permissions in vista

So this is kinda complex, let me see if I can break it down:

1. I had XP installed on my computer as my primary OS.
2. I wanted to test out vista, so I installed it on my secondary hard drive and ran it in dual boot with XP.
3. Decided I'd switch to vista so I formatted c:\ and installed Vista.
4. I still have the folder from the old install of Vista back when it was a dual boot on my d:\.
5. The new Vista, now primary OS with no dual boot, won't let me delete the old folder of the old, dual boot copy of Vista.
6. I've taken ownership and set privileges in the security tab but it still says access denied....the same applies for the program files folder on the same drive from the same copy of Vista.

How do I delete this damn thing? It's 7 gig!

Try running the following command from the command prompt (open a cmd prompt as administrator by using the "Run as administrator" option - Start | "Search" field | Type cmd, right-click cmd.exe in the Results, and select "Run as administrator")...

ICACLS <Your Folder> /reset /T /C /L /Q

If you'd like to read up on the ICACLS tool, and the available swithes...

ICACLS
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cacls

Oh thank god! You are great. But for some reason, I can't get it to work on the program files directory.

Because of the SPACE between Program and Files, make sure to add quotes around the Program Files directory path, i.e.

ICACLS "D:\Program Files" /reset /T /C /L /Q

awesome, i forgot that one little part. thanks!