Unable to delete orphaned 1.5 GB System Restore folder

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Guest

My Dell came with Win XP Pro SP1, and when they sent me a Dell SP2 CD with a
replacement box (and SP1 installed on it) i transferred over all my files and
then installed SP2 (but there was a hitch) and XP Pro SP2 lost track of the
huge change file it made for going back to SP1. I should have turned off
Sytem Restore for the SP2 installation. Everything is now fine but there was
a hitch in the SP2 upgrade procedure that made me do it twice. Apparently,
XP lost track of the 1.5 GB restore folder as a System Respore Pointr and it
also refuses to let me delete it. The problem is that there is an orphaned
1.5 GB System Restore folder storing all the changes from SP1 to SP2, and XP
(and Linux) won't let me delete that year-old useless file. By various
machinations (after the Windows XP Accessory, Disk Cleanup's function,
"delete all but most recent restore point" failed to delete it) ... I then
succeeded in "unhiding" that obsolete "...DC1/RP1/" folder by making it a a
network share and writable over the network and then moving the obsolete junk
file to C:/TEMP from System Volume Information, so it is far away from the
"real" restore points. The old folders under TEMP are named DC/RP1 and
DC1/RP2, while my PC's "real" Restore Points are numbered past RP99.

With Windows Explorer i can uncheck the Read Only box and try to apply it to
all subirectories, but XP immediately changes it back to Read Only and says
Access Denied when i try to delete the files and directories (both from GUI
and from command line). I have even tried using a Windows 98 boot CD and
that won't work either. I can't boot into DOS 3.1 to do it because it
doesn't handle NTFS (as do the two Linux bootable discs). Even Linux
recognizes these files as special system files that it refuses to delete,
saying Access Denied when i try to give myself write access to them. I have
been unable to delete these 1.5 GB of junk files using (in an XP command
Window: "set attrib -r -h -s C:/TEMP/DC1/RP1/files /S /D" to turn off the
read-only, hidden, and system bits for that folder, and the /S /D means to
apply the change to all subdirectories and to all folders. I get the error
"Acess Denied" when i give it that command.

XP mistakenly sees these as crucial system files and (as moved Network
Shares) it lets me move them around to other places, like C:/TEMP/DC1/RP1
...., but it doesn't let me delete them. I get Access Denied from both XP and
Linux, and my accounts all have Admin (and root) privileges. If i had a
removable hard drive large enough which i don't) i might be able to move them
there and then reformat it to get rid of them. Can anyone think of any
easier way to get rid of this 1.5 GB of junk files that were created when SP2
was installed?

Please help me get rid of this 1.5 GB of junk.

David
dc(remove)@davidchanin . com [delete the two spaces]
 
I would try making sure you have full control NTFS permissions to the
folder/subfolders/files as administrator and then try to delete them. If
that does not work try booting into Safe Mode and trying again. Sometimes it
helps by trying to delete child folders first and then working your way up
to the parent folder. I would also run Check Disk on your computer and
select the option to fix file errors automatically. The links below shows
how to take ownership of folders/files [if needed to change permissions] and
how to change NTFS permissions if you need that info. --- Steve

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308421
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308418


puzzled and frustrated said:
My Dell came with Win XP Pro SP1, and when they sent me a Dell SP2 CD with
a
replacement box (and SP1 installed on it) i transferred over all my files
and
then installed SP2 (but there was a hitch) and XP Pro SP2 lost track of
the
huge change file it made for going back to SP1. I should have turned off
Sytem Restore for the SP2 installation. Everything is now fine but there
was
a hitch in the SP2 upgrade procedure that made me do it twice.
Apparently,
XP lost track of the 1.5 GB restore folder as a System Respore Pointr and
it
also refuses to let me delete it. The problem is that there is an orphaned
1.5 GB System Restore folder storing all the changes from SP1 to SP2, and
XP
(and Linux) won't let me delete that year-old useless file. By various
machinations (after the Windows XP Accessory, Disk Cleanup's function,
"delete all but most recent restore point" failed to delete it) ... I then
succeeded in "unhiding" that obsolete "...DC1/RP1/" folder by making it a
a
network share and writable over the network and then moving the obsolete
junk
file to C:/TEMP from System Volume Information, so it is far away from the
"real" restore points. The old folders under TEMP are named DC/RP1 and
DC1/RP2, while my PC's "real" Restore Points are numbered past RP99.

