Deleting folders give access denied error message on Windows 7, although I am administrator

Question

I have an external hard drive that was used as a Windows partition before, but now I want to use it for storage instead. I have added it to my Windows 7 machine, but I am not allowed to write or delete serveral of the files and folders on the disk. I get the error message access is denied, even though I am administrator. I have tried to log in to the Administrator account with Net user administrator /active:yes, changed ownership and disabled UAC, but nothing helps. I still get access is denied and can not delete anything.

Solution 1

You can use unlocker to delete the windows directory. Just install it and it will appear int the right click context menu.

You can also use boot delete which has the ability to delete the files at the boot time.

Solution 2

I often get access denied errors because the file is in use by a process. I don't know why the error isn't more helpful.

If that's not it, you can try recursively making all the files on the drive writeable with the attrib command:

ATTRIB -R -S C:\ /S /D

(Replace C: with the correct drive, of course)

Solution 3

The main reason behind this is that the explorer.exe process locks files that are in use, effectively preventing you from deleting them. Usually, these files should not be touched, but sometimes, situations arise when you really need to erase some troublesome ones.

Fortunately, there are a few easy solutions to delete those files.

Solution #1: Kill explorer.exe
Solution #2: Use The Windows Recovery Console
Solution #3: Use unlocker

More details and reference:

http://www.techproceed.com/2014/05/how-to-delete-undeletable-or-locked-file.html

Comments

[user1049697]

I get access is denied for a lot of files when I change from read-only.

[user1049697]

I still get access denied, even if I set myself to owner.

[Remus Rigo]

try to boot from a linux live cd and delete the files

[kjbartel]

Killing explorer.exe worked for me.