Any way to force delete a folder, regardless of permissions?


  1. Posts : 21
    Windoze 10 Pro
       #1

    Any way to force delete a folder, regardless of permissions?


    Hello,
    As often happens, I have an undeletable folder on my Windows 10 PC. I am logged in as me, the only user, an administrator, but, infuriatingly, when I recently updated Windows 10, Microsoft left a trail of junk lying around, including a folder called WindowsApps. I've hunted around and found some not entirely helpful guides on how to delete this - why does this OS not allow me, an admin, to administer my machine?

    So my question is: Is there some app or command that I can use to just exterminate something from my hard drive? I am soooo fed up with this terrible OS telling me what I can and can't do. The process of setting permissions is utterly ridiculous (and, today, entirely ineffective, resulting in helpful errors like "Failed to enumerate objects in the container. Access is denied"). I also got an error, when trying to fix the permissions on this folder that "This access control entry is corrupt". So I try to create a new one..."Select a principal"? What on earth does that mean? So I went through the process of creating a new thing, but it's stuck in a loop with that same "enumerate" error.

    Which brings me back to my first question: I have admin control over this hopeless OS, so is there some kind of way (some equivalent of Linux's "sudo") of bypassing this corruption and just deleting the thing without having to spend a year or so at Microsoft while they explain all their in-jokes on how they hate their users and take every opportunity to make our lives miserable?

    Sorry for the rant, but I've just spent a couple of days using Mac OSX, and coming back to this clunky old Windows 10 is very, very painful.

    ...I wouldn't be overly fussed about this folder, but it's 28GB, and it's just a demo of a game I downloaded and played maybe twice!
      My Computers


  2. Posts : 8,099
    windows 10
       #2

    The error This access control entry is corrupt suggest there is a problem with the disk run a disk check for a start hav you tried our tool to take ownership of the folder Add Take Ownership to Context Menu in Windows 10 | Tutorials
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 31,593
    10 Home x64 (22H2) (10 Pro on 2nd pc)
       #3

    Hellopaul said:
    ... I have an undeletable folder on my Windows 10 PC....a trail of junk lying around, including a folder called WindowsApps. ...I wouldn't be overly fussed about this folder, but it's 28GB, and it's just a demo of a game I downloaded and played maybe twice!
    If you are talking about C:\Program Files\WindowsApps then it's a bit more than 'just a demo of a game'.

    This is where all your Windows Apps are stored, Photos, Calculator, News, Mail, the Store itself, etc... Delete that folder and your Windows will break.
      My Computers


  4. Posts : 21
    Windoze 10 Pro
    Thread Starter
       #4

    @Samuria: Thank you! That registry thing worked perfectly! I will be using that A LOT from now on.

    @Bree: No, that folder was on a separate internal drive (a cache drive mainly for temporary storage). The demo game was Forza Horizon 4 - I had a good rummage through the folder to see what was in there; it's a fairly hefty game!
      My Computers


 

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