With Windows Explorer i can uncheck the Read Only box and try to apply it
to
all subirectories, but XP immediately changes it back to Read Only and
says
Access Denied when i try to delete the files and directories (both from
GUI
and from command line). I have even tried using a Windows 98 boot CD and
that won't work either. I can't boot into DOS 3.1 to do it because it
doesn't handle NTFS (as do the two Linux bootable discs). Even Linux
recognizes these files as special system files that it refuses to delete,
saying Access Denied when i try to give myself write access to them. I
have
been unable to delete these 1.5 GB of junk files using (in an XP command
Window: "set attrib -r -h -s C:/TEMP/DC1/RP1/files /S /D" to turn off the
read-only, hidden, and system bits for that folder, and the /S /D means to
apply the change to all subdirectories and to all folders. I get the
error
"Acess Denied" when i give it that command.

XP mistakenly sees these as crucial system files and (as moved Network
Shares) it lets me move them around to other places, like C:/TEMP/DC1/RP1
..., but it doesn't let me delete them. I get Access Denied from both XP
and
Linux, and my accounts all have Admin (and root) privileges. If i had a
removable hard drive large enough which i don't) i might be able to move
them
there and then reformat it to get rid of them. Can anyone think of any
easier way to get rid of this 1.5 GB of junk files that were created when
SP2
was installed?

Please help me get rid of this 1.5 GB of junk.

David
dc(remove)@davidchanin . com [delete the two spaces]
Click to expand...
 
That advice was no help at all. I have FULL CONTROL over the entire C: drive
and all subdirectories, imcluding C:/TEMP.

I don't need instruction in basic Windoze file ownership and permissions. I
am the OWNER of that file and have full permissions according to Windows
Explorer. Using the attrib command does more than you suggested because it
allows the System bit to be taken off of a file or folder. Even that doesn't
help.

XP Pro treats the System Restore files with some type of special protection
similar to the way they prevent you from deleting crucial system files.
Instead of general advice on how to delete files and change ownership and
permissions, i need information specific to how XP "protects" the System
Restore files and how to turn that off for files no longer used by System
Restore.

Does anyone know how to override that "protection"? Gimme a break. You're
telling me to run CHKDSK when i said the orphaned file is over a year old and
i've posted that two different versions of Linux won't let me delete those
files and their folders. It says "ACCESS DENIED."


Steven L Umbach said:
I would try making sure you have full control NTFS permissions to the
folder/subfolders/files as administrator and then try to delete them. If
that does not work try booting into Safe Mode and trying again. Sometimes it
helps by trying to delete child folders first and then working your way up
to the parent folder. I would also run Check Disk on your computer and
select the option to fix file errors automatically. The links below shows
how to take ownership of folders/files [if needed to change permissions] and
how to change NTFS permissions if you need that info. --- Steve

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308421
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308418


puzzled and frustrated said:
My Dell came with Win XP Pro SP1, and when they sent me a Dell SP2 CD with
a
replacement box (and SP1 installed on it) i transferred over all my files
and
then installed SP2 (but there was a hitch) and XP Pro SP2 lost track of
the
huge change file it made for going back to SP1. I should have turned off
Sytem Restore for the SP2 installation. Everything is now fine but there
was
a hitch in the SP2 upgrade procedure that made me do it twice.
Apparently,
XP lost track of the 1.5 GB restore folder as a System Respore Pointr and
it
also refuses to let me delete it. The problem is that there is an orphaned
1.5 GB System Restore folder storing all the changes from SP1 to SP2, and
XP
(and Linux) won't let me delete that year-old useless file. By various
machinations (after the Windows XP Accessory, Disk Cleanup's function,
"delete all but most recent restore point" failed to delete it) ... I then
succeeded in "unhiding" that obsolete "...DC1/RP1/" folder by making it a
a
network share and writable over the network and then moving the obsolete
junk
file to C:/TEMP from System Volume Information, so it is far away from the
"real" restore points. The old folders under TEMP are named DC/RP1 and
DC1/RP2, while my PC's "real" Restore Points are numbered past RP99.

