Zombie file cannot be deleted (access denied & file not found)

Try3 · 20 Feb 2020

TheAncient said:

... it asks me to enter an administrator password

That is the Tails administrator facility, not Windows.
Tails - Administration password

Denis

roy111 · 20 Feb 2020

TheAncient;1844804
It's getting late and my head hurts from bashing it against the wall so I'll try your Robocopy solution tomorrow.

[COLOR=silver said:

- - - Updated - - -[/COLOR]
Thanks anyway!

The password is probably empty, just click authenticate.
If robo will not do, I would suggest to try with ubuntu instead, tails is a "weird" kind.

jonnied12 · 20 Feb 2020

I had the same problem as the OP when trying to delete the "windows Old" folder in the past.
The final solution was to go directly to the sub folder with the missing file or folder and create a new file or folder with the same name as the missing item.
Close windows explorer the re-open it and go back to the folder or file you want to delete. You should be able to delete it now.
Worked for me. I had been trying to get rid of the "Windows Old" folder for a year.

Matthew Wai · 20 Feb 2020

It takes no more than a minute to do so via Linux.

f14tomcat · 20 Feb 2020

jonnied12 said:

I had the same problem as the OP when trying to delete the "windows Old" folder in the past.
The final solution was to go directly to the sub folder with the missing file or folder and create a new file or folder with the same name as the missing item.
Close windows explorer the re-open it and go back to the folder or file you want to delete. You should be able to delete it now.
Worked for me. I had been trying to get rid of the "Windows Old" folder for a year.

99% of the time if Windows.old does not get cleaned out and removed via the normal Windows cleanup, the command rd /q /s windows.old will remove it. If not , then on to possible non-windows solutions.

jonnied12 · 20 Feb 2020

f14tomcat said:

99% of the time if Windows.old does not get cleaned out and removed via the normal Windows cleanup, the command rd /q /s windows.old will remove it. If not , then on to possible non-windows solutions.

Yeah, I tried that many moons ago, the reason I could not delete it was due to a " Zombie (non-existent)" file in the last sub-folder, which I had to recreate.

Matthew Wai · 20 Feb 2020

Click here to download Linux.
Click here to download Rufus.
Use Rufus to create a bootable Linux USB device, which can be used to delete files that cannot be deleted by Windows.
Tutorial: How to Create a Bootable Linux USB Flash Drive, the Easy Way

f14tomcat · 20 Feb 2020

Or Kyhi's Rescue Windows 10 Recovery Tools - Bootable Rescue Disk

Or if you have Macrium, boot to it and use the command prompt.

Or a Windows rescue media DVD/Thumb.

Or ..........

Matthew Wai · 20 Feb 2020

f14tomcat said:

Or Kyhi's Rescue Windows 10 Recovery Tools - Bootable Rescue Disk

This is an old version. Use this new version: Win10XPE - Build Your Own Rescue Media
I still think Linux is easier than Win10XPE, though.

f14tomcat · 20 Feb 2020

Matthew Wai said:

This is an old version. Use this new version: Win10XPE - Build Your Own Rescue Media

Yeah, but still works. That was my point. There are Windows native solutions.