Can't delete file in hidden folder even after changing owner

I restored my vista OS using a system image utility provided by Alienware.
It created a backup folder on the c drive with all the old files in it,
including user profiles. I changed the owner of all files and folders back
to my account and tried to delete it, but got the UAC messages that I need to
allow administrator rights to do so. After clicking yes, I got a message
that permission was denied with the only options of "Try Again" or "Cancel".
After making visible all hidden files and folders, I was able to drill down
to the one file I could not delete. I've used the "take ownership" steps in
Vista explorer properties, and also the "takeown" dos commands, which report
success that the Administrators group or my account which belongs to the
administrators group, is the owner of the file, and that I have full control
of it. Even so, I cannot delete this file. In DOS, I get access denied. In
Explorer, I get the "you need permission to perform this action" message,
with "try again" or "cancel", and it shows that my account (or administrators
group, doing it that way) is the owner. It's just this one file. I was able
to delete all other files and folders around this file, but just not this one.

I wonder if the folder path is so long or so nested that UAC fails to figure
it out? It was in users\<my profile>\appdata\roaming\etc. Or is the file
corrupt? The file is a tempory file created by one of those biometric
devices when logged on with your fingerprint, and is supposed to disappear
when you log off, but it seems to have remained there because of a hard boot.
Is there a utility I can use that can nuke this one lone file?

thanks

Petrarch wrote:
> I restored my vista OS using a system image utility provided by Alienware.
> It created a backup folder on the c drive with all the old files in it,
> including user profiles. I changed the owner of all files and folders back
> to my account and tried to delete it, but got the UAC messages that I need to
> allow administrator rights to do so. After clicking yes, I got a message
> that permission was denied with the only options of "Try Again" or "Cancel".
> After making visible all hidden files and folders, I was able to drill down
> to the one file I could not delete. I've used the "take ownership" steps in
> Vista explorer properties, and also the "takeown" dos commands, which report
> success that the Administrators group or my account which belongs to the
> administrators group, is the owner of the file, and that I have full control
> of it. Even so, I cannot delete this file. In DOS, I get access denied. In
> Explorer, I get the "you need permission to perform this action" message,
> with "try again" or "cancel", and it shows that my account (or administrators
> group, doing it that way) is the owner. It's just this one file. I was able
> to delete all other files and folders around this file, but just not this one.
>
> I wonder if the folder path is so long or so nested that UAC fails to figure
> it out? It was in users\<my profile>\appdata\roaming\etc. Or is the file
> corrupt? The file is a tempory file created by one of those biometric
> devices when logged on with your fingerprint, and is supposed to disappear
> when you log off, but it seems to have remained there because of a hard boot.
>
> Is there a utility I can use that can nuke this one lone file?
>

You can use the full rights admin account, since the one Vista gives you
out of the box is not a full rights admin account.

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windo...windows-vista/

"Mr. Arnold" wrote:


> You can use the full rights admin account, since the one Vista gives you
> out of the box is not a full rights admin account.
>
> http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windo...windows-vista/

Yes, tried that, too. I get the same behavior, regardless whether I'm
logged in under my profile or the enabled administrator account.

Hello Petrarch,

Did you also "allow" your user account "Full Control" in the permission
for the file. You can look at step 18 in Method Two of the tutorial
below for how if needed. You might also try doing this in Safe Mode.

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/67...ship-file.html

Hope this helps,
Shawn

Petrarch;1189517 Wrote:
> I restored my vista OS using a system image utility provided by
> Alienware.
> It created a backup folder on the c drive with all the old files in it,
> including user profiles. I changed the owner of all files and folders
> back
> to my account and tried to delete it, but got the UAC messages that I
> need to
> allow administrator rights to do so. After clicking yes, I got a
> message
> that permission was denied with the only options of "Try Again" or
> "Cancel".
> After making visible all hidden files and folders, I was able to drill
> down
> to the one file I could not delete. I've used the "take ownership"
> steps in
> Vista explorer properties, and also the "takeown" dos commands, which
> report
> success that the Administrators group or my account which belongs to
> the
> administrators group, is the owner of the file, and that I have full
> control
> of it. Even so, I cannot delete this file. In DOS, I get access denied.
> In
> Explorer, I get the "you need permission to perform this action"
> message,
> with "try again" or "cancel", and it shows that my account (or
> administrators
> group, doing it that way) is the owner. It's just this one file. I was
> able
> to delete all other files and folders around this file, but just not
> this one.
>
> I wonder if the folder path is so long or so nested that UAC fails to
> figure
> it out? It was in users\<my profile>\appdata\roaming\etc. Or is the
> file
> corrupt? The file is a tempory file created by one of those biometric
> devices when logged on with your fingerprint, and is supposed to
> disappear
> when you log off, but it seems to have remained there because of a hard
> boot.
> Is there a utility I can use that can nuke this one lone file?
>
> thanks