With Windows Explorer i can uncheck the Read Only box and try to apply it
to
all subirectories, but XP immediately changes it back to Read Only and
says
Access Denied when i try to delete the files and directories (both from
GUI
and from command line). I have even tried using a Windows 98 boot CD and
that won't work either. I can't boot into DOS 3.1 to do it because it
doesn't handle NTFS (as do the two Linux bootable discs). Even Linux
recognizes these files as special system files that it refuses to delete,
saying Access Denied when i try to give myself write access to them. I
have
been unable to delete these 1.5 GB of junk files using (in an XP command
Window: "set attrib -r -h -s C:/TEMP/DC1/RP1/files /S /D" to turn off the
read-only, hidden, and system bits for that folder, and the /S /D means to
apply the change to all subdirectories and to all folders. I get the
error
"Acess Denied" when i give it that command.

XP mistakenly sees these as crucial system files and (as moved Network
Shares) it lets me move them around to other places, like C:/TEMP/DC1/RP1
..., but it doesn't let me delete them. I get Access Denied from both XP
and
Linux, and my accounts all have Admin (and root) privileges. If i had a
removable hard drive large enough which i don't) i might be able to move
them
there and then reformat it to get rid of them. Can anyone think of any
easier way to get rid of this 1.5 GB of junk files that were created when
SP2
was installed?

Please help me get rid of this 1.5 GB of junk.

David
dc(remove)@davidchanin . com [delete the two spaces]
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
puzzled and frustrated said:
That advice was no help at all. I have FULL CONTROL over the entire C:
drive
and all subdirectories, imcluding C:/TEMP.
Click to expand...

You did not give any info on if you checked file permissions or not. That
would be a suspected reason. By the way just becaue you have full control at
the root folder does not mean that you have full control on all
folders/files on the drive. Folders/files can have explicitly defined
permissions instead of inherited permissions with the system volune
information folder being a perfect example of one and by default only system
has permissions to that folder. If there is one file in a folder that you do
not have fullcontrol/modify permission then you can not delete the folder.
I don't need instruction in basic Windoze file ownership and permissions.
I
am the OWNER of that file and have full permissions according to Windows
Explorer. Using the attrib command does more than you suggested because
it
allows the System bit to be taken off of a file or folder. Even that
doesn't
help.
Click to expand...
File attributes have absolutely nothing to do with the ability to delete a
file - you are wasting your time dealing with them. If you have effective
delete permissions for a file and the file is not being used by a process
and the file is not corrupt nor is using an illegal name or a few other
obscure reasons you should be able to delete it.
XP Pro treats the System Restore files with some type of special
protection
similar to the way they prevent you from deleting crucial system files.
Instead of general advice on how to delete files and change ownership and
permissions, i need information specific to how XP "protects" the System
Restore files and how to turn that off for files no longer used by System
Restore.
Click to expand...

See if you can delete any files and or child folders. It could be just a
couple files causing the problem. From the parent folder try going into the
security properties/advanced and then select "replace permisions entries on
all child objects". You could also try deleting from the command line using
system by using the AT command to schedule the delete command in the future
by a couple minutes. Or use the AT command to open the command window to try
using delete which also be running as system which can be verified by Task
manager. Tasks scheduled by the AT command run as system.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;313565 --- using
the AT command
Does anyone know how to override that "protection"? Gimme a break.
You're
telling me to run CHKDSK when i said the orphaned file is over a year old
and
i've posted that two different versions of Linux won't let me delete those
files and their folders. It says "ACCESS DENIED."
Click to expand...

One single corrupt file could cause the failure where the operating system
can not interpret the security descriptors. Running Check Disk with the
option to automatically fix file system errors often can fix such a problem.
Offhand I don't know why linux did not work but for any operating system you
need permissions to delete files and root/administrator may not always have
such. I like using Bart's PE better in such situations and it also allows me
to edit the registry of another Windows operating system when I need to. The
link below from Microsft may be helpful in dealing with files you can not
delete. --- Steve

