Unable to Delete Folder. 'You Need Permission To Perform This Action'

  • Thread starter Thread starter Haydon
  • Start date Start date
H

Haydon

I have just installed Vista, and am tidying up my start menu (classic view),
however there are some folders that it won't let me delete.

When I try to delete them, it comes up with a message saying 'you need
permission to perform this action'! Need permission?!? From who?!? I am
the only user of the machine.

I looked at the properties and it's a read only folder, but it won't let me
change this. I have gone into the security tab and given everyone
permission for full control, but still can't get rid of the read only, or
delete the folder.

Any advise before my PC will literally be a Windows machine, when it gets
thrown out of one. ;-)
 
Hi,
If the folder is one of the System folders- Extras and Upgrades, Games,
Maintenance, etc you may be able to make it a hidden folder. You can then
ignore it if you haven't selected "Show hidden files and folders" in Folder
options> View.

You may not be able to delete one of these folders.

Hope this helps,
Don
[MS MVP- IE]
 
Thank you for your reply, however that's hiding the problem, as opposed to
curing it. I do actually always change the folder view settings to show all
hidden files anyway, so it wouldn't work for me.

I have found a workaround from 'alanbriggs' post, whereby I opened the
folder and deleted the individual files. Then, I
could eventually delete the folder (once empty). Not good, but at least a
workaround was possible.

Looking at other posts on this subject, it appears that this is a problem.


Don Varnau said:
Hi,
If the folder is one of the System folders- Extras and Upgrades, Games,
Maintenance, etc you may be able to make it a hidden folder. You can then
ignore it if you haven't selected "Show hidden files and folders" in
Folder
options> View.

You may not be able to delete one of these folders.

Hope this helps,
Don
[MS MVP- IE]

Haydon said:
I have just installed Vista, and am tidying up my start menu (classic view),
however there are some folders that it won't let me delete.

When I try to delete them, it comes up with a message saying 'you need
permission to perform this action'! Need permission?!? From who?!? I
am
the only user of the machine.

I looked at the properties and it's a read only folder, but it won't let me
change this. I have gone into the security tab and given everyone
permission for full control, but still can't get rid of the read only, or
delete the folder.

Any advise before my PC will literally be a Windows machine, when it gets
thrown out of one. ;-)
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
SymplyTrish said:
I am going batty, I am trying to delete a folder as well (MSN) I have no
need for it and I am stingy with my HD space. NO MATTER what I do it
tells me I need permission or I don't have permission. God I hate vista.
Someone please help me.
Click to expand...


I know a few ways to get rid of folders, depending on what the problem is.
But an easy suggestion for you to try first is to make a new folder. Then
move the folder you cannot delete into the new folder by dragging it onto
it. Then try deleting the new folder.

ss.
 
Tried suggestion of moving the folder which is bugging the hell out of me
into another folder but Vista still won't f****g allow me to delete it.
 
bukavu said:
I got a link from this forum about giving admin powers to users, while
executing, it says i have to restart the computer, restarted and work
for that folder..
I forgot to save the link as it said you'll need it for future
reference.. its later that i discovered that you have to go through that
every time u need to delete files or folders
Click to expand...
For this i really kicked myself when i figured it out...
select the file, go to properties and UNCHECK the box that says "read only"
it will ask if the subfolders, etc etc

press ok and delete it for good
 
dark5hade159 said:
For this i really kicked myself when i figured it out...
select the file, go to properties and UNCHECK the box that says "read only"
it will ask if the subfolders, etc etc

press ok and delete it for good
Click to expand...

I tried this as well. I'm running Vista Ultimate and had a crash two years ago. I recovered most of my data into Windows.old and now I can't get rid of the damned thing! It has the read-only bit set under properties, but when I try to reset it it gives me that "Permission Denied" screen.
 
Hi Ross,

If you have the 32 bit Vista, then you can try the free program
Unlocker on it to see if you can delete it afterwards.

