Can't delete folder from ExHH-Permissions problem

Until Vista and its permissions came along, I used to be able to
navigate fairly well within my computer. But now I feel like a beginner
whenever I get stopped by the dreaded (at least to me) "You need
permission to perform this task."

I have an external drive (holds about 100GB) that I have been using to
back up files and stuff. However, I want to delete many folders from the
EHD and better streamline my backups, and when I try to do so, I get the
dreaded... I mean, like I have Adobe on the EHD, why can't I simply
delete it. As far as I can tell I am the administrator, so shouldn't I
be able to delete stuff from the EHD without all this hassle?

For example, here's what I tried to no avail: I selected Adobe on my
EHD, right clicked it and selected Properties>Security. There I see
that, among other things, I have "Full Control"...So why can't I now
delete this folder. Reading through the inherited stuff (some stuff I
want to delete came from XP and I have Vista HP)and permissions is the
ultimate confusion exercise. I do want to try to maintain security on
the computer (although I and my wife are its only users), so I'm
reluctant to undo UAC-which I think will get rid of all these permission
walls??? Can anyone please help me before I have the next drink? Thanks.

BTW I naively thought that if I turned UAC off, then permissions would
go away...but Noooo.


--
flycaster

 

"flycaster" <guest@unknown-email.com> wrote in message news:b80515dd7ed40ddb25acdf98259fdca4@nntp-gateway.com...<!--coloro:blue--><span style="color:blue <!--/coloro-->
>
> Until Vista and its permissions came along, I used to be able to
> navigate fairly well within my computer. But now I feel like a beginner
> whenever I get stopped by the dreaded (at least to me) "You need
> permission to perform this task."
>
> I have an external drive (holds about 100GB) that I have been using to
> back up files and stuff. However, I want to delete many folders from the
> EHD and better streamline my backups, and when I try to do so, I get the
> dreaded... I mean, like I have Adobe on the EHD, why can't I simply
> delete it. As far as I can tell I am the administrator, so shouldn't I
> be able to delete stuff from the EHD without all this hassle?
>
> For example, here's what I tried to no avail: I selected Adobe on my
> EHD, right clicked it and selected Properties>Security. There I see
> that, among other things, I have "Full Control"...So why can't I now
> delete this folder. Reading through the inherited stuff (some stuff I
> want to delete came from XP and I have Vista HP)and permissions is the
> ultimate confusion exercise. I do want to try to maintain security on
> the computer (although I and my wife are its only users), so I'm
> reluctant to undo UAC-which I think will get rid of all these permission
> walls??? Can anyone please help me before I have the next drink? Thanks.
>
> BTW I naively thought that if I turned UAC off, then permissions would
> go away...but Noooo.
>
>
> --
> flycaster<!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->

You probably need to take ownership of the files and folders. The quickest way
is to add the option to your right-click menu.
This reg file will add a right-click context menu ' Take Ownership '.
Copy and paste into a blank text document and save the file as ' Ownership.reg '.
Right-click the reg file and select ' Merge'.
Now right-click the offending files and take ownership.
(A dos box will open and it may take a few seconds to process a lot of files.)
Once you have ownership you can delete/rename the files.

++++++++++++++++++++++++

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\runas]
@="Take Ownership"
"NoWorkingDirectory"=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\runas\command]
@="cmd.exe /c takeown /f \"%1\" && icacls \"%1\" /grant administrators:F"
"IsolatedCommand"="cmd.exe /c takeown /f \"%1\" && icacls \"%1\" /grant administrators:F"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\runas]
@="Take Ownership"
"NoWorkingDirectory"=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\runas\command]
@="cmd.exe /c takeown /f \"%1\" /r /d y && icacls \"%1\" /grant administrators:F /t"
"IsolatedCommand"="cmd.exe /c takeown /f \"%1\" /r /d y && icacls \"%1\" /grant administrators:F /t"

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

If you want to reverse the registry changes use this reg file:


Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\runas]
[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\runas]

 

Dave, thanks for the suggetion. I would like to try it, but I do have a
fear of messing with the registry. In fact, I'm not even sure how to
get into the registry. I thought that I simply type in "regedit" into
the Vista HP 64's "Start Search." However, when I did that, it appears
that I got to the Registry Editor" window, but nothing would open. No
matter which file/folder I clicked in the left pane, the right pane
would always show ab(Default) as the name, REG_SZ as the type and (value
not set) for Data. Furthermore, assuming that I do get to use the
regedit, just where is the change to be placed and do I simply copy all
that you have written under "Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00" and
paste it there? Lastly, when doing this will this open my computer to
easy hacking and virus attacks? Sorry for all the questions, but I just
want to be sure I am doing the right thing.


--
flycaster

 

Download and run TakeOwnership.zip and it will make the necessary changes to
the registry for you.



"flycaster" <guest@unknown-email.com> wrote in message
news:8b9e8915693818599ce9f0b3e1be735b@nntp-gateway.com...<!--coloro:blue--><span style="color:blue <!--/coloro-->
>
> Dave, thanks for the suggetion. I would like to try it, but I do have a
> fear of messing with the registry. In fact, I'm not even sure how to
> get into the registry. I thought that I simply type in "regedit" into
> the Vista HP 64's "Start Search." However, when I did that, it appears
> that I got to the Registry Editor" window, but nothing would open. No
> matter which file/folder I clicked in the left pane, the right pane
> would always show ab(Default) as the name, REG_SZ as the type and (value
> not set) for Data. Furthermore, assuming that I do get to use the
> regedit, just where is the change to be placed and do I simply copy all
> that you have written under "Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00" and
> paste it there? Lastly, when doing this will this open my computer to
> easy hacking and virus attacks? Sorry for all the questions, but I just
> want to be sure I am doing the right thing.
>
>
> --
> flycaster <!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->

 

"flycaster" <guest@unknown-email.com> wrote in message news:8b9e8915693818599ce9f0b3e1be735b@nntp-gateway.com...<!--coloro:blue--><span style="color:blue <!--/coloro-->
>
> Dave, thanks for the suggetion. I would like to try it, but I do have a
> fear of messing with the registry. In fact, I'm not even sure how to
> get into the registry. I thought that I simply type in "regedit" into
> the Vista HP 64's "Start Search." However, when I did that, it appears
> that I got to the Registry Editor" window, but nothing would open. No
> matter which file/folder I clicked in the left pane, the right pane
> would always show ab(Default) as the name, REG_SZ as the type and (value
> not set) for Data. Furthermore, assuming that I do get to use the
> regedit, just where is the change to be placed and do I simply copy all
> that you have written under "Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00" and
> paste it there? Lastly, when doing this will this open my computer to
> easy hacking and virus attacks? Sorry for all the questions, but I just
> want to be sure I am doing the right thing.
>
>
> --
> flycaster<!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->

Ok, if you prefer not to use the registry hack then I Googled this file unlocker:

(I haven't used it so I don't know how good it is.)

Good luck.

 

Used Bob's link. Overall, it worked quite well. However, there were
couple of folders/files that brought up an alert that "Window's
operating system was not working..." and Windows would try to come up
with a solution. The file/folder was not deleted in this case. Any
ideas as to why this was happening, or what it meant?


--
flycaster

 

"flycaster" <guest@unknown-email.com> wrote in message news:ca2b6d44fb67b4222e8603259320e9c7@nntp-gateway.com...<!--coloro:blue--><span style="color:blue <!--/coloro-->
>
> Used Bob's link. Overall, it worked quite well. However, there were
> couple of folders/files that brought up an alert that "Window's
> operating system was not working..." and Windows would try to come up
> with a solution. The file/folder was not deleted in this case. Any
> ideas as to why this was happening, or what it meant?
>
>
> --
> flycaster<!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->

No idea. Maybe that unlocker program would delete them.