Cannot delete system files created from Windows 10 Media Creation Tool

shingdao said:

OK, so I dropped cmd.exe into PowerRun and when I open that in PR, it shows the following:

C:\Users\mhan\Downloads\PowerRun>

What is the proper command to fully delete the 'bin' folder and all its subfolders/files?
I tried rmdir /s/q bin but that did not find the specified path. I apologize if this seems obvious but I don't use cmd very much at all .

You need to be up 1 level. You need to be in
C:\Users\mhan\Downloads\>

Then, RD /q /s BIN*.*


might be easier if you simply add Explorer to the list. Click FILE, and type Explorer.exe, and apply list at bottom. Then double click the Explorer and you can do it naturally. Pics are backwards, sorry.

@shingdao

I've added another option for you.

shingdao said:

OK, thanks. I added explorer.exe to PowerRun and then double-clicked on that...I take it I then need to go to cmd.exe and execute the command you gave me to delete bin? I naively tried to go straight to the bin folder and delete it but it still requires the same permissions as outside of PowerRun.

I'll have to admit that has me a bit baffled. Explorer running as TrustedInstaller should have been sufficient. I'm presuming your user account is part of the Administrator's Group, meaning it is an Administrator Account, not basic USER account. It wasn't naive at at, that's exactly what I would have done. You can try opening an Admin command prompt while running this PowerRun Explorer, and do the command I posted. If it still barks, please post the exact message. I haven't run into this restriction in all the times I've used it. Thanks for your patience.

shingdao said:

Interesting to note that Task Manager shows explorer.exe user name as Matthew and not SYSTEM or TrustedInstaller.

Name won't change. "Run As" means with the privileges of, not the name TrustedInstaller. Still your name, but with higher privileges.

What is the proper command to fully delete the 'bin' folder and all its subfolders/files?
I tried rmdir /s/q bin

Instead of

bin

you must enter the full path to it [enclosing the path in " if it contains any spaces]

FOR EXAMPLE ONLY
"C:\Some folder or other\bin"

[If you want to you can enclose paths in " even if they do not contain any spaces. It is merely a waste of effort but it does no harm.]

1 First you need to use a Del command with some switches to remove all the files in that folder & its subfolders

FOR EXAMPLE ONLY
del /f /q /s "C:\Some folder or other\bin"

2 Then you can remove the folder itself [together with its subfolders]

FOR EXAMPLE ONLY
rd /s /q "C:\Some folder or other\bin"

[RD is supposed to be able to do the job on its own without any use of the Del command but it sometimes fails to do so]


Note - You can see the syntax for using del and rd by entering

del /?
rd /?

in any command prompt window
[and the same applies to most other commands]

Denis

I just noticed something in your pic. You only have 1 Explorer running. One. When I do the same thing, I have 2. The one that was running, and the new one started under PowerRun. Verify again that you actually did run it in PowerRun. There should be 2 instances.

Matthew,

If you want some reassurance that you have higher status using a cmd window within PowerRun then open a command prompt within it and enter
whoami



Note - I have not yet tried the advice on the PowerRun webpage to use TrustedInstaller status but I assume that if I did the result would also be shown in response to whoami.

Corrected later - After seeng f14tomcat's posted diagrams, I checked and I had the TrustedInstaller set in PowerRun. So nt authority\system is evidently what is displays for that condition.

Denis