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deleting old system folder

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doh boy

Member
Joined
Jun 1, 2004
i just reformatted and i have a very simple question.

how do i delete the system folders of an old windows installation on another partition? i no longer need it since i reformatted, but the folders are still protected. any way to get around this?
 
hmm, still doesnt work....program says there is no protection on the folder or files in it.

maybe i should be a bit more specific. the folder is the "windows" folder of a now unused vista folder. all of the exe's in that folder seem to be protected, saying "access denied" when i try to delete it.
 
Install program > Right click on folder > Unlocker > Select "Delete" (from the drop dow menu) > OK
 
o whoops yes i did that too; wouldnt work. and then it asked whether it will try deleting on next bootup; i pressed yes and that didnt work either.
 
Do you have XP Pro or Home? At least with Pro you can disable "use simple file sharing" and set the Owner in the security tab to yourself in your new Windows install, recursively for all files in there. Then delete it
 
Sounds like you discovered a bug in that program. Email the author, let us know what he says.

Here's the hard way to do it:
Start Menu > Run... > CMD
CD to your directory.

Use: DIR /X /A to see the SHORT FILE NAMES of the files and directories there.

use:

RMDIR [/Q] [drive:]path
RD [/Q] [drive:]path

/S Removes all directories and files in the specified directory in addition to the directory itself. Used to remove a directory tree.

/Q Quiet mode, do not ask if ok to remove a directory tree with /S

Example: To delete C:\Program Files\Mcafee VirusScan Professional Edition 7.00

RMDIR /Q c:\progra~1\McAfee~1
RD /Q c:\progra~1\McAfee~1


http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308421&sd=tech
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308418
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;320081
 
alright thanks guys i was able to delete the folders after i changed the security and permissions settings.
 
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