Resolved Can't Delete Empty Folders

Hello all,
One of my friends computers has alot of empty folders in C:/Program Files. If he goes to delete the folder it says: Cannot delete folder. Acess is denied. Make sure the disk is not full or write protected and that the file is not currently in use.

All the folders that he is having this problem with are all empty, they are in C:/Program Files, and if he goes to properties and unchecks the read-only box then tries to delete it, it still won't let him. He has tried to delete them in Safe Mode but it didn't work. He uses Spybots Search and Destroy file shredder to shred annoying files that won't delete, but is there any free utility that will shred and delete read-only folders that are empty?

Thanks for all the suggesstions in advance.

 

Two points ....

Is your friend logged on as Administrator or with administrative rights or as the User of those folders?

How to take ownership of a file or folder in Windows XP

Are you sure that the folders are empty - they may contain hidden files/folders which are in use.

 

Hey PeteC,
My friends account does have Administrator privledges. If he right clicks the folder and goes to properties it shows that there are no files in the folder. Just to make sure their wasn't any hidden files in the folder I had him go to folder options and he clicked the option to show hidden files and folders and to unhide protected operating system files.

Then I had him go back to the empty folder and it was still empty. There are no hidden files within that folder. The empty folder also isn't a system folder. I will see if taking ownership of the folder on my friends computer will solve the problem. If that doesn't work I can do a search for the empty folder using Regseeker and delete the entry from the registry.

I will post back with the results. Oh and BTW Happy Thanksgiving.

 

Evan -a Happy Thanksgiving to you too It is not a holiday over here in the UK as it is in the States. We call it Harvest Festival which is more of a religious event and is not tied to a specific day at this time of year.

 

Thanks for the info about your holiday in the UK PeteC. Its always interesting to see what other people are celebrating all over the world.

Anyway, I was able to delete the empty folders on my friends computer. I followed the steps that were given in the microsoft knowledge article you gave me. I had to disable simple file sharing then I went to properties, then owner, then advanced tab and I made my friend the owner of the folder. Then applied the actions and we were able to delete the empty folders successfully. Thanks for your help PeteC and have a nice Harvest Festival.

Hello Bill,
Thanks for posting that command to delete a folder using the command prompt. This can be helpful if you can't take ownership of the folder and you have to delete it using the command prompt. Thanks for you help. Oh and BTW have a Happy Thanksgiving Bill.