted appropriately, ownership shows as my
username. I've done this in safe mode. I've run process explorer and
unlocker to see if the file was in use. The filename doesn't have any
special characters. It's biouser.ud5. Your link has some other tricks to
try. I'll have to try those later when I get home from work.

As for installing a linux OS to delete the file, what's the smallest fastest
one to use for this purpose?
 
Brink said:
Since you have 64-bit, you might see if "LockHunter" may help instead
then.

'Download LockHunter 1.0 Beta 3 - Forcedly removes any files as well as
displays what programs lock them - Softpedia'
(http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/File-Management/LockHunter.shtml)
Click to expand...

Thanks, this tool looks useful for other situations in the way that Unlocker
is on 32-bit OS's. In this case, I still get the message "You don't
permission to open this file. Contact the owner..." My username is the
owner. If there were a way to make Windows "think" this file was deleted
successfully, thru a registry hack perhaps, I'm open to suggestions. This
file is like a really stubborn weed.
 
Unfortunately, none of these options worked on this one file. I had to
format the drive and start over. This time around, when I restored from a
system image I did not create a backup folder on the C drive itself.

Taking ownership "should" have worked, and all the various steps repliers
provided were helpful, so don't feel bad. The lockhunter tool for 64-bit
OS's has been added to my IT bag of tricks. I'd been looking for something
that had the same features as unlocker for a while.

Thanks for all your replies. I appreciated the help.
 
I have removed such files using Ubuntu, downloaded as an ISO and installed
on a bootable thumb drive, using Unetbootin. Such a little item is very
handy and with a decent Thumb drive, is quite impressive.

FWIW, MSE found and removed a trojan installed along with Unlocker on one of
my machines. Moreover Unlocker does not always work, and when it does, I
wonder if it is safe..
 
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