--
Brink

'*MS MVP - Windows Desktop Experience*'
(https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/pr...5-AD617AF3D511)
*There are no dumb questions, just the people that do not ask
them.*
'*Windows 7 Forums*' (http://www.sevenforums.com/)
'*Windows Vista Forums*' (http://www.vistax64.com/)

*Please post feedback to help others.*

"Petrarch" <Petrarch@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:2430785A-B14B-4C75-A57E-58FC70F73141@microsoft.com...
>I restored my vista OS using a system image utility provided by
>Alienware.
> It created a backup folder on the c drive with all the old files in
> it,
> including user profiles. I changed the owner of all files and folders
> back
> to my account and tried to delete it, but got the UAC messages that I
> need to
> allow administrator rights to do so. After clicking yes, I got a
> message
> that permission was denied with the only options of "Try Again" or
> "Cancel".
> After making visible all hidden files and folders, I was able to drill
> down
> to the one file I could not delete. I've used the "take ownership"
> steps in
> Vista explorer properties, and also the "takeown" dos commands, which
> report
> success that the Administrators group or my account which belongs to
> the
> administrators group, is the owner of the file, and that I have full
> control
> of it. Even so, I cannot delete this file. In DOS, I get access
> denied. In
> Explorer, I get the "you need permission to perform this action"
> message,
> with "try again" or "cancel", and it shows that my account (or
> administrators
> group, doing it that way) is the owner. It's just this one file. I
> was able
> to delete all other files and folders around this file, but just not
> this one.
>
> I wonder if the folder path is so long or so nested that UAC fails to
> figure
> it out? It was in users\<my profile>\appdata\roaming\etc. Or is the
> file
> corrupt? The file is a tempory file created by one of those biometric
> devices when logged on with your fingerprint, and is supposed to
> disappear
> when you log off, but it seems to have remained there because of a
> hard boot.
> Is there a utility I can use that can nuke this one lone file?

You might want to investigate deleting the file using another OS
(Linux). Sometimes a file path or name contains illegal characters as
far as Windows is concerned, and Linux (or another OS) will have a
different set of reserved words or illegal characters. The biometric
device may create a file with a "bad" name for Windows while accessing
the NTFS outside of Windows.

Petrarch wrote:
>
> "Mr. Arnold" wrote:
>
>
>> You can use the full rights admin account, since the one Vista gives you
>> out of the box is not a full rights admin account.
>>
>> http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windo...windows-vista/
>
> Yes, tried that, too. I get the same behavior, regardless whether I'm
> logged in under my profile or the enabled administrator account.


Did you try going into Safemode to delete the file?

"Brink" wrote:

>
> Hello Petrarch,
>
> Did you also "allow" your user account "Full Control" in the permission
> for the file. You can look at step 18 in Method Two of the tutorial
> below for how if needed. You might also try doing this in Safe Mode.
>
> http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/67...ship-file.html
>
> Hope this helps,
> Shawn
>

Yes, I did. This is how I able to delete all the other files in the same
folder. Full control was granted appropriately, ownership shows as my
username. I've done this in safe mode. I've run process explorer and
unlocker to see if the file was in use. The filename doesn't have any
special characters. It's biouser.ud5. Your link has some other tricks to
try. I'll have to try those later when I get home from work.

As for installing a linux OS to delete the file, what's the smallest fastest
one to use for this purpose?

If you are using a 32-bit Vista, then you might also see if the free
program "Unlocker" may be able to allow you to delete it.

'Unlocker - Free software downloads and software reviews - CNET
Download.com'
(http://download.cnet.com/Unlocker/30...-10493998.html)


Petrarch;1189595 Wrote:
> "Brink" wrote:
> > > >
> > >
> > > Hello Petrarch,
> > >
> > > Did you also "allow" your user account "Full Control" in the
> > permission
> > > for the file. You can look at step 18 in Method Two of the tutorial
> > > below for how if needed. You might also try doing this in Safe Mode.
> > >
> > > http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/67...ship-file.html
> > >
> > > Hope this helps,
> > > Shawn
> > > > >
>
> Yes, I did. This is how I able to delete all the other files in the
> same
> folder. Full control was granted appropriately, ownership shows as my
> username. I've done this in safe mode. I've run process explorer and
> unlocker to see if the file was in use. The filename doesn't have any
> special characters. It's biouser.ud5. Your link has some other tricks
> to
> try. I'll have to try those later when I get home from work.
>
> As for installing a linux OS to delete the file, what's the smallest
> fastest
> one to use for this purpose?


