I've just reinstall my system. But I can't delete old profiles in C:\Documents and Settings.



I have the Admin right, of course. But... the system don't allow me to delete the files. I need to free up some space on my hard disk. (That folder's size is up to 12GB)

This is a common problem in Windows XP and I'm sure it's been discussed somewhere already. Just follow these steps:

1. start>run and type 'cmd' and press enter. A command shell window will open.
2. ctrl+alt+del and kill 'explorer.exe'. This will kill the desktop and start menu.
3. In the command shell, type "rmdir 'c:\documents and settings\<whteverfoldername>'". (Note that the entire path of the folder should be enclosed in double quotes and not single quotes. This is because there are spaces in the name of the folder.)
4. In the task manager, select process>run and enter 'explorer.exe'. The startmenu and desktop will be activated again.

That should remove the entire folder.

I haven't exactly used the rmdir command. You can get more info about it at this link.

No, That doesn't work.

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
© Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:\Documents and Settings\Bruce>cd ..

C:\Documents and Settings>rmdir "nguyen van thoai"
Access is denied.

C:\Documents and Settings>

check the folder's permissions.

xboxrulz

Noway, I'm not the owner of that folder.

Try to login as administrator and then try to delete it.

That's what I did. But the problem still remain.

One more thing, the old account (nguyen van thoai) is an admin account also. I think this prevent the files from deleting. Anyway, I really need a solution for this trouble.

This is where XP users screwed up, since when should an Administrator be denied, I've been denied access as Admin to even a normal user...

Anyways, you want to claim that directory, so as an Admin, go to C:\Documents and Settings\

Right-click on the folder, choose Properties, now there might appear a security tab??? Sorry I'm Linux orientated now so I can't quite remember what it is, basically you just add or replace your User over theirs, it'll ask if you want to apply it to sub-directories and you say yes, then you should be able to remove it. You may need to do this with other folders inside of that directory.

Hopefully that is just the case, also why did you reinstall over the top? That's the only reason those other ones will still exist?

P.S. Just had a flash-back, I recall something about Inheritance, that's what you want to do, is inherit it.

Cheers,


MC

The security tab is displayed in Windows 2000. But not in Windows XP. I can't modify anything. This problem seem to be hard to solve, right?



What do you mean? Create the same user with that name, and he can take over that folder. No, I tried that. It doesn't work.

My Hard Disk, no. I may reinstall the system once again. Delete the whole partition. What do you think about this idea?