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=320081
Steven L Umbach said:
I would try making sure you have full control NTFS permissions to the
folder/subfolders/files as administrator and then try to delete them. If
that does not work try booting into Safe Mode and trying again. Sometimes
it
helps by trying to delete child folders first and then working your way
up
to the parent folder. I would also run Check Disk on your computer and
select the option to fix file errors automatically. The links below shows
how to take ownership of folders/files [if needed to change permissions]
and
how to change NTFS permissions if you need that info. --- Steve

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308421
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308418


"puzzled and frustrated" <puzzled and
(e-mail address removed)>
wrote in message
My Dell came with Win XP Pro SP1, and when they sent me a Dell SP2 CD
with
a
replacement box (and SP1 installed on it) i transferred over all my
files
and
then installed SP2 (but there was a hitch) and XP Pro SP2 lost track of
the
huge change file it made for going back to SP1. I should have turned
off
Sytem Restore for the SP2 installation. Everything is now fine but
there
was
a hitch in the SP2 upgrade procedure that made me do it twice.
Apparently,
XP lost track of the 1.5 GB restore folder as a System Respore Pointr
and
it
also refuses to let me delete it. The problem is that there is an
orphaned
1.5 GB System Restore folder storing all the changes from SP1 to SP2,
and
XP
(and Linux) won't let me delete that year-old useless file. By
various
machinations (after the Windows XP Accessory, Disk Cleanup's function,
"delete all but most recent restore point" failed to delete it) ... I
then
succeeded in "unhiding" that obsolete "...DC1/RP1/" folder by making it
a
a
network share and writable over the network and then moving the
obsolete
junk
file to C:/TEMP from System Volume Information, so it is far away from
the
"real" restore points. The old folders under TEMP are named DC/RP1 and
DC1/RP2, while my PC's "real" Restore Points are numbered past RP99.

With Windows Explorer i can uncheck the Read Only box and try to apply
it
to
all subirectories, but XP immediately changes it back to Read Only and
says
Access Denied when i try to delete the files and directories (both from
GUI
and from command line). I have even tried using a Windows 98 boot CD
and
that won't work either. I can't boot into DOS 3.1 to do it because it
doesn't handle NTFS (as do the two Linux bootable discs). Even Linux
recognizes these files as special system files that it refuses to
delete,
saying Access Denied when i try to give myself write access to them. I
have
been unable to delete these 1.5 GB of junk files using (in an XP
command
Window: "set attrib -r -h -s C:/TEMP/DC1/RP1/files /S /D" to turn off
the
read-only, hidden, and system bits for that folder, and the /S /D means
to
apply the change to all subdirectories and to all folders. I get the
error
"Acess Denied" when i give it that command.

XP mistakenly sees these as crucial system files and (as moved Network
Shares) it lets me move them around to other places, like
C:/TEMP/DC1/RP1
..., but it doesn't let me delete them. I get Access Denied from both
XP
and
Linux, and my accounts all have Admin (and root) privileges. If i had
a
removable hard drive large enough which i don't) i might be able to
move
them
there and then reformat it to get rid of them. Can anyone think of any
easier way to get rid of this 1.5 GB of junk files that were created
when
SP2
was installed?

Please help me get rid of this 1.5 GB of junk.

David
dc(remove)@davidchanin . com [delete the two spaces]
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Steven said:
"puzzled and frustrated"


You did not give any info on if you checked file permissions or not.
That would be a suspected reason. By the way just becaue you have full
control at the root folder does not mean that you have full control on
all folders/files on the drive. Folders/files can have explicitly
defined permissions instead of inherited permissions with the system
volune information folder being a perfect example of one and by
default only system has permissions to that folder. If there is one
file in a folder that you do not have fullcontrol/modify permission
then you can not delete the folder.

File attributes have absolutely nothing to do with the ability to
delete a file - you are wasting your time dealing with them. If you
have effective delete permissions for a file and the file is not being
used by a process and the file is not corrupt nor is using an illegal
name or a few other obscure reasons you should be able to delete it.