--
Brink

'*MS MVP - Windows Desktop Experience*'
(https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/pr...5-AD617AF3D511)
*There are no dumb questions, just the people that do not ask
them.*
'*Windows 7 Forums*' (http://www.sevenforums.com/)
'*Windows Vista Forums*' (http://www.vistax64.com/)

*Please post feedback to help others.*

I have 64-bit, so unlocker didn't pop up when trying to delete the file.

"Brink" wrote:

>
> If you are using a 32-bit Vista, then you might also see if the free
> program "Unlocker" may be able to allow you to delete it.
>
> 'Unlocker - Free software downloads and software reviews - CNET
> Download.com'
> (http://download.cnet.com/Unlocker/30...-10493998.html)
>
>
> Petrarch;1189595 Wrote:
> > "Brink" wrote:
> > > > >
> > > >
> > > > Hello Petrarch,
> > > >
> > > > Did you also "allow" your user account "Full Control" in the
> > > permission
> > > > for the file. You can look at step 18 in Method Two of the tutorial
> > > > below for how if needed. You might also try doing this in Safe Mode.
> > > >
> > > > http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/67...ship-file.html
> > > >
> > > > Hope this helps,
> > > > Shawn
> > > > > >
> >
> > Yes, I did. This is how I able to delete all the other files in the
> > same
> > folder. Full control was granted appropriately, ownership shows as my
> > username. I've done this in safe mode. I've run process explorer and
> > unlocker to see if the file was in use. The filename doesn't have any
> > special characters. It's biouser.ud5. Your link has some other tricks
> > to
> > try. I'll have to try those later when I get home from work.
> >
> > As for installing a linux OS to delete the file, what's the smallest
> > fastest
> > one to use for this purpose?
>
>
> --
> Brink
>
> '*MS MVP - Windows Desktop Experience*'
> (https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/pr...5-AD617AF3D511)
> *There are no dumb questions, just the people that do not ask
> them.*
> '*Windows 7 Forums*' (http://www.sevenforums.com/)
> '*Windows Vista Forums*' (http://www.vistax64.com/)
>
> *Please post feedback to help others.*
> .
>

Since you have 64-bit, you might see if "LockHunter" may help instead
then.

'Download LockHunter 1.0 Beta 3 - Forcedly removes any files as well as
displays what programs lock them - Softpedia'
(http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/...ckHunter.shtml)


Petrarch;1189708 Wrote:
> I have 64-bit, so unlocker didn't pop up when trying to delete the file.
>
> "Brink" wrote:
> > > >
> > >
> > > If you are using a 32-bit Vista, then you might also see if the free
> > > program "Unlocker" may be able to allow you to delete it.
> > >
> > > 'Unlocker - Free software downloads and software reviews - CNET
> > > Download.com'
> > > ('Unlocker - Free software downloads and software reviews - CNET
> > Download.com'
> > (http://download.cnet.com/Unlocker/30...10493998.html))
> > >
> > >
> > > Petrarch;1189595 Wrote:> > > > >
> > > > > "Brink" wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > Yes, I did. This is how I able to delete all the other files in the
> > > > > same
> > > > > folder. Full control was granted appropriately, ownership shows as
> > > my
> > > > > username. I've done this in safe mode. I've run process explorer
> > > and
> > > > > unlocker to see if the file was in use. The filename doesn't have
> > > any
> > > > > special characters. It's biouser.ud5. Your link has some other
> > > tricks
> > > > > to
> > > > > try. I'll have to try those later when I get home from work.
> > > > >
> > > > > As for installing a linux OS to delete the file, what's the
> > > smallest
> > > > > fastest
> > > > > one to use for this purpose?> > > >
> > >
> > >
> > > --
> > > Brink
> > >
> > > '*MS MVP - Windows Desktop Experience*'
> > >
> > (https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/pr...5-AD617AF3D511)
> > > *There are no dumb questions, just the people that do not ask
> > > them.*
> > > '*Windows 7 Forums*' ('Windows 7 Forums'
> > (http://www.sevenforums.com/))
> > > '*Windows Vista Forums*' (http://www.vistax64.com/)
> > >
> > > *Please post feedback to help others.*
> > > .
> > > > >


--
Brink

'*MS MVP - Windows Desktop Experience*'
(https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/pr...5-AD617AF3D511)
*There are no dumb questions, just the people that do not ask
them.*
'*Windows 7 Forums*' (http://www.sevenforums.com/)
'*Windows Vista Forums*' (http://www.vistax64.com/)

*Please post feedback to help others.*

"Brink" wrote:

>
> Since you have 64-bit, you might see if "LockHunter" may help instead
> then.
>
> 'Download LockHunter 1.0 Beta 3 - Forcedly removes any files as well as
> displays what programs lock them - Softpedia'
> (http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/...ckHunter.shtml)

Thanks, this tool looks useful for other situations in the way that Unlocker
is on 32-bit OS's. In this case, I still get the message "You don't
permission to open this file. Contact the owner..." My username is the
owner. If there were a way to make Windows "think" this file was deleted
successfully, thru a registry hack perhaps, I'm open to suggestions. This
file is like a really stubborn weed.

