Taken Ownership/permissions = Still Can't Delete. Why?

I'm currently going through an old HDD, trying to remove all traces of the previous Win7 installation (64 ultimate). I understand you have to 'take ownership & permission' away from 'Trusted Installer" to do this, which I have done, yet I STILL can't delete any folders I've taken ownership/permission of because I STILL "need permission from Trusted Installer"...

As you can see, this doesn't make any sense at all. What am I missing here? These folders aren't even part of a currently installed OS so surely they shouldn't need permissions anyway!

Specifically, the folders I'm trying to delete first are 'Program Files' (and the x86/32bit version). I can't do anything to the folder or anything inside it. I tried booting in Safe Mode and giving it another shot but still no luck. I have full control permission BTW.

The old Win7 installation is taking a WHOPPING 20GB, so I really need to get rid of it! I am the ONLY 'human' user on the PC. My name appears twice (one is a user, the other is an admin), is this normal? The non-human users are: Creator Owner, System & Trusted Installer. Due to my 'account' having both a 'user' & 'admin' type, I gave full permissions to both.

Edit: Strangely enough, I CAN now rename the program files folder but if I try to rename or delete ANY subfolder, I now need permission from MYSELF! WTF is going on here!?!?

Thanks to anyone who can spare a few secs to help a guy out. Need more info? Just let me know.

 

Have to add this as a 2nd post because of the '10 minute' thing, sooo:-

When I said my user appears twice (as a user & admin), this is only in the 'permission & ownership' lists. In the Manage Accounts screen, there's only one of me (admin) and Guest (turned off).

 

have you tried LockHunter?
http://lockhunter.com/
I use it, seems to be able to over-ride anything.
("a" solution- i know it is not the exact answer you are looking for)

 

Thanks I'll try that out. BTW do you know if its normal for my username to appear twice in the permissions/owners/security lists? For me its like this:-

-Administrators (Name-PC/Administrators)
-Users (Name-PC/Users)

Cheers

 

Okay I gave LockHunter a try. I pointed it to the folders I wanted to delete and tried first using "unlock" then manually deleting, then I tried deleting from within the program, but it didn't work either way. Even choosing to "delete on restart" didn't work... Same goes for booting in Safe Mode.

I'm now the owner, with full permission of the entire HDD, yet Microsoft STILL says no.

WTF is going on here!? Who designed these security "features" lol. I can't administrate my own computer..

 

Nothing beats a Linux bootable live CD for what you are attempting, simply because it completely ignores all Windows ownership/permissions etc. Try Puppy.

 

Ha! I've actually got Puppy Linux on a disc. Problem is, I don't have an optical anymore. Hopefully you can run it from a USB stick. If so then I might be in the clear!

Cheers!

 

Try Rufus

 

...or get a plug-in optical of course

 

Thanks I grabbed Rufus an made a bootable USB with the Puppy ISO (Lucid Puppy), formatted as Fat32 with the default partition mode (MBR for BIOS & UEFI support) but every time I try to boot the USB it just takes me straight back to the UEFI BIOS setup. I tried removing all other entries from the 'boot order' except my USB (which appears as: "UEFI: Sandisk Cruzer Partition 1") but still no luck. In Rufus, I tried selecting the GPT partition mode, but it wont accept the Puppy ISO, saying "You need an EFI compatible ISO" but I've read all recent Linux distros are EFI compatible. I also can't select NTFS regardless of partition mode. With Lucid Puppy not working at all, I tried another one called 'Slacko' from the Puppy site, but its exactly the same deal. Can't select any mode except MBR; can only use FAT32, "not EFI compatible ISO"; can't boot from the USB even though it appears in the boot order list.

I even borrowed a USB DVD-Drive but the thing never appears in the boot sections of the UEFI BIOS.

If it helps, my mobo is an 'Asrock Fatality Z170 K4/D3' using a UEFI BIOS and my USB stick is a USB2.0 Sandisk Cruzer Blade 32GB. The same stick worked when installing Win7 on my old PC using Rufus.

Weirdly enough, searching Google for "EFI compatible Linux distros" brings up nothing concrete.

I just don't get this...

 

Check this setting in bios. If this is the mb you have it says "In fast mode you may not boot from an USB..."

ftp://europe.asrock.com/Manual/Fatal1ty%20Z170%20Gaming%20K4D3.pdf

 

Thanks for the reply. Fastboot is disabled in my BIOS. I also read that 'SecureBoot' can cause this problem, but I have Win7, so no SecureBoot on this machine.

I'm definitely using USB2.0 ports for this (as recommended in the mobo manual for booting from USB). I've even proof read the hardware & software manuals of the board and turned up nothing I can use.

 

fatdog64 is a larger version of puppy. It also has keys for secure boot. But should work on any system. May be worth a try for your needs

http://puppylinux.org/wikka/Fatdog

 

You BEAUTY! Finally I'm able to boot from USB again! What I was missing all along was "Legacy USB support". With that enabled I had an extra entry in the boot list (USB: Sandisk Cruzer).

On the stick right now is Slacko, booted and working, and what's more, those DAMN folders are finally gone!!! Now I'll have a deep look into the old Windows folder to make sure there's nothing I want to keep, then be rid of it with the power of Slacko the dog.

Imagine my sighs of relief, then times it by 4 Haha! Thanks to everyone for your help & suggestions, its 110% appreciated!

 

Well done. Last ten minutes I had been having a very close look at the UEFI BIOS on my newish custom build and was about to suggest you look for Legacy USB Support but you had beaten me to it. I keep Slacko available on all the systems here and it's been a huge help when needed.