See if you can delete any files and or child folders. It could be just
a couple files causing the problem. From the parent folder try going
into the security properties/advanced and then select "replace
permisions entries on all child objects". You could also try deleting
from the command line using system by using the AT command to schedule
the delete command in the future by a couple minutes. Or use the AT
command to open the command window to try using delete which also be
running as system which can be verified by Task manager. Tasks
scheduled by the AT command run as system.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;313565 ---
using the AT command

One single corrupt file could cause the failure where the operating
system can not interpret the security descriptors. Running Check Disk
with the option to automatically fix file system errors often can fix
such a problem. Offhand I don't know why linux did not work but for
any operating system you need permissions to delete files and
root/administrator may not always have such. I like using Bart's PE
better in such situations and it also allows me to edit the registry
of another Windows operating system when I need to. The link below
from Microsft may be helpful in dealing with files you can not
delete. --- Steve
Click to expand...

Steve - If the OP wasn't using an unsupported tool such as Captive on
Linux , then it is completely unsurprising that he couldn't delete the
files from within Linux. All those live cd's such as Knoppix mount the
drives read-only which is A Good Thing. It is not recommended to try
and write to - or delete from - a partition/drive formatted NTFS. Since
the OP has extensively mentioned permissions, I think we can rule out
FAT32. So the OP isn't quite as computer-savvy as he thinks he is.

As you say, there is probably a permissions issue and a Bart's PE or
even ERD Commander (if the OP is rich) should take care of the problem.

Of course, the quick and dirty solution would be to back up the data and
clean-install Windows. Since the OP yells at people who are trying to
help him when they make a suggestion that he might not be as
knowledgeable as he thinks he is, I won't bother to include my usual
links to clean-install instructions.

Malke
 
Hi Malke.

Thanks for that info. That is pretty much what I thought. I tried Knoppix a
couple times with a utility that was supposed to allow write and delete and
did not work too well. Since I discovered Bart's PE that is what I use now.
Hopefully he will figure it out. I really don't think it is that complicated
of an issue. --- Steve
 
I'll see if Microsoft can come up with a solution. It'd be worth the $35 if
they can. BTW, when i said i had full control over the C: drive, it includes
all subdirectories with inherited permissions. It doesn't help to to try
doing this in Safe Mode.

It seems clear that neither of you know the mechanism by which System
Restore protects its restore files from deletion by anything other than
Windoze XP Pro with the Disk Cleanup/Advanced/Save Only Most Recent Restore
Point. There seems to be running process that starts up when i try to delete
it or change ithe attributes of the S-1-5-8 top-level folder and pass it down
to all children folders because i can set those permissions to All, but in a
second or two, Windows always resets it to Read-Only, so Windoze is starting
up a process just to reset the ownership and privileges of that S-1-5-8 and
it undoes any settings i've changed to take ownership and give myself full
rights to the folder and all subdirectories.

Sorry for being snappy, but i've been using computers to make a living
before most of the people here were even born. Any time i need tech support,
be it with my internet connection, the box, or any software, all i get for
the first hour or two is people in India following a flow-chart and making me
do exactly everything that i've already tried twice before even calling them.
You two are the same.

I'll call M$FT tomorrow and see if they can come up with a solution for $35
(or maybe even free since i've never called them for support with XP and they
say the first two incidents are free).

It's clear that neither of you know how System Restore protects its files.
If anyone else has this same problem, i will post the solution if M$FT can
fix the problem.

Thanks for trying, but you have not helped solve the problem. I'm sure you
mean well, and most of the people who post here don't know as much about this
stuff as you do. I was hoping to find someone who knew how System Restore
protects its files.

The one thing i haven't tried yet is to make a full backup, delete all but
most recent restore point, and then turn off System Restore completely and
reboot a few times into Safe Mode and see if i can delete it then from Safe
Mode.

David
 
puzzled and frustrated wrote:
Sorry for being snappy, but i've been using computers to make a
living before most of the people here were even born.
Click to expand...
<snip>

This is what I like to call an "assumption".
Also - when you get too old to learn something new - you're dead.
=)
 
By any chance is your computer in a domain and you are using roaming
profiles? If so you may want to leave this folder alone. If not the solution
has already been mentioned at least twice in this thread.

http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/

Most techs that have been around for more than a year or so have a Windows
PE based boot disk for working on NT based machines. BartPE is probably the
most common. I am suprised someone that has been using computers to make a
living for as long as you claim to doesn't know this. Maybe it's because you
don't repair computers for a living :-)
 
Yes, you are right. The only computers i fix are my own. I'm a software
developer, and not for Windoze. And yes, I tried making a BartPE boot last
year to tackle this problem but something was not right with it so i threw it
away. I'll do that again and get it to work properly.