I'm about out of ideas myself. Have you already tried deleting it in the
"built-in Admnistrator" account?

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/67...r-account.html


Petrarch;1189890 Wrote:
> "Brink" wrote:
> > > >
> > >
> > > Since you have 64-bit, you might see if "LockHunter" may help instead
> > > then.
> > >
> > > 'Download LockHunter 1.0 Beta 3 - Forcedly removes any files as well
> > as
> > > displays what programs lock them - Softpedia'
> > > ('Download LockHunter 1.0 Beta 3 - Forcedly removes any files as well
> > as displays what programs lock them - Softpedia'
> > (http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/...kHunter.shtml)) > >
>
> Thanks, this tool looks useful for other situations in the way that
> Unlocker
> is on 32-bit OS's. In this case, I still get the message "You don't
> permission to open this file. Contact the owner..." My username is
> the
> owner. If there were a way to make Windows "think" this file was
> deleted
> successfully, thru a registry hack perhaps, I'm open to suggestions.
> This
> file is like a really stubborn weed.


--
Brink

'*MS MVP - Windows Desktop Experience*'
(https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/pr...5-AD617AF3D511)
*There are no dumb questions, just the people that do not ask
them.*
'*Windows 7 Forums*' (http://www.sevenforums.com/)
'*Windows Vista Forums*' (http://www.vistax64.com/)

*Please post feedback to help others.*

I have this installed on all of my computers. It has never failed to allow
me to delete folders or files that I choose to delete. It is called take
ownership.reg and it is a registry entry that places a choice in the right
click menu to take ownership of a folder and any sub folder and files
contained therein.

Try it.

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windo...menu-in-vista/

--

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP
Windows Desktop Experience & Security


"Petrarch" <Petrarch@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:2430785A-B14B-4C75-A57E-58FC70F73141@microsoft.com...
>I restored my vista OS using a system image utility provided by Alienware.
> It created a backup folder on the c drive with all the old files in it,
> including user profiles. I changed the owner of all files and folders
> back
> to my account and tried to delete it, but got the UAC messages that I need
> to
> allow administrator rights to do so. After clicking yes, I got a message
> that permission was denied with the only options of "Try Again" or
> "Cancel".
> After making visible all hidden files and folders, I was able to drill
> down
> to the one file I could not delete. I've used the "take ownership" steps
> in
> Vista explorer properties, and also the "takeown" dos commands, which
> report
> success that the Administrators group or my account which belongs to the
> administrators group, is the owner of the file, and that I have full
> control
> of it. Even so, I cannot delete this file. In DOS, I get access denied.
> In
> Explorer, I get the "you need permission to perform this action" message,
> with "try again" or "cancel", and it shows that my account (or
> administrators
> group, doing it that way) is the owner. It's just this one file. I was
> able
> to delete all other files and folders around this file, but just not this
> one.
>
> I wonder if the folder path is so long or so nested that UAC fails to
> figure
> it out? It was in users\<my profile>\appdata\roaming\etc. Or is the file
> corrupt? The file is a tempory file created by one of those biometric
> devices when logged on with your fingerprint, and is supposed to disappear
> when you log off, but it seems to have remained there because of a hard
> boot.
> Is there a utility I can use that can nuke this one lone file?
>
> thanks

Unfortunately, none of these options worked on this one file. I had to
format the drive and start over. This time around, when I restored from a
system image I did not create a backup folder on the C drive itself.

Taking ownership "should" have worked, and all the various steps repliers
provided were helpful, so don't feel bad. The lockhunter tool for 64-bit
OS's has been added to my IT bag of tricks. I'd been looking for something
that had the same features as unlocker for a while.

Thanks for all your replies. I appreciated the help.

Petrarch,

I'm sorry to hear that you had to format the drive to get rid of that
file.


Petrarch;1190831 Wrote:
> Unfortunately, none of these options worked on this one file. I had to
> format the drive and start over. This time around, when I restored from
> a
> system image I did not create a backup folder on the C drive itself.
>
> Taking ownership "should" have worked, and all the various steps
> repliers
> provided were helpful, so don't feel bad. The lockhunter tool for
> 64-bit
> OS's has been added to my IT bag of tricks. I'd been looking for
> something
> that had the same features as unlocker for a while.
>
> Thanks for all your replies. I appreciated the help.


--
Brink

'*MS MVP - Windows Desktop Experience*'
(https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/pr...5-AD617AF3D511)
*There are no dumb questions, just the people that do not ask
them.*
'*Windows 7 Forums*' (http://www.sevenforums.com/)
'*Windows Vista Forums*' (http://www.vistax64.com/)

*Please post feedback to help others.*