Results 1 to 6 of 6

Thread: Cannot uninstall programs due to Read Only attribute

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    101

    Cannot uninstall programs due to Read Only attribute

    I have some programs in my certain drive in which there are some programs there are seem to be generated by itself. Some unknown files and all. I scanned the computer and detected some malware. I deleted the malwares and now the system is showing clean. But there are those empty files/programs remaining and I want to delete them manually. But I am not able to remove them manually and I found that there was 'read only' attribute to them. But I am not able to remove the read only attribute of these files/programs and so I am not able to delete these files. What can I do to delete these empty files and remove the programs that I doubt?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Posts
    3,388

    Re: Cannot uninstall programs due to Read Only attribute

    For removing those programs forcefully, first try removing it in Safe Mode. If you are not familiar with Safe Mode: Turn your PC on or Restart. As soon as you see the black and white screen, press and hold the F8 key. Continue holding until you see a black and white menu. Safe Mode is F3 or F5.

    Click Start, Programs, run your AV program, install, uninstall, whatever. When it is finished, Restart.

    After coming to the normal mode, you will probably find your icons messed up. No biggee. Drag them back into place.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Posts
    3,295

    Re: Cannot uninstall programs due to Read Only attribute

    Aren't that programs listed in the Add-Remove programs of the control panel? You can try to delete them from there. You can also try it best to remove from safe mode as given above.

    If these simple removal things does not work, there are other programs that will help you delete the programs forcefully. But before, try these.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    101

    Re: Cannot uninstall programs due to Read Only attribute

    I have tried to delete from the safe mode and uninstall those programs also. But I could only delete some files but cannot uninstall those programs. They are not even shown in the Add-Remove programs. What are the external removal tool that can help me. Please suggest me 1. Anyways, thanks for replying because I could atleast remove some of the files.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Posts
    3,295

    Re: Cannot uninstall programs due to Read Only attribute

    If those programs are not listed in add-remove section then how come they are programs? Cannot you simply remove that folder from the safe mode?

    Anyways, for forcefully removing of the programs, there is Microsoft’s Installer Cleanup Utility here: http://support.microsoft.com/default.asp...

    Warning: The Windows Installer CleanUp Utility is provided "as is" to help resolve installation problems for programs that use Microsoft Windows Installer. If you use this utility, you may have to reinstall other programs. Caution is advised.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Posts
    101

    Re: Cannot uninstall programs due to Read Only attribute

    Thanks for your responses guys but it was due to my Antivirus being in the root for the drive, hence therefore no updates from A2 but issue is fixed. Yes, had to get into safe mode to get programs out and then had to place them elsewhere on the system due to the "read only" attribute. Then I could delete it.

Similar Threads

  1. Replies: 4
    Last Post: 20-01-2011, 11:14 AM
  2. Change Read-Only Attribute
    By William Colls in forum Vista Help
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 18-02-2008, 05:53 AM
  3. Replies: 22
    Last Post: 13-02-2008, 07:02 AM
  4. Remove read only attribute from files in a tree
    By adrin in forum Windows XP Support
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 02-02-2008, 05:51 AM
  5. Cannot Remove Read-Only Attribute
    By vshori in forum Small Business Server
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 12-05-2007, 03:23 AM

Tags for this Thread

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Page generated in 1,710,832,893.01948 seconds with 16 queries