But i was able to delete that folder and all subfolders and files by taking
ownership and full control, with inherited properties to all 1500 files in
subfolders.

My hard drive now has 0.8 MB (compressed space) more room. And yes, when
you stop learning you're dead. I'm sure you all who are knowledgeable about
NT get very frustrated when you have to pretend that you're doing the
troubleshooting the person in India is reading off a computer screen and
aking you do things you did twice before even calling ... and you know it's a
waste of time but they make you do it before bumping you up to someone who
actually knows something.

You have quite a good crowd here. Sorry for being so snappy and
inconsiderate. My DSL was out for two days before ELNK would finally pass on
a trouble ticket to Covad, who then fixed the problem in a few hours.
 
OK. My sincere apologies. I went through the ownership lists and took
control of that folder away from Creator and then was able to delete it with
no problem. Thanks Everyone!

David


Steven L Umbach said:
I would try making sure you have full control NTFS permissions to the
folder/subfolders/files as administrator and then try to delete them. If
that does not work try booting into Safe Mode and trying again. Sometimes it
helps by trying to delete child folders first and then working your way up
to the parent folder. I would also run Check Disk on your computer and
select the option to fix file errors automatically. The links below shows
how to take ownership of folders/files [if needed to change permissions] and
how to change NTFS permissions if you need that info. --- Steve

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308421
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308418


puzzled and frustrated said:
My Dell came with Win XP Pro SP1, and when they sent me a Dell SP2 CD with
a
replacement box (and SP1 installed on it) i transferred over all my files
and
then installed SP2 (but there was a hitch) and XP Pro SP2 lost track of
the
huge change file it made for going back to SP1. I should have turned off
Sytem Restore for the SP2 installation. Everything is now fine but there
was
a hitch in the SP2 upgrade procedure that made me do it twice.
Apparently,
XP lost track of the 1.5 GB restore folder as a System Respore Pointr and
it
also refuses to let me delete it. The problem is that there is an orphaned
1.5 GB System Restore folder storing all the changes from SP1 to SP2, and
XP
(and Linux) won't let me delete that year-old useless file. By various
machinations (after the Windows XP Accessory, Disk Cleanup's function,
"delete all but most recent restore point" failed to delete it) ... I then
succeeded in "unhiding" that obsolete "...DC1/RP1/" folder by making it a
a
network share and writable over the network and then moving the obsolete
junk
file to C:/TEMP from System Volume Information, so it is far away from the
"real" restore points. The old folders under TEMP are named DC/RP1 and
DC1/RP2, while my PC's "real" Restore Points are numbered past RP99.

With Windows Explorer i can uncheck the Read Only box and try to apply it
to
all subirectories, but XP immediately changes it back to Read Only and
says
Access Denied when i try to delete the files and directories (both from
GUI
and from command line). I have even tried using a Windows 98 boot CD and
that won't work either. I can't boot into DOS 3.1 to do it because it
doesn't handle NTFS (as do the two Linux bootable discs). Even Linux
recognizes these files as special system files that it refuses to delete,
saying Access Denied when i try to give myself write access to them. I
have
been unable to delete these 1.5 GB of junk files using (in an XP command
Window: "set attrib -r -h -s C:/TEMP/DC1/RP1/files /S /D" to turn off the
read-only, hidden, and system bits for that folder, and the /S /D means to
apply the change to all subdirectories and to all folders. I get the
error
"Acess Denied" when i give it that command.

XP mistakenly sees these as crucial system files and (as moved Network
Shares) it lets me move them around to other places, like C:/TEMP/DC1/RP1
..., but it doesn't let me delete them. I get Access Denied from both XP
and
Linux, and my accounts all have Admin (and root) privileges. If i had a
removable hard drive large enough which i don't) i might be able to move
them
there and then reformat it to get rid of them. Can anyone think of any
easier way to get rid of this 1.5 GB of junk files that were created when
SP2
was installed?

Please help me get rid of this 1.5 GB of junk.