'UNLOCKER 1.8.7 BY CEDRICK 'NITCH' COLLOMB'
(http://ccollomb.free.fr/unlocker/)

Hope this helps,
Shawn
Click to expand...

still no luck! "Destination Folder Access Denied"

I swear, I'm great to have this damned folder/directory for the next 20 years!
 
Here’s a story about how a simple Restart fixed my “access denied†problem:

I occassionally have access/permission problems with certain folders/files
that are created on my XP using third party software then transferred to my
Vista via portable HD. The problem is that I am sometimes denied access to
delete them. What I usually do (because it’s the fastest method of getting
the job done) is drill down to the individual files and delete them, then
delete the empty folders.

Tonight, one of those folders nor the files inside them would not allow me
access to move, copy or delete them. No matter how I tried to obtain
permission or tried to change the ownership using the various tools in
properties, I kept getting errors such as: “an error occurred applying
attributes to the file†or “access is denied†or “an error occurred while
applying security information to c: <path><name of file>.â€

BTW: I am the only user on this Vista computer. I am the administrator and
user. No one else touches this computer. Not the kids. Relatives. Service
techs. No one. But I could not get permission to delete this file.


Then I had noticed that a similar file was in the Recycle Bin. (I had
deleted a bunch of folders and files this afternoon and apparently this one
did not go into the Recycle Bin properly for reasons unknown.) So I emptied
the Recycle Bin. The problem folder/file was still there in my Documents. I
went back to trying to gain administrative permission but was denied.

Final solution: I restarted the computer, hoping that the magic of Vista
would figure it out. After restart I checked the folder and the files were
gone. Vista deleted them for me. And I was allowed to delete the empty
folders.

I chalk up this experience to partly operator error (maybe I had interfered
with the folder from going into the Recycle Bin this afternoon) and partly
Vista quirkiness.

But in the end, Vista cleaned up the mess for me.


Oscar ;)
 
Maya,

Generic error mesage is the system's (or program's) way of saying, "I don't
know. Your guess is as good as mine."

oscar :)
 
Hi,

If you can't delete a folder, it's indicative of one of these things:

a) The folder or a file in it is in use. Until it's released, you won't be
able to remove it. The solution is simple in that you must figure out what's
got a handle on it and release it.

b) Your user account does not have a sufficient level of privilege or
permissions to delete it (ie: full control). You may need to elevate to
admin, or alter permissions to resolve this.

c) You're trying to remove a default system folder. These folders are part
of the operating system and cannot be removed. Even if you manage to delete
them, system file protection will kick in and recreate them.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com
 
alim_maze,
Quick solutions that sometimes work:
1. Turn off User Account Control
delete the file
Tun User Account Control back on

2. Start | type Cmd.exe | right-click on cmd.exe in the Programs list directly above | select Run As Admistrator

Navigate to the directory containing file you want to delete (using CD command).

Delete the file using DEL command.

Use EXIT command to close command window

karl

snowCarve! when a file from some folder is used by some program you can
not delete the folder, BUT YOU CAN MOVE IT TO SOMEWHERE ELSE ? does it
make sense ?

after all these posts, time waste, and though all these valuable
efforts and ideas, no one yet could figur out how to simply DELETE A
FOLDER from MY OWN PC in Vista!!!

pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeas!!!!
 
Kaleeva said:
I have read through these forums, and tried each post's solution. Either
I'm doing something wrong or it's not working for me. I have been trying
to delete my Zune folder that I downloaded a month ago, the
administrator permission has never stopped coming up. If anyone has
anymore ideas or can help me out I would appreciate it : (
Click to expand...


Try deleting all of the folders contained in the parent folder that will not
delete. Do this first..
 
Try deleting all of the folders contained in the parent folder that will not
delete. Do this first..
Click to expand...


Yes, do what Mike said. The Permissions message seems to be a red
herring. It's not the real problem, it's a Vista bug. Some times after
you delete the inner files you still need to reboot to get proper
access to the parent folder so that you can delete it.
 
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