David
dc(remove)@davidchanin . com [delete the two spaces]
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
No problem David and thanks for reporting back that you got it resolved and
what worked. I know I sometimes overcomplicate a problem, get a headache,
and then have a DOH moment wondering how I missed it. --- Steve


puzzled and frustrated said:
OK. My sincere apologies. I went through the ownership lists and took
control of that folder away from Creator and then was able to delete it
with
no problem. Thanks Everyone!

David


Steven L Umbach said:
I would try making sure you have full control NTFS permissions to the
folder/subfolders/files as administrator and then try to delete them. If
that does not work try booting into Safe Mode and trying again. Sometimes
it
helps by trying to delete child folders first and then working your way
up
to the parent folder. I would also run Check Disk on your computer and
select the option to fix file errors automatically. The links below shows
how to take ownership of folders/files [if needed to change permissions]
and
how to change NTFS permissions if you need that info. --- Steve

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308421
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308418


"puzzled and frustrated" <puzzled and
(e-mail address removed)>
wrote in message
My Dell came with Win XP Pro SP1, and when they sent me a Dell SP2 CD
with
a
replacement box (and SP1 installed on it) i transferred over all my
files
and
then installed SP2 (but there was a hitch) and XP Pro SP2 lost track of
the
huge change file it made for going back to SP1. I should have turned
off
Sytem Restore for the SP2 installation. Everything is now fine but
there
was
a hitch in the SP2 upgrade procedure that made me do it twice.
Apparently,
XP lost track of the 1.5 GB restore folder as a System Respore Pointr
and
it
also refuses to let me delete it. The problem is that there is an
orphaned
1.5 GB System Restore folder storing all the changes from SP1 to SP2,
and
XP
(and Linux) won't let me delete that year-old useless file. By
various
machinations (after the Windows XP Accessory, Disk Cleanup's function,
"delete all but most recent restore point" failed to delete it) ... I
then
succeeded in "unhiding" that obsolete "...DC1/RP1/" folder by making it
a
a
network share and writable over the network and then moving the
obsolete
junk
file to C:/TEMP from System Volume Information, so it is far away from
the
"real" restore points. The old folders under TEMP are named DC/RP1 and
DC1/RP2, while my PC's "real" Restore Points are numbered past RP99.

With Windows Explorer i can uncheck the Read Only box and try to apply
it
to
all subirectories, but XP immediately changes it back to Read Only and
says
Access Denied when i try to delete the files and directories (both from
GUI
and from command line). I have even tried using a Windows 98 boot CD
and
that won't work either. I can't boot into DOS 3.1 to do it because it
doesn't handle NTFS (as do the two Linux bootable discs). Even Linux
recognizes these files as special system files that it refuses to
delete,
saying Access Denied when i try to give myself write access to them. I
have
been unable to delete these 1.5 GB of junk files using (in an XP
command
Window: "set attrib -r -h -s C:/TEMP/DC1/RP1/files /S /D" to turn off
the
read-only, hidden, and system bits for that folder, and the /S /D means
to
apply the change to all subdirectories and to all folders. I get the
error
"Acess Denied" when i give it that command.

XP mistakenly sees these as crucial system files and (as moved Network
Shares) it lets me move them around to other places, like
C:/TEMP/DC1/RP1
..., but it doesn't let me delete them. I get Access Denied from both
XP
and
Linux, and my accounts all have Admin (and root) privileges. If i had
a
removable hard drive large enough which i don't) i might be able to
move
them
there and then reformat it to get rid of them. Can anyone think of any
easier way to get rid of this 1.5 GB of junk files that were created
when
SP2
was installed?

Please help me get rid of this 1.5 GB of junk.

David
dc(remove)@davidchanin . com [delete the two spaces]
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Glad to hear you got the problem fixed.

The fact that the tech support is based in India has nothing to do with the
quality of the support. I have had excellent tech support from overseas
calls and very poor support from North American calls. If you have ever have
to use HP support you'll see what I mean. The level of support is set by the
company not the contracted support center.
 
puzzled said:
OK. My sincere apologies. I went through the ownership lists and
took control of that folder away from Creator and then was able to
delete it with
no problem. Thanks Everyone!
Click to expand...

What a graceful and courageous post! It takes a big person to say they
were wrong and apologize for being cross with people trying to help.
Bravo, sir (or madam)!

I'm glad you got it resolved and thanks for letting us know.

Malke
 
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